José Pereira (22 January 1931 – 26 January 2015) was a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar, historian, writer, artist, and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Goan Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, an ...

origin.

Early life and education

José Pereira was born on 22 January 1931 in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

to a

family who hailed from

Curtorim Curtorim is a town in the Salcette taluka of South Goa district in Goa, India.It comes under Margao metropolitan region. Curtorim, a verdant agrarian village, known as the "granary of Salcete", is said to have got its name from either ' or ' si ...

. He received his PhD in Ancient History and Culture from St Xavier's College in 1949. He later graduated, with honours, from

Siddharth College of Arts, Science and Commerce Siddharth College of Arts, Science and Commerce is a college in Mumbai offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Arts, Science, and Commerce fields. The college is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. History It was founded on 20 ...

in 1951. In 1959, he traveled to Portugal as a guest lecturer at the ''Insituto Superior de Estudoes Ultramarinos'' in Lisbon. A year later, he departed Lisbon following his public statement that “Goa has a cultural identity of its own and can never be a showcase of the greatness of the Portuguese."

Career

Pereira was the author of 24 books and 145 journal articles. He was internationally recognised for his

fresco painting Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster ...

s. His first works, titled "Images of Goa", were exhibited in

when he was 18 while still a student at J J School of Art and later exhibited in Union Territory of Delhi in 1969.

Personal life

Pereira was fluent in at least 13 languages. In particular, he was a strong supporter of the

Konkani language Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of ...

Recognition

In 2012, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

conferred the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third-highest civilian award of India, in recognition of Pereira's work in the field of Indian history and literature. He is considered to be the only

to be conferred this award while being a

non-resident Indian Overseas Indians ( IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of In ...

Controversy

In later life, his "Epiphanies of the Hindu Gods" caused Hindu fundamentalists to protest in 2010 due to the nudity in the artwork. Pereira countered with quotations from

scriptures that justified the piece.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, José Scholars from Goa Konkani people Musicians from Goa Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni 1931 births 2015 deaths