Gambir Singh Yonzone

Gambir Singh Yonzone is a botanist who spent more than five decades building up education and protecting forests in the Darjeeling hills. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of literature and education, from West Bengal ^[1].

From Sinji village

Yonzone was born on 17 November 1939 in Sinji, a remote village in Kalimpong ^[2]. His parents were his first teachers ^[2]. According to his citation, he was the first Indian Nepali (Gorkha) to earn an MSc in botany, from the University of North Bengal in 1964, and a PhD in botany, from the University of Calcutta in 1976 ^[2].

Teacher and principal

Between 1962 and 1964 he helped set up permanent MSc courses in botany and zoology at Darjeeling Government College, which have since taught more than 1,200 students ^[2]. He went on to head its botany department and become principal of Kalimpong College ^[2]. He was a Fulbright visiting professor at Ohio State University in 1993 and a founder member of Sikkim University’s academic council ^[2].

Saving forests

From 1978 to 1984 he led a campaign that stopped large-scale felling of old hill forests by the state forest corporation ^[2]. He also played a part in setting up the Singalila and Neora Valley national parks ^[2].

In his home village he started a rural library in 1978 and gave land for a high school in 1983 ^[2]. He founded animal shelters in Kalimpong and Darjeeling and a science centre at Delo ^[2]. INTACH named him a “Living Treasure of Darjeeling” in 2001 ^[2].