Eminent mathematician and educationalist Dr Mangala Narlikar - the wife of astrophysicist and writer Prof Jayant Narlikar - passed away in Pune on Monday after prolonged illness.
She was 80.
She is survived by husband and three daughters - Geeta, Girija and Leelavati.
The Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics confirmed the death of Dr Mangala.
“The IUCAA family is in great grief due to the sad demise of Mathematician and popular writer Dr. Mangala Narlikar at her residence in Pune, early this morning. She was 80 and was ailing from a recurrence of cancer. Dr Mangala spent many decades in both research as well as teaching of Mathematics and also contributed to the revision of Math syllabus for school students. She was also a proponent of rationalism and scientific attitude and a popular writer,” the IUCAA said.
She was the strongest supporter of our founder Director Prof. Jayant Narlikar and thus instrumental in the birth and evolution of IUCAA, it said.
Dr Mangala married Dr Narlikar in 1966 - and 16 years later she completed her Ph.D.
From 1964 to 1966, Dr Mangala worked as a Research Student and Research Associate in the School of Mathematics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
From 1967 to 1969 she taught at the undergraduate school at the University of Cambridge.
From 1974 to 1980 she again worked in the School of Mathematics of TIFR.
In 1989, the couple moved to Pune where she worked in the Mathematics department of the University of Pune, now known as the Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Dr Mangala's core fields of interest are real and complex analysis, analytic geometry, number theory, algebra, and topology.
She was honoured with the Vishwanath Parvati Gokhale Award 2002.