Dr. Thirumalachar was born on 22nd September, 1914 in Malleswaram, Bangalore, in a respected fam­ily of lyengar Brahmins known to be erudite and knowledgeable in various shastras (scriptures) in San­skrit. He passed away on 21st April, 1999 at his home in Walnut Creek, California (USA) and is survived by his wife, Smt. Kasturi Thirumalachar, son, Dr. M.J. Narasimhan Jr., daughter-in-law and grandson Thirumalachar Jr. 

He had his early education in Bangalore and at an early age showed interest and inclination to work in the field of Mycology; his father himself (M.J. Narasimhan) as Director of Agriculture in the state of Mysore had contributed greatly to the etiology of the koleroga disease of arecanut and its control. After obtaining his Master's degree in Botany, he secured his D.Sc. degree from the University of Mysore under the guidance of Dr. B.B. Mundkur in 1944. He also had his Ph.D. degree from the University of Wiscon­sin (USA) in 1947 under the chairmanship of Dr. . James G. Dickson. 

He worked as Lecturer in Botany, University of Mysore from 1939 to 1945 and was Professor of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Banaras Hindu University in 1949 before he joined as Plant Patholo­gist in the Central Potato Research Institute, then headquartered at Patna where he remained upto 1953. After being selected for working in Hindustan Antibi­otics, Pimpri, near Pune, he worked as WHO Fellow at the Intituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome with the Nobel Laureate, E.B. Chain. 

Research in the field of Antibiotics was initiated at Pimpri after his return from Rome. Here he served as Chief Mycologist and as Superintendent of Research, Hindustan Antibiotics Research Centre until his/re­tirement in 1974. He then proceeded to Copenhagen, Denmark as Visiting Profesor in the Institute of Seed Pathology established by Dr. P. Neergaard; moved to University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis (USA) where he worked from 1975 to 1978 for trans­fer of human insulin gene into a eukaryotic pseudoyeast cell; the Dow Chemical Company inivted him to establish and head anti-mycoplasma and anti-viral unit in 1979. Under the auspices of the Jeersannidhi Foun­dation, Jeersannidhi Anderson Institute was established where he became Director of Technology from the beginning of the eighties and continued working until the last day of his life. 

In order to promote Mycology and Plant Pathol­ogy, a generous bequest was made by him to the In­dian Phytopathological Society for instituting the Narasimhan Academic award in the seventies. An­other handsome constribution was made to the Society for establishing an Annual Lectureship named in honour of Jeersannidhi; a third generous donation was made during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations in No­vember, 1997 as an 'upgrade' for both these awards. It is noteworthy that no individual has singly made such handsome contributions solely for advancement of My­cology & Plant Pathology in India.

Dr. Thirumalachar was always keen to meet and interact with other persons in the profession especially the younger ones and to the extent possible, never missed an opportunity of attending national and inter­national conferences, Meetings, Seminars, etc. He was also fond of taking photographs of persons eminent in medical/agricultural/botanical specialities and disciplines; in the eighties he personally sent me colour photographs of R. Gordon Wasson, the famous Ethno­Mycologist and Dr. J.N. Couch, calling them 'modern- day rishis'. He held high offices in international bodies/Organisations. A partial list follows. (i) Vice-President, International Botanical Congress, Montreal, Canada (1959); Seattle, Washington (1969); (ii) Co- Chairman (Industrial Production of Amino-acids) at the International Microbiology Congress, Montreal (1962); (iii) Chairman (Session on Taxonomy of Ac­tinomycetes), International Symposium on Actino­mycetes, Jena (1968); (iv) Chairman, Chemotherapy of Deep Mycoses in Humans and Animals at the 2nd World Congress on Tropical Dermatology, Japan (1969); and Chairman (Session on Secondary Metabo­lites) at the 1st International Mycological Congress, Exeter, U.K. (1968). 

He is credited with having indentified more than one-hundred antibiotics and in the development of at least 50 of them to a commercial level; some of them are anti-viral, some anti-mycoplasmal or anti­phytoplasmal, some anti-bacterial, some anti-fungal (Hamycin, Aureomycin, Dermostain, etc.), while oth­ers like Necrocitin showed anti-tumour activity and is also lethal to molluscs; antiamoebin, a polypeptide antibiotic, possesses anti-protozoal and antihelmintic activity, was determined to be produced from Emericellopsis synnemata; Antiprotozoin, an antiprotozoal antifungal antibiotic was obtained from a strain of Streptomyces hygroscopicus. Dr. Thirumalachar was also responsible for the develop­ment of Systemic Fungicide, KT-19827, for control of Dutch Elm disease and also Oak Wilt; Phyton 27 marketed by Source Chemical Co., in USA provided a special type of applicator for direct introduction in the tree trunks; the chemo-therapeutant DPS was deter­mined to be effective against Leaf Curl Viruses of solanaceous plants in the tropics of the Far East in­cluding India; the chemotherapeutant, CPN No. MJN 1891 was found to be a chemotherapeutant of choice against phloem inhabitating fastidious bacteria caus­ing greening disease in citrus and other serious three diseases. 

While in California, over a twenty-year period, he not only isolated antibiotic producing microorganisms but also new biocontrol agents. He developed what has been called the JAIMYCIN Process (patent pending) which reduces a drug's drastic action and reaches the target site in the body much faster. In the San Fransisco Bay area, he isolated a new marine Geotrichum named by him as G. marinum. This fungus 'can grow directly on the oil in the ocean and uses oil as a carbon and nitrogen source.' "Some oil companies have secretly taken the strain from ATCC depository and used it in Alaska Valdez Oil Spill. Now it is going to Kuwait Oil Spills" (from a letter written in the eighties to the undersigned). 

He published more than 460 research papers. His joint work with Dr. Mundkur on Genera of Rusts is a standard reference work on Urediniomycetes. It is al­ most 50 years since the monograph on Ustilaginales of India was jointly published with Dr. Mundkur and continues to be an important source of information on the Smut Fungi of our country. In later years many new Smut Fungi were discovered and many papers jointly with M.S. Pavgi and others were published. 

The journal, Hindustan Antibiotics Bulletin, in which he contributed singly or jointly around 50 pa­pers, was established by him in the seventies. 

He was Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and was conferred by the same Body the Sunder Lal Hora Medal; was the recepient of Sir Shanti Swamp Bhatnagar Award by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research for valuable contributions in Medical Mycology and for the discovery and develop­ment of antifungal antibiotics. The Polish Academy also awarded a Medal for his contributions in the field of Antibiotics. 

By the contributions that Dr. Thirumalachar made in the fields of Health, Medicine and Agriculture, considerable benefits have accrued and a large corpus of new knowledge of practical and theoretical impor­tance has been added. It is best exemptlified in the motto of the Jeersannidhi Anderson Institute: "Sci­ences of Nature for the Arts of Healing." 

Dr. Thirumalachar influenced and inspired col­leagues, students and others who came in his contact. Private and Public Sector institutions and organisations benefitted greatly by his advice; Although he was in a Public Sector organisation, his advice and views were eagerly sought by those working in the universities and academic field. During an active period of six decades his influence was profound and all-pervasive. It is difficult for people like me who knew him inti­mately to imagine that a person of Dr. Thirumalachar's intellectual calibre, who was so modest and humble, will arise again to perform the noble tasks that he performed for the benefit of humanity. The appelation of a 'modern-day rishi' fits him so snugly. 

We mourn his passing away with deep sorrow and pray that God will provide enough strength to the bereaved family especially to Smt Kasturi Thirumalachar (wife) and Dr. M.J. Narasimhan Jr. (son), daughter-in-law and grandson. My career and life were shaped by Dr. Thirumalachar's guidance and personally I feel that a fountain-head of inspiration has dried up and intellectually I face a deep void.