Syama Prasad Raychaudhuri born on 31st December, 1915 at Calcutta.Married in 1947 at Calcutta, Purnima Raha; one son, one daughter and one grandchild. 

B.Sc. from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1935; M.Sc. (Botany) University College of Science and Technology, Calcutta in 1937; Associate in Mycology and Plant Pathology, IARI, New Delhi in 1941; Ph.D. from Calcutta University in 1949; Fulbright Scholar at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, 1950­52; Visiting Professor in USA in 1964 and 1977, in Japan in 1976, in West Germany in 1974 and 1978, and in Canada in 1984; recipient of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award. 

Research works include: mycology, plant pathology, virus diseases of cereals pulses, fruits, vegetables, plantation crops, ornamentals, seed pathology and tissue culture. 

Appointed as Professor in Plant Pathology in 1961 and Head of the Division of Mycology and Plant Pathology in 1965 at the IARI, New Delhi; Advisor to Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar in 1976. 

Chairman of two International Symposia at Delhi in 1966 and 1972; President of Indian- Phytopathological Society, Society for Advancement of Botany, Biological Branch of National Academy of Sciences, India, Agricultural Sciences Section of the Indian Science Congress, Indian Mycological Society, Indian Society of Citriculture and Indian Virological Society; also Chairman of International Union of Forestry Research Organisation (IUFRO)—Mycoplasma Diseases and its Corresponding Member from India; was the first Treasurer of the ISPP and Chairman of the Citrus Dieback Committee of the ISPP. 

Editor of International Journal of Tropical Plant Diseases and Review of Tropical Plant Pathology. Has published more than 13 books, 325 papers and guided research of 73 students for Ph.D. and M.Sc. 

Fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences, India, American Phytopathological Society and Honorary Fellow of Indian Mycological Society.