Pratap Chidamber Chitnis, Baron Chitnis (1 May 1936 – 12 July 2013) was a British Liberal political organiser. The son of Chidamber N. Chitnis and Lucia Mallik, he was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and educated at

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

. He was further educated at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, and at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, where he received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

. An administration assistant of the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

from 1958 to 1959, Chitnis acted as agent for

Eric Lubbock Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury (29 September 1928 – 14 February 2016), was an English politician and human rights campaigner. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington from 1962 to 1970. He then served in the House ...

in the successful Liberal campaign in the 1962 Orpington by-election. Afterwards he rose to become head of the Liberal Party Organisation in 1966, embarking on a structural modernisation, but resigned in 1969 having had a strained relationship with party leader

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old ...

. Chitnis next worked for the

Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust {{Use British English, date=January 2018 The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home c ...

, as secretary from 1969 to 1975, and chief executive and director from 1975 to 1988. He was a member of the Community Relations Commission from 1970 to 1977 and of the BBC Asian Programme Advice Committee between 1972 and 1977; he also chaired the latter between 1979 and 1983. From 1981 to 1986, he was chairman of Refugee Action and from 1986 to 1989 of the British Refugee Council. Chitnis served as an advisor to

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood (born 31 March 1938) is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency), Roxb ...

during the latter's leadership of the Liberal Party, and was influential during the

Lib-Lab pact The Liberal–Labour movement was the practice of local Liberal Party (UK), Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the Parliament of the United Kingdom ...

and the negotiations that led to the

SDP–Liberal Alliance The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political alliance, political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. Formed by the Social Democratic Party (UK), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party (UK), Libera ...

. On 18 July 1977, he was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Chitnis, ''of

Ryedale Ryedale was a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It was in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages ...

in the County of North Yorkshire''. He sat on the crossbenches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. Chitnis married Anne Brand, daughter of Frank Mansell Brand, in 1964. They had one son, Simon, who died in childhood. He retired to France. Lord Chitnis died on 12 July 2013.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chitnis, Pratap 1936 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the University of Birmingham Crossbench life peers English people of Indian descent Liberal Party (UK) politicians Life peers created by Elizabeth II People educated at Stonyhurst College Politicians from London University of Kansas alumni