Mahendra Nath Kapur (December 1910 - March 1994) was an Indian educator. He served as Principal of Modern School, New Delhi, for thirty years. For his contribution to the field of education, he received the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, India's fourth highest civilian honour, in 1969.

Early life

M. N. Kapur was born on 10 December 1910 in

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

in Western Punjab, now in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. After a spell of home schooling, he completed his matriculation from American Mission School, Gujranwala. He studied at Government College,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, where, apart from academics, he made a mark as a sportsman in the disciplines of association football, boxing and swimming. He obtained his Master's degree in physics in 1932..

Career

Kapur started his career as a teacher in 1933, in

Mayo College Mayo College (informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. This makes it one of the oldest Pub ...

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

. In 1936, he went to the University of London for further training in education. In 1947, upon the retirement of Kamala Bose, the founder-principal of Modern School, the management instituted a search for her successor. M. N. Kapur was chosen despite his young age. Sardar Bhagwant Singh, a member of the management, had this to say: "On just going through the bio-data of the applicants we all thought to ourselves - the cheek of this young man to apply for the post of the Principal of Modern School! But when this young man walked into the room all of us were impressed with Mr Kapur's personality and bearing. ..." After the interviews, the selection committee "... had no hesitation in saying that Mr Kapur would be the best choice for the post ..." Kapur took charge of Modern School in the turbulent times following the Independence of India and its

Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. He remained Principal for the next three decades, until his retirement in 1977. The

was conferred on him in 1969. In 1980, Gyan Bharati School was set up in Saket, New Delhi. Kapur contributed to its vision and took charge as its founder-Principal.

Legacy

During Kapur's long tenure, Modern School came to be recognised as one of the leading schools of India. Personally, he was a mentor to many students at Modern and also at Gyan Bharati. The emphasis he laid on overall development of the personality, and not academic achievement alone, has endured. To celebrate his birth centenary, Modern School Old Students' Association organised a series of events in 2010-2011. A documentary film, titled ''Dhruvtara'' (Pole Star), has been made on M. N. Kapur. The producer of the film is Abhinav Chaturvedi.

References

External links

Dhruvtara: a documentary film on M. N. Kapur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapur, MN 1910 births 1994 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri Heads of schools in India Government College University, Lahore alumni 20th-century Indian educators