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[[File:David Mordecai (1909-1973).jpg|thumbnail|David Mordecai]]<br />
'''David Mordecai''' (1909-1973) was an Indian photographer in Calcutta whose subjects included the [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehrus]], [[Tenzing Norgay]], [[Sir Edmund Hillary]], and [[King Mahendra]] and [[Queen Ratna]] of Nepal.<br />
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==Early life and family==<br />
Mordecai was born in Calcutta, India, in 1909, the son of Isaac and Esther Mordecai. His family were part of the Bagdadi Jewish community of Calcutta.<ref name=recall>[http://www.jewishcalcutta.in/exhibits/show/imp_mem_com/david-mordecai David Mordecai.] ''Recalling Jewish Calcutta: Memories of the Jewish community in Calcutta''. Retrieved 6 September 2015.</ref><br />
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Mordecai married Trixie and they had three daughters, Esthére, Anita, and Cheryl;<ref name=recall/> six grandchildren: Rian, Lee, Steven, Amiel, Rachael and Daniel and three great-grandchildren: Samuel, Amir and Shamira.<br />
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==Career==<br />
Originally destined for the family business of Daw Sen & Company, makers of condiments, Mordecai eventually broke out to start his own photography business after showing aptitude for the subject as a child when his mother gave him a Kodak box camera as a gift.<ref name=recall/><br />
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Mordecai developed a large business in producing society portraits, souvenirs for tourists, documentary and topographical works, and official photographs for businesses, including for Indian railways. His portraits included the Nehrus, Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary, and King Mahendra and Queen Ratna of Nepal.<ref name=recall/> His studio at one time had over 100 employees. His output covered the transitional period of the last days of the British Raj and the first days of independent India.<ref>[http://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/book-review-a-book-on-indian-heritage-and-its-jewish-influences-114121900598_1.html Book Review: Indian heritage and its Jewish influences.] Jael Silliman, ''[[Business Standard]]'', 20 December 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2015.</ref><br />
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==Death==<br />
Mordecai died in 1973 after suffering ill health in his later years.<ref name=recall/><br />
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==Selected publications==<br />
*''India Through the Camera's Eye''<br />
*''His Majesty King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shaha Deva. An analytical biography''. Bombay, Nityand Society, c. 1963. (Editor)<br />
*''The Himalayas: An illustrated summary of the world's highest mountain ranges''. Calcutta, Daw Sen, 1966.<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[History of the Jews in Kolkata]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
*[[Kenneth X. Robbins|Robbins, Kenneth X.]] & Marvin Tokayer (eds.) ''Jews and the Indian National Art Project''. Niyogi Books, 2015. {{ISBN|978-9383098545}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
*http://www.jewishcalcutta.in/exhibits/show/business/david-mordecai--a-selection-of<br />
*http://www.jewishcalcutta.in/exhibits/show/business/david-mordecai--photographs-of<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordecai, David}}<br />
[[Category:1909 births]]<br />
[[Category:1973 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Artists from Kolkata]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Jews]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian photographers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian portrait photographers]]<br />
[[Category:Photographers from West Bengal]]</div>
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