Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t12: H N Mody
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t12
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H N Mody
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Hormusjee Naorojee Mody (1838-1911), a Parsi merchant from Bombay (now Mumbai), was a leading entrepreneur and philanthropist of Hong Kong. He accumulated considerable wealth from his diverse business enterprises but is remembered today mainly for the pioneering role he played in the establishment of the University of Hong Kong.
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*H N Mody*
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H N Mody arrived in Hong Kong in 1860 (some sources say in 1858) from Bombay on the suggestion of his uncle, Jehangirjee Buxey, to help him with his auction business. In the 1860s, he appears to have worked in the opium trading firm of S A Seth and also the Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan before taking over the auction house of his uncle after the latter’s death. While working in the bank, Mody got acquainted with the Calcutta Armenian Catchik Paul Chater with whom he formed a highly successful business partnership later under the name of Chater & Mody in 1868. It ventured into share brokerage and also into real estate. Early on, they realised the potential of Kowloon on the mainland opposite Hong Kong island and heavily invested in property and development in Kowloon. Today, there exist a Mody Road and Mody Square in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui area, named after H N Mody. Chater & Mody was famed for its harbour development and land reclamation schemes in Kowloon and Hong Kong including the Praya Reclamation scheme along the northern waterfront of Hong Kong island.
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*Bell Tower of Bombay University*
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H N Mody was known for his many charitable endowments in Hong Kong, including towards the building of a Seaman’s Institute and a Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. However, his outstanding contribution to the growth of Hong Kong was his work to establish the University of Hong Kong at a time when few considered it important that this largely commercial colony have its own institution of higher education. Mody pledged then a huge sum of $1,50,000 provided that the sum could be matched from other sources. He persisted with the project in the face of initial indifference until finally, the foundation stone of the main building of the university was laid in March 1910, a year before he died. On the 90ᵗʰ anniversary of the inauguration of the University of Hong Kong on June 17, 2002, a bronze bust of Mody was installed in the Main Building in recognition of his role in the establishment of the University.
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(*Madhavi Thampi*)