Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody (12 October 1838 – 16 June 1911) was a successful Indian Parsi businessman in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. He made Hong Kong his home for 50 years, during which he did much for the benefit of the colony and finally founded the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

Biography

He was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and moved to Hong Kong around 1860. At the time there was a large community of

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s based in Hong Kong, including

Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala (sometimes written 'Nowrojee') was an Indian businessman of Parsi descent in Hong Kong. Early years He first arrived in Hong Kong in 1852 as a stowaway aboard a ship from Bombay bound for China and was a cook. Care ...

, who founded the Star Ferry and Jehangir Hormujee Ruttonjee who helped establish the Hong Kong Ruttonjee Sanatorium. Mody arrived in Hong Kong in 1858 with help from his uncle Jehangirjee Buxey.The Life & Times of Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody
Zoroastrian.org.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2011. He spent his early days in the colony as an auctioneer of

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

, then a legally respectable activity. After working at Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan and later Buxey and Company, Mody partnered with another Indian immigrant, Sir

Catchick Paul Chater Sir Catchick Paul Chater ( hy, Փոլ Չաթեր; ; 8 September 1846 – 27 May 1926) was a prominent British businessman of Armenian descent in colonial Hong Kong, whose family roots were in Calcutta, India. Biography Early life Chater was ...

, to form the brokerage company Chater and Mody which enjoyed great success in the real estate/land business. Mody saw the potential of buying and developing land in

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

after it was ceded to the British in 1860. Both partners also participated in the great

Praya Reclamation Scheme The Praya Reclamation Scheme () was a large scale land reclamation project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in Colonial Hong Kong under Sir Catchick Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick. Early proposal The project was first proposed i ...

of 1887. Mody contributed towards founding of

Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...

and

Kowloon Cricket Club The Kowloon Cricket Club, also called KCC (), is a members only cricket club and social club situated in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on Cox's Road. History The Cricket Club was established on 4 October 1904 and was provided land from the government i ...

Family

Sir Hormusjee Mody and his wife Maneckbai had five children, 4 boys and a girl. * Sirinbai Mody married to Nusseranji Dady, they had a son Hormusjee. * Merwanjee Mody 1858–1910 * Naoroz Hormusjee Naoroji Mody 1875–1944 * Jehangirjee Hormusjee Mody 1876–1949 * Dinshawjee Hormusjee Mody 1882–1920

Contribution towards founding of University of Hong Kong

Mody was a friend of the Hong Kong Governor, Sir Frederick Lugard and his wife

Flora Shaw Dame Flora Louise Shaw, Lady Lugard (born 19 December 1852 – 25 January 1929), was a British journalist and writer. She is credited with having coined the name ''Nigeria''. Early life She was born at 2 Dundas Terrace, Woolwich, South Londo ...

, who wished to found a university in Hong Kong. Mody offered to contribute a great sum of money, $150,000, to help establish the

, provided it was matched by donations from other sources. His donation, eventually almost doubled to $285,000, was a very significant component of the total endowment for the inception of this institution. At the foundation ceremony on 16 March 1910, Mody summed up his reasons for contributing towards HKU "''As a young man, the advantages of education were unfortunately not within my reach, and I have to-day at my advanced age to confess myself 'no scholar'. Throughout my long life I have daily realised all I have missed for want of a sound education, and it was with the idea of in some measure providing for others what I was myself denied that I determined to offer to erect at my own cost a building which should bring within their reach those educational advantages which I have myself so greatly missed''". Hong Kong Telegraph 17 March 1910 rightly summed up this event taking queue from the speech of

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

of Canton during the ceremony. “''....They Built Better Than They Knew…..''” Sadly, Sir H.N. Mody did not survive long enough to see opening of the university. The University was officially opened on 11 March 1912. Sir Hormusjee Mody’s son Naoroz Hormusjee Naoroji Mody attended the opening ceremony and said: "''Your Excellency ord Lugard it is with feelings of the utmost pleasure and pride that I proceed to perform the duty which devolves upon me of formally in the name of my late father, presenting this University building, to the community, and requesting that you, Sir, may be pleased to declare the same open, and, on behalf of my mother, I also desire to express her regret that, through ill health, she is unable to be present this day……I desire to express to your Excellency the satisfaction which my mother and family feel on this auspicious occasion when the work so nobly undertaken by your Excellency and my father, is about to be brought to so successful and fitting a conclusion……….I would add that had my father been spared to see this day his heart would have rejoiced at this realisation of his hopes. I may further state that I have given instructions for the making of a silver model of the main Building of the University which, when complete, I would ask your Excellency to accept as a souvenir of this opening ceremony, which is, I think a memorable one in the annals of the Colony''".

Awards & Titles

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed on 16 March 1910 post his speech during foundation ceremony of HKU. It was announced by Sir Frederick Lugard. “''His Majesty has been pleased to approve that Mr. Mody be appointed Knight Bachelor. Letters Patent will be issued in due course. I concur in your proposal to announce the honour at the laying of the foundation stone of the University. A simultaneous announcement will be made in the United Kingdom.''” *

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

bestowed by the French government. * Nicknamed 'the Napoleon of the Rialto' for becoming the director of many companies. *Winner of 11

Hong Kong Derby The Hong Kong Derby is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1873. Restricted to horses four-years-old only since 1981, the race is run in mid-March and is the premier event on the domestic racing programme with a purse of HK$18 m ...

's and 1 Shanghai Derby. He raced under the name of "Mr. Buxey" and his colours were "Blue and white stripes".

Namesakes

Several places in Hong Kong are named after him: *

Mody Road Mody Road () is a street in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Location Mody Road starts at Nathan Road to the west, crosses Chatham Road South and ends at Science Museum Road to the northeast. History The road was built in 1887 as an unnamed pa ...

and Mody Square in

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hu ...

Resting place

] Mody died at his residence, Buxey Lodge,

Conduit Road Conduit Road is a road in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The road and buildings Conduit Road was constructed in 1910. It is located in Western Mid-Levels. It is named after the aqueduct passing underneath which carries water ...

, Hong Kong in 1911 and is buried in the Hong Kong Parsee Cemetery in Happy Valley.

Commemoration

A bronze bust of Sir Hormusjee N. Mody was presented by the Incorporated Trustees of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hong Kong, Canton and Macao to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the University. It resides on the main staircase of the main building. Every year on founder's day, the Parsi community of Hong Kong visit the Hong Kong University along with university students and officials to remember him. A small prayer is said by a Parsi

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

priest in front of bust of Sir Hormusjee N. Mody. Every year Mody Handicap race is run in his honour by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mody, Hormusjee Naorojee Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong people of Parsi descent Hong Kong people of Indian descent 1838 births 1911 deaths Parsi people Parsi people from Mumbai Knights Bachelor Indian Knights Bachelor Indian philanthropists