Rajat Kanta Ray, the celebrated history professor of the erstwhile Presidency College, passed away on Wednesday. He was 79 and had been suffering from age-related complications.

Ray taught at Presidency for over three decades, from 1975 to 2006, mentoring generations of historians and history teachers.

He is survived by his wife and two daughters. A long-time resident of Jodhpur Park, Ray had moved to New Town two years ago.

An intellectually gifted scholar of his era, Ray chose the career of a college teacher. Such was his influence that in 2004, then Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi attended one of his lectures at Presidency.

Jayanta Sengupta, a former student and now director of the Alipore Museum, said: “Professor Rajat Kanta Ray gave me the first real sense of great teaching in history. He began a mesmerising survey of the French Revolution and Napoleon with a session on historiography and the importance of understanding how historical narratives shift with changing schools of thought.”

A graduate of Presidency College, Ray earned his PhD from Cambridge. He began his teaching career at IIM Calcutta. Between 2006 and 2011, he served as vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati, a tenure that drew mixed responses.

Among his last major works was Timir Obogunthune, a 27-part non-fiction series on Tagore’s Jibondebota, published in Desh magazine.

His acclaimed books include The Felt Community: Commonality and Mentality Before the Emergence of Indian Nationalism, and Social Conflict and Political Unrest in Bengal 1875–1927.

“Rajat Kanta Ray was a living legend of Presidency. He received the Atul Chandra Gupta Distinguished Alumnus Award 2024 duringthe college’s 207th Founder’s Day celebrations, where he also delivered the Founder’s Day address,” said Bivas Chaudhuri, vice-presidentof the Presidency AlumniAssociation.

To many students, Raybecame an icon from their very first day of college.

“On the first day, hetook us on a tour of Presidency College — the main building, the Baker Building, theDerozio Building — while narrating its history. He told us how and where Hindoo College was founded, and how Presidency Collegecame to 86/1 College Street,” recalled one of his formerstudents.

“He then led us to rooms 2 and 3, home to the history department,” she added.