Annie Besant (1847-1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer, orator, educationist, and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She was kept in house arrest in Ooty during the Home Rule movement. The call forRead More →
Brigadier-General Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806-1857) was a British military officer, surveyor, administrator and statesman in British India. He was the founder of Lawrence School, Lovedale. Lawrence was born in Matura (in Sri Lanka) to a poor Irish soldier of fortune. After joining the East India Company in 1823 he studiedRead More →
Josiah John Goodwin ( 1870-1898) was a British stenographer and a disciple of Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda. Goodwin is known for recording Vivekananda’s speeches, and it is thought that without his efforts most of Vivekananda’s works would have been lost. Goodwin joined Swami in Jammu and Lahore in 1897. AdvisedRead More →
Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain (1856 – 1944) was an officer in the British Indian Army. He is credited with having invented the game of snooker. The internationally popular game of snooker was invented Sir Chamberlain and his army friends in Ootacamund Club sometime between in December 1881 and June 1882. The friends,Read More →
George Uglow Pope (1820 –1908), was a Canada born Anglican Christian missionary and Tamil scholar who spent 40 years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English. His popular translations included those of the Tirukkural and Thiruvasagam. He is read and revered by Tamils all over the world till date. A statue on the Chennai beach recognizes him forRead More →
John Browne (1863-1902) was one of the first British entrepreneurs of Ooty. He built a fortune in ‘Tonga’ service. The first mode of transport for Europeans to the Nilgiris was palanquin carried by native bearers. Then came the bullock cart after the foot paths were widened to make them cartRead More →
Carl Roman Abt (1850-1933) was a Swiss mechanical engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. He made groundbreaking innovations in rack-and-pinion railways, giving his name to one of the most widely used systems developed for mountain railways, the Abt rack system. Dr. Abt worked under the renowned German railway engineer Niklaus Riggenbach, the founder ofRead More →
Murray Barnson Emeneau (1904 – 2005) was a Canadian professor of linguistics who specialized in Dravidian languages. Emeneau’s greatest achievement in Dravidian studies was the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary (in two volumes), written with Thomas Burrow and first published in 1961. Revised in a 1984, the second edition, remains the indispensable guide, tool, andRead More →
Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840 – 1915) was a British architect who pioneered the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture (a welcome mix of the Western and Eastern styles) mainly in the Madras Presidency. Chisholm was born in London on 11 January 1840 and had his early education in the UK practicing as a talented landscape painter inRead More →
Major and Brevet Liuet-Colonel James Law Lushington Morant (1839-1886) of the Royal Engineers was born in Belgaum, India to a Madras Army Chaplain. He joined Madras Sappers and Miners in January, 1862. Before that he served in PWD in Bombay, where his contributions still stand and a café is saidRead More →
William Graham McIvor (1824-1876) was a Scottish gardener and creator of the Ooty Botanical Gardens. Mclvor of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, England was given charge of the gardens in 1848. What was before a deep ravine covered with sholas, shrubs and swamps was transformed into an exquisite gardenRead More →
James Wilkinson Breeks (1830-1872) was a British civil servant who became the first Commissioner of Nilgiris when it was separated from the Coimbatore district in 1868. A son in law of Governor Denison, Breeks was a sportive officer who took an all-round interest in developing the new district. Ooty wasRead More →
Muthuvel Karunanidhi ( 1924-2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as “Kalaignar” for his contributions to Tamil literature. When Dr. Karunanidhi came to power in 1971, the Nilgiris was facing multipleRead More →
Kumaraswami Kamaraj ( 1903-1975) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as Chief Minister of Madras state from 1954 to 1963. He was the founder and president of Indian National Congress (organization) and widely acknowledged as ‘King Maker’ in Indian politics. He was known for his simplicity andRead More →