Hemendrakumar Prithivraj Gandhi (born 20 August 1920, Pratapgarh, Rajasthan; died 5 June 2008) was a pioneering Indian phycologist and diatomist. H P Gandhi did his primary and higher secondary schooling at Pratapgarh and obtained his intermediate degree from Agra . Later, he completed his bachelor's degree and Masters in Botany from the Wilson College, Mumbai in 1949, where he specialized in algae under the supervision of leading phycologist Prof. A. Ella Gonzales.Gandhi joined as an assistant lecturer at Karnatak University (earlier known as Karnatak College), Dharwar in July 1949 and very soon he was transferred unceremoniously to M N College, Visnagar in Gujarat (August 1949), then to I Y College, Bombay (November 1949), and after another short time period he joined Rajaram College, Ko