->Nerdy Felix 16 at 15:26, 31 October 2021

2021-10-31T15:26:24Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody<br/>麼地
| image = Hormusjee Naorojee Mody.tiff
| caption = "''Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works''"
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1838|10|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bombay]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1911|06|16|1838|10|12|df=y}}
| death_place = Hong Kong
| other_names =
| known_for = Contribution towards the founding of the [[University of Hong Kong]] &
[[Kowloon Cricket Club]]
| occupation = Businessman
| nationality = [[India]]n
| spouse = Maneckbai Mody
}}

'''Sir''' '''Hormusjee Naorojee Mody''' (12 October 1838 – 16 June 1911) was a successful [[Parsis|Indian Parsi]] businessman in [[Hong Kong]]. He made Hong Kong his home for 50 years, during which he did much for the benefit of the colony and finally founded the [[University of Hong Kong]]

==Biography==
He was born in [[Mumbai|Bombay]] and moved to Hong Kong around 1860. At the time there was a large community of [[India]]n [[Parsis|Parsi]] [[merchant]]s based in Hong Kong, including [[Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala]], who founded the [[Star Ferry]] and [[Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee|Jehangir Hormujee Ruttonjee]] who helped establish the Hong Kong Ruttonjee Sanatorium.

Mody arrived in Hong Kong in 1858 with help from his uncle Jehangirjee Buxey.<ref name="zoroastrian1">[http://www.zoroastrian.org.uk/vohuman/Article/Hormusjee%20Naorojee%20Mody.htm The Life & Times of Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody]. Zoroastrian.org.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2011.</ref> He spent his early days in the colony as an auctioneer of [[opium]], then a legally respectable activity.<ref name="Mellor">{{cite book|last=Mellor|first=Bernard|title=The University of Hong Kong [electronic Resource] : An Informal History|location=Hong Kong|publisher= Hong Kong UP|year=1980}}</ref>

After working at [[Banknotes of the Hong Kong dollar|Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan]] and later Buxey and Company, Mody partnered with another Indian immigrant, Sir [[Catchick Paul Chater]],<ref>http://chater-genealogy.blogspot.ca/2016/10/sir-hormusjee-mody-his-family-and-their.html</ref> to form the brokerage company Chater and Mody which enjoyed great success in the real estate/land business. Mody saw the potential of buying and developing land in [[Kowloon]] after it was [[Convention of Peking|ceded to the British]] in 1860. Both partners also participated in the great [[Praya Reclamation Scheme]] of 1887.<ref name="Mellor"/>

Mody contributed towards founding of [[University of Hong Kong]], [[Hong Kong Jockey Club]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://racingmemories.hk/hottopics/mody/|title=Racing Memories - Hormusjee Mody|website=racingmemories.hk|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref> and [[Kowloon Cricket Club]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kcc.org.hk/history/|title=History of Kowloon Cricket Club|website=Kowloon Cricket Club|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref>

==Family==
Sir Hormusjee Mody and his wife Maneckbai had five children, 4 boys and a girl.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sirpaulchater/genealogy/biography_Hormusjee_Mody.html|title=Sir Hormusjee Mody, His Life and Family|website=freepages.rootsweb.com|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref>

* Sirinbai Mody married to Nusseranji Dady, they had a son Hormusjee.
* Merwanjee Mody 1858–1910
* Naoroz Hormusjee Naoroji Mody 1875–1944
* Jehangirjee Hormusjee Mody 1876–1949
* Dinshawjee Hormusjee Mody 1882–1920

==Contribution towards founding of University of Hong Kong==
[[File:HKU Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody.jpg|right|thumb|120px|A bust of Sir Mody in the [[University of Hong Kong]]]]
Mody was a friend of the Hong Kong Governor, [[Frederick Lugard|Sir Frederick Lugard]] and his wife [[Flora Shaw]], who wished to found a university in Hong Kong. Mody offered to contribute a great sum of money, $150,000, to help establish the [[University of Hong Kong]], provided it was matched by donations from other sources. His donation, eventually almost doubled to $285,000, was a very significant component of the total endowment for the inception of this institution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/4830.html|title=Unveiling Ceremony of the Sir Hormusjee N Mody Bust in HKU - Press Releases - Media - HKU|website=www.hku.hk|language=en|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref>

At the foundation ceremony on 16 March 1910, Mody summed up his reasons for contributing towards HKU

"''As a young man, the advantages of education were unfortunately not within my reach, and I have to-day at my advanced age to confess myself 'no scholar'. Throughout my long life I have daily realised all I have missed for want of a sound education, and it was with the idea of in some measure providing for others what I was myself denied that I determined to offer to erect at my own cost a building which should bring within their reach those educational advantages which I have myself so greatly missed''".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www4.hku.hk/photos/index.php/gallery/event/detail/509|title=In memory of Sir H N Mody (2018) {{!}} Albums {{!}} HKU - Photo Gallery & Library|website=www4.hku.hk|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref>

Hong Kong Telegraph 17 March 1910 rightly summed up this event taking queue from the speech of [[Viceroy]] of Canton during the ceremony. “''....They Built Better Than They Knew…..''”<ref name=":2" />

Sadly, Sir H.N. Mody did not survive long enough to see opening of the university. The University was officially opened on 11 March 1912. Sir Hormusjee Mody’s son Naoroz Hormusjee Naoroji Mody attended the opening ceremony and said:

"''Your Excellency [Lord Lugard], it is with feelings of the utmost pleasure and pride that I proceed to perform the duty which devolves upon me of formally in the name of my late father, presenting this University building, to the community, and requesting that you, Sir, may be pleased to declare the same open, and, on behalf of my mother, I also desire to express her regret that, through ill health, she is unable to be present this day……I desire to express to your Excellency the satisfaction which my mother and family feel on this auspicious occasion when the work so nobly undertaken by your Excellency and my father, is about to be brought to so successful and fitting a conclusion……….I would add that had my father been spared to see this day his heart would have rejoiced at this realisation of his hopes. I may further state that I have given instructions for the making of a silver model of the main Building of the University which, when complete, I would ask your Excellency to accept as a souvenir of this opening ceremony, which is, I think a memorable one in the annals of the Colony''".<ref name=":2" />

==Awards & Titles==
* [[Knight]]ed on 16 March 1910 post his speech during foundation ceremony of HKU. It was announced by Sir Frederick Lugard. “''His Majesty has been pleased to approve that Mr. Mody be appointed Knight Bachelor. Letters Patent will be issued in due course. I concur in your proposal to announce the honour at the laying of the foundation stone of the University. A simultaneous announcement will be made in the United Kingdom.''”<ref name=":2" />
* [[Legion of Honour]] bestowed by the French government.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.zoroastrian.org.uk/vohuman/Article/Hormusjee%20Naorojee%20Mody.htm|title=The Life & Times of Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody|website=www.zoroastrian.org.uk|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref>
* Nicknamed 'the Napoleon of the Rialto' for becoming the director of many companies.<ref name=":1" />
*Winner of 11 [[Hong Kong Derby]]'s and 1 Shanghai Derby. He raced under the name of "Mr. Buxey" and his colours were "Blue and white stripes".<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://racing.hkjc.com/racing/information/English/Racing/LocalResults.aspx?RaceDate=2018/12/02&Racecourse=ST&RaceNo=8|title=Mody Handicap Race Results 2018|website=racing.hkjc.com|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref>

==Namesakes==
Several places in Hong Kong are named after him:
* [[Mody Road]] and [[Mody Square]] in [[Tsim Sha Tsui]]

==Resting place==
[[Image:Hormusjee mody grave.jpg|thumb|120px|Grave of Hormusjee Mody [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23288009/hormusjee-naorojee-mody]]]
Mody died at his residence, Buxey Lodge, [[Conduit Road]], Hong Kong in 1911 and is buried in the Hong Kong Parsee Cemetery in [[Happy Valley, Hong Kong|Happy Valley]].<ref name="zoroastrian1"/>

==Commemoration==
A bronze bust of Sir Hormusjee N. Mody was presented by the Incorporated Trustees of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hong Kong, Canton and Macao to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the University.<ref name=":0" /> It resides on the main staircase of the main building.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www4.hku.hk/photos/index.php/gallery/media/detail/6148|title=Bust of Sir H N Mody|website=www4.hku.hk|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref>

Every year on founder's day, the Parsi community of Hong Kong visit the Hong Kong University along with university students and officials to remember him. A small prayer is said by a Parsi [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] priest in front of bust of Sir Hormusjee N. Mody.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Story of Sir H N Mody and HKU|url=https://uvision.hku.hk/playvideo.php?mid=22773|language=en|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref>

Every year Mody [[Handicap (horse racing)|Handicap]] race is run in his honour by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.<ref name=":3" />

==See also==
* [https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00wriguoft Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China, Mr. H. N. Mody, 1908]
* [http://www.giving.hku.hk/en/Why-Give/Honouring-The-First-Benefactor-Of-Hku.html Honouring the First Benefactor of HKU]
* [https://derbymuseum.pastperfectonline.com/library/905DD820-D39F-4513-875A-303743303846 "The Race Goes On...:A Millennium Retrospect of Racing in Hong Kong"]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Hormusjee Naorojee Mody}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mody, Hormusjee Naorojee}}
[[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]]
[[Category:Hong Kong people of Parsi descent]]
[[Category:Hong Kong people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:1838 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:Parsi people]]
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Indian knights]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]

Hormusjee Naorojee Mody - Revision history

->Nerdy Felix 16 at 15:26, 31 October 2021