Homi J. Bhabha
Physicist
Nuclear physicist from India who founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment. Both organizations laid the foundation for the development of nuclear weapons in India.
He published his first scientific paper, The Absorption of Cosmic Radiation, in 1933 and went on to receive his Ph.D. in nuclear physics.
He died in a 1966 Air India plane crash, and one conspiracy theory held that the CIA had caused the crash to try to halt India's nuclear program.
He was born into a wealthy Parsi family in Bombay.
He convinced prominent Indian politician (and later Prime Minister), Jawaharlal Nehru, to initiate a nuclear power and weapons research program in India.