Sir Harry Krishnan Tirvengadum, more commonly known as Harry Tirvengadum or HK Tirvengadum (born 2 September 1933) is a Mauritian who was the Chairman and Managing Director of

Air Mauritius Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius, with its hub based at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The company was placed in voluntary administration on 22 April ...

Early life and education

Harry Krishnan Tirvengadum was born in Stanley,

Beau Bassin-Rose Hill Beau Bassin-Rose Hill (or Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill; french: Villes sœurs; ) is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District. It is administered by the Municipal Council of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and has a population of 147,066 habi ...

in 1933, one of seven children born to Govinden Tirvengadum, a court interpreter and Meenatchee Sangeelee, a housewife. He completed his secondary education at

Royal College Curepipe The Royal College Curepipe (commonly known as RCC) is a public secondary school with high admission standards in Curepipe, Mauritius. Since 1791 it has been regarded as one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Mauritius. In the past, ...

before travelling to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to study business administration at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Family

On 30 October 1970, Tirvengadum married Elahe Amin Amin, an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian national who was living in Japan. Their three daughters are Shirin Kinoshita, Selina Sheila and Melissa Tirvengadum.

Business career

After returning to Mauritius Harry Krishnan Tirvengadum worked at the Ministry of Information and

Rogers Group Founded in 1899, the Rogers Group is a Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast ...

before being employed at

in 1972. He became Managing Director (MD) of

in 1978, a position which had been held by Sir

Amédée Maingard Sir Louis Pierre Rene "Amédée" Maingard de la Ville-ès-Offrans, CBE (21 October 1918 - 1981) was born in Mauritius, then a British colony. During the Second World War, he served with distinction with the British clandestine organization, the S ...

since 1967. Tirvengadum remained MD of the national airline corporation until February 1997 when he was succeeded by Nash Mallam Hassam. After leaving Air Mauritius, Tirvengadum became Chairman of airline company

Air Afrique Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these countr ...

which is based in Ivory Coast. He led that organisation until 30 January 1999 where he was succeeded by Tijane Sylla.

Recognition

In December 1987, Tirvengadum was knighted as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours. He travelled to

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

at the end of 2003 to receive a Distinguished Service Award of the African Airlines Association (AAA). For many years he was an active participant in conferences organised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Controversies

In 2001, the illegal practices involved in the Caisse Noire Affair came to light and, on 22 February 2002, Tirvengadum and other officials of the national airline company and Rogers Limited were arrested and prosecuted. Whistleblower Gérard Tyack, who was General Manager of Air Mauritius, revealed the existence of a Swiss bank account in Geneva for the payment to officials of Air Mauritius, journalists and politicians, as well as to finance political newspapers, electoral campaigns, purchase of private cars for Sir Harry's wife and their daughters' overseas studies. The illicit bank account had been set up following Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam's request for funds in 1981 to assist ''Advance'' which was the ailing propaganda newspaper of the Labour Party. Gérard Tyack spent 2 years in jail, Robert Rivalland of Rogers Limited was acquitted in 2015, whereas the prosecution against Tirvengadum was placed on hold due to his purported ill health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tirvengadum, Harry 1933 births Living people Mauritian Hindus Mauritian people of Indian descent Mauritian people of Tamil descent Mauritian Knights Bachelor