Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was an eminent statistician, best known for founding the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in 1932. A physicist by training, he got interested in statistics when he came across Biometrika, a reputed peer reviewed journal of statistics during his time.

Abstract. Prasantha Chandra Mahalanobis died on 28 June 1972, three weeks after an abdominal operation in a nursing home at Calcutta. The death occurred one day before his seventy-ninth birthday when he was still active doing research work, managing the affairs of the Indian Statistical Institute as its Secretary and Director, and working for.

Happy Birthday PC Mahalanobis: Scientist and statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was an Indian who lived from June 29, 1893, until June 28, 1972. His statistical measure, the Mahalanobis distance, and his membership in the first Planning Commission of independent India are what people most commonly associate him with.