J. R. D. Tata

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata

J. R. D. Tata was born on 29 July 1904 to an Indian

As his mother was French, he spent much of his childhood in France and as a result, French was his first language. He attended the Janson De Sailly School in Paris.[3] One of the teachers at that school used to call him L'Egyptien.^[4]

He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay. Tata was educated in London, Japan, France and India.^[5] When his father joined the Tata company he moved the whole family to London. During this time, J. R. D.'s mother died at the age of 43 while his father was in India and his family was in France.

After his mother's death,

In 1929, Tata renounced his French citizenship and became an Indian citizen. In 1930 Tata married Thelma Vicaji, the niece of Jack Vicaji, a colourful lawyer whom he hired to defend him on a charge of driving his Bugatti too fast along Bombay's main promenade, Marine Drive. Previously he had been engaged to Dinbai Mehta, the future mother of The Economist editor Shapur Kharegat.

While he was born to a Parsi father, and his French mother converted to

When Tata was in tour, he was inspired by his friend's father, aviation pioneer Louis Blériot, the first man to fly across the English Channel, and took to flying. On 10 February 1929, Tata obtained the first license issued in India.^[9] He later came to be known as the "Father of Indian

He joined Tata Sons as an unpaid apprentice in 1925. In 1938, at the age of 34, Tata was elected Chairman of Tata Sons making him the head of the largest industrial group in India. He took over as Chairman of Tata Sons from his second cousin Nowroji Saklatwala. For decades, he directed the huge Tata Group of companies, with major interests in steel, engineering, power, chemicals and hospitality. He was famous for succeeding in business while maintaining high ethical standards – refusing to bribe politicians or use the black market.

Under his chairmanship, the assets of the Tata Group grew from US$100 million to over US$5 billion. He started with 14 enterprises under his leadership and half a century later on 26 July 1988, when he left, Tata Sons was a conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had controlling interest.

He was the trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust from its inception in 1932 for over half a century. Under his guidance, this Trust established Asia's first cancer facility, the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Research and Treatment, Bombay in 1941. He also founded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (

In 1945, he founded Tata Motors. In 1948, Tata launched Air India International as India's first international airline. In 1953, the Indian Government appointed Tata as Chairman of Air India and a director on the Board of Indian Airlines – a position he retained for 25 years. For his crowning achievements in aviation, he was bestowed with the title of Honorary Air Commodore of India.

Tata cared greatly for his workers. In 1956, he initiated a programme of closer 'employee association with management' to give workers a stronger voice in the affairs of the company. He firmly believed in employee welfare and espoused the principles of an eight-hour working day, free medical aid, workers' provident scheme, and workmen's accident compensation schemes, which were later, adopted as statutory requirements in India.

He was also a founding member of the first Governing Body of NCAER, the National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, India's first independent economic policy institute established in 1956. In 1968, he founded

Tata was also controversially supportive of the declaration of emergency powers by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1975. He is quoted to have told a reporter of the Times, "things had gone too far. You can't imagine what we've been through here—strikes, boycotts, demonstrations. Why, there were days I couldn't walk out of my house into the streets. The parliamentary system is not suited to our needs."^[13]

Awards and honours

Tata received a number of awards. He was conferred the honorary rank of

Following Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's 1975-1977 Emergency, in which she controversially pursued forced sterilizations as a form of population control, Tata built on these efforts by ordering Tata Steel to open nine family planning centers in 1984.^[19] Employees and their non-employee partners were compensated for undergoing sterilization, and factory plant departments were awarded for achieving the lowest fertility rate.^[20] While such incentives arguably violated the medical ethics principle of personal bodily autonomy, Tata was awarded the 1992 United Nations Population Award for his efforts.^[17]

Death and legacy

Tata died in Geneva, Switzerland of a kidney infection on 29 November 1993, at the age of 89.^[21] He said a few days before his death: "Comme c'est doux de mourir" ("How gentle it is to die").^[22]

Upon his death, the

In 2012, Tata was ranked the sixth "The Greatest Indian" in an Outlook magazine poll, "conducted in conjunction with CNN-IBN and History18 Channels with BBC."^[23]

See also

References

Bibliography

• Pai, Anant (2004). JRD Tata: The Quiet Conqueror. Mumbai: India Book House.
  ISBN 8175084200
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata.

Wikiquote has quotations related to J. R. D. Tata.

• Tata Family Tree
• Brief Lifestory of JRD Tata Archived 30 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• Lala, R. M. (1992). Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: the Authorised Biography of J.R.D. Tata. Viking.
  ISBN 0-670-84430-6
  .
• Mambro, Arvind, ed. (2004). J.R.D. Tata Letters. Rupa.
  ISBN 81-291-0513-6
  .
• Biography at newindiadigest.com Archived 13 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Biography at tata.com Archived 14 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Lala, R.M. (1993). Beyond the last blue mountain : a life of J.R.D. Tata (New & updated ed.). New Delhi, India: Viking.
  ISBN 978-0-14-016901-0
  .

Business positions
Preceded by Nowroji Saklatwala	Chairman of Tata Group 1938-1991	Succeeded by Ratan Tata