14 February 1918
Mumbai
Lawyer, philanthropist
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 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.[1][2] Her grandfather was Badruddin Tyabji (1844-1906), third president of the Indian National Congress. Her brother was Badruddin Tyabji, Laila Tyabji is her niece, and Zafar Futehally was her first cousin.Template:Fact
Tyabji attended 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,[3] arriving in 1937,[4] only two years younger than Velia Abdel-Huda, who is credited as first.[5]
Career
Tyabji wore "brilliant silken saris" while she practiced insurance law in London for 25 years,[1] and hosted a BBC television program, Asian Club, with Shakuntala Shrinagesh, between 1953 and 1956.[6][7] In 1960 she was founder and first chair of the Women's Indian Association of the United Kingdom.[8]
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.[1][9] 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.[10]
Tyabji wrote Limited Interests in Muhammadan Law (1949),[11] "Education and Life: Some Rethinking for Commonwealth Women" (1966),[12] 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.[3]
Personal life and legacy
Tyabji died in Mumbai in 2004, aged 86 years.[3] WIT continues working for women's economic independence, and runs a nursing home and teacher training school in addition to its original activities.[1] The Kamila Tyabji WIT Centre in Panvel was named in her honour.[10][13][14] In 2014, she was posthumously awarded the KarmaVeer Puraskaar, for her lifetime achievements.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Jam and chutney for the unskilled. The Hindu(2012-02-15). Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ The Tyabji Clan: Urdu as a Symbol of Group Identity. The Annual of Urdu Studies({Template:Date).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Obituary: Kamila Tyabji, Khan, Naseem. the Guardian(2004-06-15). Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ Miss Kamila Tyabji. The Bombay Chronicle(15 September 1937). Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ↑ Princess Lulie Flamboyant: Art historian and friend of Freya Stark and, Sarin, Sophie. The Independent(2013-01-01). Retrieved 2020-10-31.
- ↑ BUSINESS @ HOME{{#if:Pandit|, Pandit}. Vikas Publishing House(2003). ISBN 978-81-259-1218-7
- ↑ Asian Club. BBC Genome. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ Twenty-Five Years Remenbered The Women's India Association of the United Kingdom 1960-1985{{#if:Sheila Arora|, Sheila Arora}(1987). ISBN 978-0-9511872-0-3
- ↑ Just Jammin'. The Times of India(8 April 2001). Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Entrepreneurship Development and Small Business Enterprises{{#if:CHARANTIMATH|, CHARANTIMATH}. Pearson Education India(2013). ISBN 978-93-325-0953-5
- ↑ Limited Interests in Muhammadan Law{{#if:Tyabji|, Tyabji}. Stevens(1949)
- ↑ Education and Life: Some Re-Thinking for Commonwealth Women. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts({Template:Date).
- ↑ Repairs of Kamila Tyabji Centre. WIT. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ WIT: This Women's Trust Makes Everything From Cushion Covers To Stationery, Bhavika. LBB, Mumbai. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ KarmaVeer Paraskaar Awardees, 2014-2015.
External links
- Template:IMDB name
- Women's India Trust (WIT), official website.