Prabodh Kumar Bhowmick (1926 â 5 February 2003) was an Indian anthropologist based in West Bengal. He conducted noteworthy work on the Lodha tribe of West Bengal.
Bhowmick was born on 6 September, 1926, in Amdabad village. The village was in the Nandigram II community development block in the undivided Midnapore district of Bengal (now Purba Medinipur). He was the third of eight children born to Jogendranath and Swaryamoyee Devi.
Bhowmick's early education took place at Kalagachia Jagadish Vidyapith, an early national school established in Midnapore district in 1921. He pursued higher education in anthropology, completing his Indian School Certificate in 1949 from Bangabasi College (Kolkata) and his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in 1951 from the University of Calcutta. His teachers included anthropologists Tarak Chandra Das and Nirmal Kumar Bose. He later earned his Ph.D. in 1961, focusing on the socio-economic life of the Lotha tribe of West Bengal.
Bhowmick's work in applied anthropology focused on marginalized and indigenous communities. He was the first Asian scholar to be awarded the Doctor of Science in social anthropology. His Doctor of Philosophy research examined the Lodhas, a denotified and marginalized tribe in West Bengal.
Bhowmic founded BIDISA (Bureau for Integrated Development of Indigenous and Sub-Human Aided Groups), a non-governmental organization in West Bengal.
Bhowmick taught anthropology at the University of Calcutta and other institutions as a professor. He later served as Head of the Post-graduate Department of Anthropology and Dean to the Faculty of Science at the University of Calcutta. He published journals and edited volumes on tribal studies, rural development, and applied anthropology.
Bhowmick died on 5 February 2003 at the age of 76 after being injured when a person fell on him from a moving bus.