text: Manapurathu Verghese George (3 October 1928 - 9 December 2019) was an Indian photochemist and an emeritus professor of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST). He was known for establishing the Photochemistry Research Unit at NIIST and his studies on the mechanism of organic reactions. He is a recipient of the 1992 TWAS Award and an elected fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1973, for his contributions to chemical sciences.