Frank Anthony (25 September 1908 – 3 December 1993) was a leader of the
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford Englis ...
community in India, and was until his death
their nominated representative in the
Parliament of India except 6th and 9th Lok Sabha. He served as the president of the
All India Anglo-Indian Association.
He was also the founder of the
Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is a privately held national-level board of school education in India that conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Examination for Class X and the India ...
(CISCE) which operates the ICSE board of Education in India.
Early life and education
Anthony was born in
Jubbulpore
Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...
(now "Jabalpur") on 25 September 1908. He studied at
Nagpur University
Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a public state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as the second oldest in Maharashtra. It is named a ...
, and
Inner Temple in London and became
Bar-at-law.
Role in Constituent Assembly
In 1942–46, he was a member of the
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometime ...
, and later a member of the
Constituent Assembly of India
The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...
during 1946–50 and represented the Anglo-Indian community in assembly. He was also temporary vice president of Constituent Assembly & he was a part of the Advisory Committee and Sub-committee on Minorities.
Career
In 1942, Anthony was elected the president-in-chief of the community of the
All India Anglo-Indian Association. He
opposed the partition of India on the grounds that it would jeopardise the interests of the minority communities.
When the future of India was being decided by
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Hindu and
Muslim leaders, he presented the Anglo-Indian case to
Mahatma Gandhi,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 2 ...
, and they agreed to make special provisions for the Anglo-Indians in the
Indian Constitution. In particular, two seats were reserved for members of the Anglo-Indian community in the
Lok Sabha (Lower House) of the Indian parliament, the only reserved seats in the House. These seats were abolished in 2020 by the
One Hundred and Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India
The One Hundred and Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, extends the deadline for the cessation for the reservation of seats for members from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies by ...
.
Anthony was a member of the Provisional Parliament during 195052. He was nominated to all
Lok Sabha from the 1st till the 10th, except the 6th and 9th Lok Sabha.
After Anthony retired from practising as a lawyer, PM Nehru in 1952 asked him to go to
Peshawar to defend
Mehr Chand Khanna, the ex-finance minister of the
North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...
. In those days, no Hindu lawyer would go to Peshawar. Following Anthony's discussions with the chief minister, Khanna was released. In October 1946, he was one of India's delegates at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
. In 1948 and 1957, he represented India at the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. In 1978, Anthony assisted the Nehru family when
Indira Gandhi was arrested.
Anthony's greatest contribution was in the field of Anglo-Indian education. In 1947, he was elected chairman of the Inter-State Board of Anglo-Indian Education. He was also the Founder-Chairman of the All India Anglo-Indian Educational Trust which, today, owns and administers six schools named after him, including
The Frank Anthony Public School, New Delhi
The Frank Anthony Public School (often abbreviated as 'FAPS') is a public day-school in New Delhi, India, for students ranging from 3–18 years.
The school is coeducational and has more than 3600 boys and girls on the rolls from classes Nurser ...
,
The Frank Anthony Public School, Bengaluru
The Frank Anthony Public School (or FAPS) is a co-educational day-school, for students of age 4–18 years, in Bangalore, India. It was founded in 1967 by the Anglo-Indian educationist and barrister-at-law, Frank Anthony, who was also the Found ...
,
The Frank Anthony Public School, Kolkata and three Frank Anthony Junior Schools in the cities of
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
,
Kolkata and
Delhi. These schools took as inspiration the model of the long-establish English
public school.
Anthony was also the chairman of the ICSE Council.
See also
*
The Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School Debate
The Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School English Debate is held in the honor of Frank Anthony.
It is among the most prestigious inter-school, annual debate competition organised by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinati ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Frank
1908 births
Anglo-Indian people
Madhya Pradesh politicians
1993 deaths
Educators from Madhya Pradesh
Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Members of the Constituent Assembly of India
People from Jabalpur
Nominated members of the Lok Sabha
India MPs 1952–1957
India MPs 1957–1962
India MPs 1962–1967
India MPs 1967–1970
India MPs 1971–1977
India MPs 1980–1984
India MPs 1984–1989
India MPs 1991–1996
Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University alumni
20th-century Indian lawyers
20th-century Indian educational theorists