Chandrashekhar Dhundiraj Deshpande (14 January 1912 – 14 November 1999) was an Indian geographer, educationist and author[1] Deshpande was born in a Marathi-speaking Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family[2] of Sanskrit scholars on 14 January 1912 in Kolhapur, a city then in Kolhapur State.
[3] An academic innovator and teacher he worked on many fronts to improve the status of Geography as an independent science and discipline in India.
[citation needed] For this purpose, he gathered ideas from the principal centres of geographical teaching and research in the United Kingdom.
[citation needed] Deshpande made vigorous efforts for the teaching of geography in schools and colleges in Maharashtra.
Deshpande's own personal efforts were also crucial in the establishment of an independent department of geography at the University of Bombay.