Hon. Jugonnath
"Nana" Sunkersett Esq. (10 February 1803 – 31 July 1865), was
an Indian philanthropist and educationalist. He was born in 1803 in the wealthy
Murkute family of the Daivadnya Brahmin caste in Mumbai. Unlike his
forefathers, he engaged in commerce and soon developed a reputation as a very
reliable businessman. So high was his credit that Arabs, Afghans and other
foreign merchants chose to place their treasures in his custody rather than
with banks. He soon acquired a large fortune, much of which he donated to the
public.
In
1845, along with Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, he formed the Indian Railway
Association. Eventually, the association was incorporated into the Great
Indian Peninsula Railway, and Jeejeebhoy and Sunkersett became the only two Indians
among the ten directors of the GIP
railways.
Jugonnath
Sunkersett, Sir George Birdwood and Dr Bhau Daji were instrumental in the some
of the major reconstruction efforts of the city, beginning 1857. The three
gradually changed a town made up of a close network of streets into a spacious
and airy city, adorned with fine avenues and splendid buildings. He became the
first Indian to be nominated to the Legislative Council of Bombay under
the XXTY 26 Act of 1861, and became a member of the Bombay Board of
Education. He also was the first Indian member of theAsiatic Society of Mumbai,
and is known to have endowed a school and donated land in Grant Road for a
theater. He is known to have donated generously to Hindu temples.
During the First War of Independence of 1857, the British
suspected his involvement, but acquitted him due to lack of evidence. He died
in Mumbai on 31 July 1865. A year after his death a marble statue was erected
at the Asiatic Society of Bombay. Erstwhile Girgaum Road and chowk (Nana Chowk)
at Grant Road are named after him in South Mumbai.
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