Sheila F. Irani (12 June 1922 – 10 April 2003) was an Indian teacher, educator and humanitarian. She received a Viceroy's Certificate of Merit for her volunteering as a nurse during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Irani was a nominated member of the

10th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting membe ...

(1995–96) and

Karnataka Legislative Assembly The Karnataka Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses. The two houses are ...

(1969–78).

Early life

Sheila was born on 12 June 1922 at

Nainital Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...

. Her parents were George Egbert Ferguson and Una Maud Ferguson. She did her teacher's training course from Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Career

Irani began her career as a nursery teacher in Delhi. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, she volunteered as a nurse in St. John's Ambulance Corps and for her service, she was awarded a Viceroy's Certificate of Merit. In 1968, she founded the Ideal Jawa Rotary Children's School in Mysore, Karnataka which grew to become one of the city's most prestigious schools. Irani was also involved in humanitarian causes, tending to lepers in Mysore, working as the vice-president of an orphanage and as trustee of a mission hospital. She was also on the board of a sanatorium and served as Executive member of The Frank Anthony Public School and Cathedral High School, both in Bangalore. In 1968, Irani was nominated to the

, where she remained a member till 1978. Between 1993 and 1995, she served on the

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...

's senate. In 1995, she was nominated to the

for one of the seats reserved for Anglo-Indians. Irani was the vice president of Anglo-Indian Association. Sheila Irani also created the

Chamundi Chamunda (Sanskrit: चामुण्डा, ISO-15919: Cāmuṇḍā), also known as Chamundeshwari, Chamundi or Charchika, is a fearsome form of Chandi, the Hindu Divine Mother Shakti and is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses).W ...

Children's Home.

Personal life

She married businessman Farrokh K. Irani, one of the founders and CMD of

Ideal Jawa Ideal Jawa (India) Ltd was an Indian motorcycle company based in Mysore which sold licensed Jawa motorcycles beginning in 1960 under the brand name Jawa and from 1973 as Yezdi. The name Yezdi was established by a phonetic transcription of Czech ...

India Pvt. Ltd. the makers of the famous Yezdi brand of motorcycles in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, . Together they relocated to Mysore, Karnataka in 1951 and had two sons and a daughter. She died on 10 April 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irani, Sheila F. 1922 births 2003 deaths Anglo-Indian people India MPs 1991–1996 Women members of the Lok Sabha Educators from Karnataka Members of the Karnataka Legislative Council Mysore MLAs 1967–1972 People from Nainital Indian humanitarians Women educators from Karnataka Military personnel from Karnataka Indian women nurses Indian schoolteachers Nominated members of the Lok Sabha Mysore MLAs 1972–1977 Members of the Mysore Legislature Women members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people