Ian Kiru Karan (born Ian Kirupakaran; 17 June 1939) is a
Tamil German businessman and politician.
Early life and family
Kirupakaran was born on 17 June 1939 at
Point Pedro Hospital in northern
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
His family were from Kaddaively near
Karaveddy
Karaveddy is a town located 7 km from the City of Point Pedro, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. In local Tamil Language it translates to ''Coastal Strip'', although it is few km from the coast. Karaveddy Pradeshya Sabha is the administrative ...
in the
Vadamarachchi
Vadamarachchi ( ta, வடமராட்சி Vaṭamarāṭci, si, වඩමාරච්චි) is one of the three historic regions of the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. The other two regions are Thenmarachchi and Valikamam. Alterna ...
region.
Orphaned at a young age, he was educated at
Methodist Girls' High School, Point Pedro and
Hartley College
Hartley College ( ta, ஹாட்லிக் கல்லூரி ''Hāṭlik Kallūri'') is a provincial school in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1838 by British Methodist missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools. The school i ...
.
After being expelled from Hartley College in 1955, he, with the help of his church, obtained an athletics scholarship to study in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.[ He then joined the ]London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
(LSE) but was expelled for non-attendance. Karan had falsely claimed that he was expelled from LSE for participating in Vietnam War protests
Protests against the Vietnam War took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The protests were part of a movement in opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The majority of the protests were in the United States, but some took place ar ...
.[ Europeans found it difficult to pronounce his name so upon obtaining British citizenship Kirupakaran changed his name to Ian Kiru Karan.][
Karan has married twice and has four children (Navena, Oliver, Jessica and Niclas).][ He is a Christian.
]
Career
Karan joined Schenker & Co. Ltd, London, a shipping and forwarding subsidiary of a German conglomerate Schenker AG
Schenker AG is a German logistics company and a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company. Within DB Logistics, the logistics branch of Deutsche Bahn, Schenker is responsible for land, sea, and air transport and contract logistics. R ...
, in 1966 as a management trainee. In 1969 he moved to Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, working as a clerk for the container firm Crowe & Co in Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
.[ He then moved to ]Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
in 1970, working as a dishwasher at a vegetarian restaurant.[ After three months he joined the Max Grünhut shipping company as a clerk.][ He was promoted to departmental manager a year later.][ He then entered the container business, working as managing director of Lyons Container (Hamburg) and NIC Lease Ltd (]Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
).[ He went into business on his own in 1975, setting up Container Leasing Agency which served as an agent for his former employer.][ In 1977 his company, which was now building containers and leasing them, changed its name to CLOU (Container Leasing Company).][ He sold his company to an Anglo-American competitor in 1993.][
After observing a three-year ]non-compete clause
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition agains ...
, Karan re-entered the container leasing business in 1996, establishing Capital Lease GmbH in Hamburg.[ The company, whose worldwide operations were based 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 ...
, became the fastest growing container leasing company in the world and after four years it became the largest leasing company in Europe.[ The company was reportedly worth US$400 million.][ Karan was nicknamed "container king".][ The highly profit-making company became the seventh largest container company in the world with over 520,000 TEUs.][ Karan sold Capital Lease to two banks just before the financial crash.][
Though not a member of any political party, Karan had supported the controversial ]Party for a Rule of Law Offensive
The Party for a Rule of Law Offensive, Rule of Law State Offensive Party,, Party for the Promotion of the Rule of Law, Law and Order Offensive Party, or Party of Law and Order Offensive (german: Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive),''Rechtsstaat'' i ...
and its leader Ronald Schill
Ronald Barnabas Schill (born 23 November 1958) is a former German judge, the founder of the German political parties Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (''Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive''; also called PRO or "Schill party") and ''Pro DM/Schill ...
, donating 44,500 euros to the party.[ He then supported the ]Christian Democratic Union of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...
(CDU), donating it 570,000 euros over several years.[ After the CDU took control of the ]Government of Hamburg
The government of Hamburg is divided into Executive (government), executive, Legislature, legislative and judiciary, judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and ...
, Karan was sworn in as Hamburg's Minister of the Economic Affairs and Employment on 25 August 2010. He resigned on 7 March 2011.
Karan established the Ian Karan Auditorium in the Bucerius Kunst Forum and an auditorium for medical students at the University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...
.[ He was chairman of the board of trustees of the Hamburg Theatre Festival and is a member of the supervisory board of ]Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
. He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
in June 2007 for his social and cultural work.[ Karan was a British citizen for over forty years before taking up German citizenship in December 2009, allegedly on the recommendations of ]German Chancellor
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ger ...
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
.[ Karan later admitted that Merkel never made such a recommendation.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karan, Ian
1939 births
Alumni of Hartley College
Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians
German people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent
Living people
People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka
People from British Ceylon
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Senators of Hamburg
Sri Lankan Tamil businesspeople
Tamil politicians
Politicians of Sri Lankan descent