UpdateBot at 02:34, 24 June 2022

2022-06-24T02:34:14Z

New page

{{short description|Indian lawyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kamila Tyabji
| image = KamilaTyabji1937.png
| alt = A young South Asian woman, with dark hair parted center, wearing a sari.
| caption = Kamila Tyabji as a young woman, from a 1937 newspaper.
| other_names =
| birth_name = Kamila Faiz Badruddin Tyabji
| birth_date = 14 February 1918
| birth_place = Mumbai
| death_date = {{d-da|17 May 2004|14 February 1918}}
| death_place = Mumbai
| occupation = Lawyer, philanthropist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}

'''Kamila Tyabji''' (14 February 1918 – 17 May 2004) was an Indian philanthropist and lawyer.

== Early life and education ==
Kamila Faiz Badruddin Tyabji was born in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], a member of the prominent [[Muslim]] [[Tyabji family]] of that city. Her father was Faiz Badruddin Tyabji, a judge, and her mother Salima was a member of the [[Bombay Legislative Assembly]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Khan|first=Danish|date=2012-02-15|title=Jam and chutney for the unskilled|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/jam-and-chutney-for-the-unskilled/article2893386.ece|access-date=2020-10-30|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Karlitzky|first=Maren|date=2002|title=The Tyabji Clan: Urdu as a Symbol of Group Identity|url=https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/18430/st17_Karlitzky.pdf;jsessionid=6769BAC291D6AFAE55C5DC895E593CD3?sequence=2|journal=The Annual of Urdu Studies|pages=193}}</ref> Her grandfather was [[Badruddin Tyabji]] (1844-1906), third president of the [[Indian National Congress]]. Her brother was [[Badruddin Tyabji (diplomat)|Badruddin Tyabji]], [[Laila Tyabji]] is her niece, and [[Zafar Futehally]] was her first cousin.{{fact|date=June 2022}}

Tyabji attended [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai|St. Xavier's College]] in Bombay, and [[St Hugh's College, Oxford]]; at the latter school, she was a classmate of [[Indira Gandhi]]'s. She was one of the earliest Muslim women to study at Oxford,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Khan|first=Naseem|date=2004-06-15|title=Obituary: Kamila Tyabji|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jun/15/guardianobituaries.india|access-date=2020-10-30|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> arriving in 1937,<ref>{{Cite news|date=15 September 1937|title=Miss Kamila Tyabji|page=5|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.12282/page/4/mode/2up?q=Kamila+Tyabji|access-date=30 October 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> only two years younger than [[Velia Abdel-Huda]], who is credited as first.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sarin|first=Sophie|date=2013-01-01|title=Princess Lulie Flamboyant: Art historian and friend of Freya Stark and|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/princess-lulie-flamboyant-art-historian-and-friend-freya-stark-and-anthony-blunt-8434225.html|access-date=2020-10-31|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
Tyabji wore "brilliant silken saris" while she practiced [[insurance law]] in London for 25 years,<ref name=":0" /> and hosted a [[BBC Television|BBC television]] program, ''Asian Club'', with Shakuntala Shrinagesh, between 1953 and 1956.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pandit|first=Vaijayanti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSFDDAAAQBAJ&q=Kamila+Tyabji&pg=PA159|title=BUSINESS @ HOME|date=2003|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|isbn=978-81-259-1218-7|pages=159–161|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Asian Club|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=Asian+Club&yt=|access-date=2020-10-30|website=BBC Genome}}</ref> In 1960 she was founder and first chair of the [[Women's Indian Association|Women's Indian Association of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sheila Arora|url=http://archive.org/details/twentyfiveyearsr00shei|title=Twenty-Five Years Remenbered The Women's India Association of the United Kingdom 1960-1985|date=1987|others=Public Resource|isbn=978-0-9511872-0-3|pages=70}}</ref>

After returning to India in the mid-1960s, Tyabji founded a charity, the Women's India Trust (WIT) in 1968, to improve women's economic independence by supporting home-based work including sewing, embroidery, and cookery.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=8 April 2001|title=Just Jammin'|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Just-Jammin/articleshow/36752538.cms|access-date=2020-10-30|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> She began the Kamila Trust in the UK, to support the work of the WIT and open a London shop, Kashi, to sell WIT goods.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=CHARANTIMATH|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HhI8BAAAQBAJ&q=Kamila+Tyabji&pg=PA116|title=Entrepreneurship Development and Small Business Enterprises|date=2013|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-93-325-0953-5|pages=116–117|language=en}}</ref>

Tyabji wrote ''Limited Interests in Muhammadan Law'' (1949),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tyabji|first=Kamila|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5kpAQAAMAAJ|title=Limited Interests in Muhammadan Law|date=1949|publisher=Stevens|language=en}}</ref> "Education and Life: Some Rethinking for Commonwealth Women" (1966),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=TYABJI|first=KAMILA|title=Education and Life: Some Re-Thinking for Commonwealth Women|date=1966|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41369645|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts|volume=114|issue=5116|pages=308–318|jstor=41369645|issn=0035-9114}}</ref> and "Polygamy, Unilateral Divorce, and Mahr in Muslim Law as Interpreted in India". She was India's representative on the [[United Nations Commission on the Status of Women]].<ref name=":1" />

== Personal life and legacy ==
Tyabji died in Mumbai in 2004, aged 86 years.<ref name=":1" /> WIT continues working for women's economic independence, and runs a nursing home and teacher training school in addition to its original activities.<ref name=":0" /> The Kamila Tyabji WIT Centre in [[Panvel]] was named in her honour.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Repairs of Kamila Tyabji Centre|url=https://www.wit.org.in/news/repairs-of-kamilatyabji-centre/|access-date=2020-10-30|website=WIT|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhavika|title=WIT: This Women's Trust Makes Everything From Cushion Covers To Stationery|url=https://lbb.in/mumbai/womens-india-trust/|access-date=2020-10-30|website=LBB, Mumbai|language=en}}</ref> In 2014, she was posthumously awarded the KarmaVeer Puraskaar, for her lifetime achievements.<ref>[http://www.karmaveerawards.com/year-2014-15-next2.php KarmaVeer Paraskaar Awardees, 2014-2015].</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{IMDB name|7530092}}
*[https://www.wit.org.in/ Women's India Trust (WIT)], official website.
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyabji, Kamila}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian feminists]]
[[Category:People from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Parsi people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women lawyers]]

Kamila Tyabji - Revision history

UpdateBot at 02:34, 24 June 2022