Mirza Mohamed Ali Namazie (1864 - 26 July 1931), was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

merchant, property owner, and founder of the firm M. A. Namazie and Sons in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Biography

Namazie was born in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, which his father had emigrated to, in 1864. In 1909, he moved to Singapore and carried on work as a general merchant, as well as an agent for Namazee, a shipping firm from

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 was also employed in a patent flooring agency. Namazie owned a large amount of property in both Singapore and Chennai. He helped develop 3,000 acres of rubber and palm oil plantations. He established a trust fund of over RS 100,000 for charity in Chennai. He founded the firm M. A. Namazie and Sons, which was successful. Namazie was a Justice of the Peace and a member of the

Singapore Municipal Commission The Municipal Commission of Singapore was a body created in 1887 by the British colonial government to replace the Municipal Committee that was created in June 1848. The role of the commission was to manage key services for the Town of Singapore, ...

for several years. He was also a member of the Mohammedan Advisory Board. His last business venture was the financing of the Capitol Building, which was originally known as the Namazie Mansion. He was a prominent figure in the Indian community of

Personal life

Namazie had four sons and eight daughters, including Mohamed Javad Namazie. Namazie died on 26 July 1931 from a heart attack at his residence on 12

Scotts Road Scotts Road () is a road located in Central Area of Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north o ...

. His funeral was held on the next day. Before his death, he revoked a clause in his will which would leave a third of his property to charity, as "he had made a number of charitable bequests since the will was drawn up." His body was brought to

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

to be buried. All performances at the Capitol Theatre were cancelled for at least two days.

References

{{Reflist 1864 births 1931 deaths People from British Singapore People from the Madras Presidency