Attavar Balakrishna Shetty (1883–1960) better known as A. B. Shetty was an Indian politician, philanthropist, entrepreneur and the founder of

Vijaya Bank Vijaya Bank was a PSU bank which was merged with Bank of Baroda on 1 April 2019 with its head office in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It was one of the nationalised banks in India. The bank offered a wide range of financial products and service ...

Biography

Shetty was born in a Tulu-speaking family of landlords to Mulki Kalappa Shetty (Father) and Attavar Unhakke (Mother). He completed his early education in

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

. Realising the need for dissemination of news and information about world affairs among people in the

South Canara South Canara was a district of the Madras Presidency of British India, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the capital in Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the most heterogeneous areas of ...

district, he started a weekly

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native ...

publication, called "Navayuga", which was edited in its early years by K. K. Shetty and later by K. Honnayya Shetty. This was very popular for more than 40 years. In addition Shetty was also the pioneer behind Canara Printing Press, a printing press in Mangalore. Shetty established

in 1931 at Bunts Hostel in Mangalore. The bank did well, providing job opportunities for thousands of youths and also providing banking service to lakhs of people all over the country. Vijaya Bank is today one of the foremost nationalised banks of India. Deeply secular and progressive in outlook, Shetty was interested in the activities of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

, the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of t ...

, the Arya Samaj, the Depressed Classes Mission, etc., all of which were engaged in the uplift of neglected sections of society. He also served as Minister in the Madras Presidency and later in

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...

, holding various portfolios such as agriculture and veterinary, medical and public health, cooperation, housing and ex-servicemen between the years 1949-1956 until quitting the Ministry on 1 March 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. He married Kalyani Shetty. They had four children: two sons and two daughters. He died in 1960 at the age of 77 and is commemorated by the A.B.Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences,

Deralakatte Deralakatte is a major educational, healthcare, commercial & residential locality in the south-eastern part of Mangalore city in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state. It is away from the Karnataka-Kerala state border. It is popularly ...

, Mangalore.Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!

References

1883 births 1960 deaths Mangaloreans Karnataka local politicians Indian bankers People from Dakshina Kannada district 20th-century Indian philanthropists Indian founders Madras MLAs 1952–1957 Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka {{Karnataka-INC-politician-stub