Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, CBE (November 7, 1888-November 21, 1970) was an Indian physicist, who was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect, which is named after him.

     Raman was born in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. At an early age, Raman moved to the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He entered Presidency College, Madras, in 1902, and in 1904 passed his B.A. examination, winning the first place and the gold medal in physics; in 1907 he gained his M.A. degree, obtaining the highest distinctions.

     He joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta . Soon afterwards, Raman started doing experiments at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). This is where Raman did his Nobel Prize winning work. In 1917, Raman resigned from his government service and took up the newly created Palit Professorship in Physics at the University of Calcutta. He was president of the 16th session of the Indian Science Congress in 1929.

     Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect. Raman spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon.

     In 1934, Raman became the director of the newly established Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where two years later he continued as a professor of physics. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India. He also started a company called Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1943 along with Dr. Krishnamurthy.

     He was knighted in 1929 and awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954. Raman was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (1957).

     CV Raman is the uncle of Nobel laureate and Physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.

     He retired from the Indian Institute in 1948 and a year later he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore Karnataka, serving as its director and remained active there until his death in 1970, in Bangalore, Karnataka, at the age of 82.

     India celebrates National Science Day on the 28th February of every year to commemorate Raman's discovery in 1928.