Amode Ibrahim Atchia (25 May 1868 – 17 September 1947), otherwise known as Major Atchia, was an entrepreneur and technologist in the Indian Ocean Islands who pioneered the use of scientific concepts and invented structural and mechanical advances in technology for the nationbuilding of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Early life

Born in Rose-Belle, in

Grand Port district Grand Port () is a district of Mauritius, situated in the east of the island. The name means "large port" in French. The district has an area of 260.3 km2 and the estimated population was 112,997, as of 31 December 2015. History Grand Po ...

, AIA was the son of a

Surti Muslims The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat on the western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have the Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities have Urdu as their moth ...

merchant called Ibrahim Sulleman Atchia who had arrived from Barbodhan, a village 15 km from

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the course of free trade. Despite little formal education, Amode Ibrahim Atchia, along with his three brothers, set about making unprecedented contributions to laying down the foundations of Mauritian society during the early 1900s.

Enterprise

AIA is credited with setting up the ''Société Atchia Frères'', reconstructing the first mosque at Rose Hill following the historic cyclone of 1892, and constructing the first ice factory and saw mill since the 1920s, with technological innovations in use of wind-energy and pre-fabricated concrete. The Atchias also opened the first Indian-run primary school near the mosque. In 1900, Major with his brother Hossen, dammed a river near Reduit and built the first hydro electric plant and generated electricity, thus introducing hydro-electric power to the people of

with AIA appointed as self-elected leader of Mauritius Hydro Electric Company. In 1915, he pioneered the country's first Cinema House in Rose Hill, and thereafter in 1930, built the Cinéma des Familles, in Port-Louis, among several others in the same decade, such as La Salle Mon Bijou at Rose Belle, the Salle des Fêtes at Mahébourg, and the Cinema Coronation at Flacq.

References

{{Reflist British Mauritius people Mauritian Muslims Gujarati people 1868 births 1947 deaths Mauritian people of Indian descent Mauritian businesspeople People from Grand Port District