Pran Nevile (1922 – October 11, 2018) was an Indian

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of Indian Art,

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best known for the 1992 book, '' Lahore: A Sentimental Journey''. He was an authority on pre-1947

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 ...

and

Nautch The nautch (; meaning "dance" or "dancing")Scott A. Kugle, 2016When Sun Meets Moon: Gender, Eros, and Ecstasy in Urdu Poetry p.230. was a popular court dance performed by girls (known as "nautch girls") in India. The culture of the performing ...

Biography

Nevile was born in 1922 in Lahore and took his post graduate degree from

Government College Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

. He had a distinguished career in the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

and the

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. During his tenure he was posted in Japan, Poland and Yugoslavia, former USSR and USA. He was also Director of the State Trading Corporation; and in-charge of 7 countries in East Europe. His last posting was Consul General of India in Chicago. He also had a 6-year tenure as Program Co-ordinator with the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

in Geneva looking after East Europe. His specialization has been in trade with

Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...

countries that include East Europe and former USSR. After retirement, he turned a freelance writer and specialized in the study of Indian art and culture.

Author and scholar

His particular fascination with the performing arts inspired him to spend nearly seven years researching in the libraries and museums of England and the US to enable him to produce the sumptuously illustrated 'Nautch Girls of India' in 1996. Highly acclaimed by the media it was considered to be a pioneering work on the subject of dance and music as well as their practitioners through the centuries. Nevile has written extensively for Indian newspapers and journals. He was the author of other well known books such as 'Lahore - A Sentimental Journey', 'Love Stories from the Raj', 'Rare Glimpses of the Raj', 'Beyond the Veil - Indian Women in the Raj', 'Stories from the Raj - Sahibs,' Memsahibs and others', K.L. Saigal - Immortal singer and superstar and lastly 'Marvels of Indian Painting - Rise and Demise of Company School'. Nevile had been invited by several institutions in India and also universities in England and U.S.A. to speak on themes related to Indian art and culture. He also acted as a consultant for two BBC documentaries on the Raj viz. 'Ruling Passions' and 'The Land of Kamasutra'.

KL Saigal Memorial Circle

Nevile was the founder and convener of the KL Saigal Memorial Circle, which is dedicated to remembering singers of yesteryears.

Death

Nevile died in New Delhi on October 11, 2018, at the age of 95.

Books

* '' Sahibs' India: Vignettes from the Raj'', Penguin Books (2010) * '' Marvels of Indian Painting: Rise and Demise of Company School'', Nevile Books (2007) * '' KL Saigal - Immortal Singer and Superstar'', Nevile Books (2006) * '' Beyond the Veil - Indian Women in the Raj'', Nevile Books (2005) * '' Stories from the Raj - Sahibs, Memsahibs and Others'', Nevile Books (2004) * '' Rare Glimpses of the Raj'', Somaiya (1998) * '' Nautch Girls of India: Dancers, Singers, Playmates'', Ravi Kumar Publisher (1996) * '' Love Stories from the Raj'', Penguin (1994) * '' Lahore - A sentimental Journey'', Allied Publishers (1992) * '' The Raj Revisited'', Niyogi Books.

References

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevile, Pran Indian art historians Indian male writers 1922 births 2018 deaths Writers from Lahore Government College University, Lahore alumni 20th-century Indian historians