Dr Lionel Charles Renwick Emmett

Soumit Dasgupta recreating his alma mater - Calcutta Medical College

( a bit long but a delight)

"I alighted at the railway station in Colchester sometime in 1993 on a glorious spring day. My mission – to meet someone who not only had a rather chequered and colourful life but also a scientist of some credit. Taking a cab from the station, I reached my destination at Finchingfield Way.

On ringing the bell, a very pleasant, darkish lady opened the door for me. With a twinkling smile, she said, “You must be Dr Dasgupta. Come in, Lionel is expecting you. I am Dorothy, Mrs Emmett”.

A tallish but thin English gentleman with a slight limp came from inside. With a deep voice, he extended his hand and said, “Dr Dasgupta, I am Lionel Charles Renwick Emmett, ex student Calcutta Medical College. I believe you want to talk to me regarding my time there.”

I stood up and shook him by the hand. “Thank you so much Mr Emmett. Yes indeed. I am an ex student of CMC myself and I want to tell the world your contributions to the College.”

He waved, “Have a seat and call me Lionel. Well, I don’t know about my contributions but I am proud that I was a part of the College.”

He tousled his cropped hair and said,” I was born in Mussoorie in 1913 to a civil servant. And you know what, we were full British and not Anglo Indians and did not have any native blood flowing through our veins. My grandfather arrived in India and married a full white British lass; my father had done the same. We were called Anglo Indians because of our births and not by our pedigree”. He leaned back and looked at me, “Please don’t get offended at this rather self righteous history. This background is important for you to understand what has defined me all my life.”

He continued, “I was educated at the elite St George’s School in Mussoorie. You must know how white society was at that time. Mussoorie was an exclusive white town and in fact segregation was rampant. I was fed from a very young age about our superiority as a race and that the natives were almost subhuman”.

Frankly, I was surprised at this story as I always thought that of the colonial powers, the British were the most liberal and promoted equality more than the others. But I had no reason not to believe him.

“ In 1930, when India was reeling under an armed freedom struggle, I finished school. I always wanted to be a doctor and my father immediately started making arrangements for me to get enrolled in Bart’s in London with his connections. But my mother would have none of it. She wanted me to stay in India. One of her cousins, Mr Walter at that time was working in the Treasury in Calcutta. His friend was the redoubtable Mr Jasper Anderson, the world famous surgeon working as a Professor in the equally famous Calcutta Medical College. Mr Walter managed to convince my father that this medical college would be best for me as the education is comparable to that in the home country. 

And then he sighed and a dreamy look came to his face. “You see doctor, arriving in Calcutta, was the best thing that had happened to me. I arrived when I was 18 years old, a white and a somewhat racist boy to study in a college that did not treat its students with any distinction. At that time, CMC had about 700 students of which about 14 of us were pure Europeans. We had Hindus both low and high castes, Mohammedans, Sikhs and Parsees in our midst. We attended classes together, dissected bodies together, hobnobbed, laughed together and yes hung out together. Initially, it was not easy and I must owe it to my professors who included giants like Anderson, Murray, Gow, Banerjee, Ukil and Chopra who continuously emphasized that doctors do not have any cast or creed or religion. We were all equal.”

“In fact, our principal Colonel Boyd gave us the white boys a pep talk that we will have to come out of our race prejudices, otherwise CMC was not for us.” His voice became a little bit choked with emotion when he said,” I was just a man before I joined CMC but CMC turned me to a human being”.  

He leaned towards me and asked, “Did you see my flowers at our front door? They are there for a reason. Both camellia and rhododendron were discovered by Nathaniel Wallich, an ex professor of botany in Calcutta Medical College. These flowers remind me of CMC every day”.

I consulted my notes and said, ”So it was during your time in our college that you got selected for the British Indian field hockey team and qualified for the Berlin Olympics in 1936? Please tell me about your experiences in Berlin”.

Lionel sat back and said, “That’s right. I was always keen on hockey and played representing the Bengal province. I got selected. And I was proud. The team was captained by the legendary Dhyan Chand and half the team was pure Indian. We wanted to showcase the world, that we were one united British Indian unit, a progressive and liberal team not shackled by any racial prejudice.”

“We arrived in Berlin in July, 1936. I was impressed by the city. It seemed like a highly developed capital and glittering with all modern amenities. I came to know much later that all anti Jew signs were pulled down at the time of the Olympics. We had no clue. The tournament was a piece of cake for us, a dream ride. We won by huge margins in all the matches. In a group match against the USA where I played, we won by 7-0. I personally set up Dhyan Chand for 2 goals.”

“In the finals, we demolished the German national team by 8 -1. Remember, the German national team comprised of the classical blue eyed blond Aryan prototypes and members from the Wehrmacht.” He rubbed his hands with glee, “On the victory podium, as the band played God Save the King, I saw the disdain in the Fuhrer’s face at a distance. After all, a team with a bunch of sub humans and led by a subhuman destroyed his invincible Aryan army. But saying that, I befriended a German hockey player Kurt Weiss, who seemed quite nice”.

Dorothy came to the room with a tray with scones, biscuits and a wonderfully aromatic tea. Lionel whilst preparing the tea told me with a twinkle in his eyes, “This is from Corramore in Assam, doctor, you will love it”.

I did and then continued, ”You know Lionel, when I was doing my homework about you, it is not very clear as to what happened to you after you won the gold medal in Berlin.”

Lionel stood up and went near the garden window. He looked at me and said, “You can imagine how proud I was. Professor Boyd was transferred at that time and Professor Anderson became the principal. He declared a whole day off in my honour. Those were the days. Anyway, I finished by MB from CMC and then worked under Prof Anderson and Sir Kedarnath Das for some time as an assistant surgeon in CMC and Campbell Medical School.  After a gruelling examination, I qualified for the coveted Indian Medical Service in 1941 and was posted with the Field Hospital of the 8th Indian Division attached to the 5th British Infantry Division. In 1943, I was posted in the war theatre in Italy as a major”.

He came back and sat down. “I’ll tell you a story now that you might find incredible. In Bagnara Calabra,  as I started my rounds, I came across a German prisoner of war, injured and being cared for by Dr Anil Biswas, my lieutenant in the IMS and ex CMC. This was no other than Sturmbannfuhrer Kurt Weiss, my German friend from 1936. He joined the Wehrmacht in 1934 and was deputed to the Karstjaeger division of the SS, who I knew were fighting in Italy. Kurt looked at me and broke into a smile. ‘Ah Herr Major, your assistant, this young leutnant is a credit to you. You know something, what I have been drilled so far is wrong. Non Aryans are as much humans as us’. My heart swelled with pride. SS, the organisation that preached violent racism to the core regarded every non Aryan as untermenschen or subhuman. Kurt Weiss was bred on that philosophy. And now he was saying this. He was like me, ex bigot and racist and changed by the empathetic touch of a doctor from my college. This is who we are” – once again he became rather emotional.

“I returned to India and was posted in Burma where I became a lieutenant colonel and took up a job as a GP in Assam tea plantations where I cared for the rich owners, managers and their very poor employees after the end of the war. Now you know my love for Assam tea. I retired in 1968, came to England and settled in Colchester and continued as a GP.”

I looked at my notes again, “And you were honoured with the Military Cross and conferred the Membership of the British Empire in 1945. So you were injured explaining the limp. You are a scientist and discoverer as well, aren’t you Lionel? Please tell me about it”.

He waved his hand and said, ”Nothing much. I discovered the copper omega intrauterine contraceptive device and patented it in the 1970s.” I marvelled at his modesty. This device, not in use any more, started refinement of the IUCD as an effective contraceptive tool.

How time flew. We were talking for over 3 hours and there was never a dull moment. When the time came for me to leave, I asked him in a pleading voice, “Lionel can you show me your Berlin 1936 gold medal”?”

He said, “Of course”. He went to the glass show case, opened it and brought to me his Berlin 1936 gold medal in all its glory. It sent shivers down my spine thinking of the historical significance of it. I said, “This must be your most precious and cherished possession”.

He looked at me strangely and muttered,” No doctor. I have with me another one that is far more prestigious and cherishing than all the accolades I’ve ever been bestowed with. It defines me and my gold medal, my military achievements cannot be compared to it. Its in my bedroom next to me, I’ll go get it”.

My curiosity was irked. I waited for him to come back from his bedroom and saw him trudging back to the living room. He sat down and wore a pair of gloves. Very gingerly and with utmost care, he untied the tie of a purple velvet pouch and brought out a round medal. The sun glinted at the polished silver. Evidently, it was well cared for. He turned it to me and showed me. On one side was etched,” Medical College of Bengal, founded  1835”. In the middle was our very dear symbol of the snake and the tree and Cum Humanitate Scientia. On the other side, was etched, ‘’Awarded Goodeve Medal for Proficiency in Midwifery to Lionel Charles Renwick Emmett, year 1935”. Lionel’s eyes glinted with the sun when he said, ”Prof Vivian Armytage and Sir Kedarnath Das were my examiners who thought me worthy of this”.

His eyes misted when he looked at me. ”You know something son. You want to tell the world my contributions to Calcutta Medical College. Let me tell you what it did for me and not the other way round. Calcutta Medical College did not just let me train in my preferred trade and set me up for a successful career in medicine, it was far more than that. It taught me humanity and empathy for my fellow man. This is what Calcutta Medical College is. The moment you enter its hallowed grounds you are meant to feel for others. You, I’m sure have attained success in life and will achieve more but success, money, fame cannot be equated to humanity. That is the greatest gift in life. Don’t ever forget that”.

I was affected profoundly and took their leave. As I was getting into the cab on my way back to the station, I waved at them and they waved back at me. It was a beautiful sight to see, these 2 excellent human beings at the door of their modest cottage surrounded by beautiful flowers discovered by a giant who worked in Calcutta Medical College. 

Dr Lionel Charles Renwick Emmett passed away in 9th August 1996 in Colchester surrounded by family and friends". Born 8th January 1913

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David Rushton writes (19.09.2024)

Your e-mail revived and stirred up so many happy memories of Charles for me as he was the was the Chief Medical Officer at Mariani for the Gardens in that district – then within the management control of The Jorehaut Tea Company, Jardine Henderson ( I was an Assistant Manager on Hunwal) Octavius Steele, Scottish Assam and Macleod’s etc.

Mariani Club located on Hunwal muttee was very forward thinking with an excellent swimming pool and an air conditioned club house with the bighley supplied by AC from the Hunwal factory.  Charles was a very affable man and he had a close bridge playing friendship with Robert Shaw (Tyroon).  Charles pioneered and promoted the Lippeys loop an IUCD as the most effective way of birth control but I am afraid he was a little ahead of his time.  He to my knowledge never seriously mentioned his Olympic gold medal nor his time in pre-war Germany.  He was a most self-effacing man and wore his exploits with a casual disregard for its eminence,

I remember him fondly as he was a friendly but most competent GP and very good company.  I was on Hunwal in 1964-1966 and saw Charles frequently.  I left Assam in September 1966 following a terminal interview with Ian Morris, Jardines director of Tea Estates with a wonderful swan song at the All India in Calcutta., staying with Hamish McKay (Shaw Wallace gin) whom I subsequently met in the US he having joined Johnny Walker.

Thank you Alan for posting that delightful e-mail

Bohut salaams

David