Braj Kumar Nehru MBE, ICS (4 September 1909 – 31 October 2001) was an Indian diplomat and Ambassador of India to the United States (1961–1968). He was the son of

Brijlal Nehru Brijalal Nehru (5 May 1884 – 27 May 1964) was a noted civil servant and member of the Nehru family. He was the son of Pandit Nandlal Nehru (the elder brother of Motilal Nehru) and the cousin of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nandlal Nehru was Diwan of ...

and Rameshwari Nehru and first cousin once removed of India's first prime minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

Personal life

Braj Kumar Nehru was born in Allahabad,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

, India and was son of

and Rameshwari Nehru. He was educated at the

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

(India), the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

and at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was awarded the

Doctor of Literature Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

degree by the

University of Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

, for his distinguished services in various fields. His grandfather, Pandit Nandlal Nehru, was the elder brother of Pandit

Motilal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He also served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was a patriarch of the Neh ...

. He was the cousin to the erstwhile Prime Minister of India,

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

(née Nehru). In 1935, Nehru married Magdolna Friedman (5 December 1908,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

- 25 April 2017,

Kasauli Kasauli is a town and cantonment, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station,Sharma, Ambika"Architecture of Kasauli churches" ''The ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

, India), a fellow student in the UK who was of an Austrian Jewish background. The ill-treatment of the Jewish community in Europe prompted her father to change her name to Magdolna Forbath. Her nickname was Fori. After marriage, she changed her name to Shobha Nehru. He had three sons named Ashok Nehru, Aditya Nehru and Anil Nehru.

Career

National

He joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

in 1934 and rose to be governor of seven different states of India. From 1934 to 1937 he held various government positions in the

province of Punjab Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

. Nehru became the secretary of economic affairs in 1957. He was appointed Commissioner General for Economic Affairs (external financial relations) of India in 1958. He was Governor of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

(1981–84),

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

(1968–73),

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

(1984–86),

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

(1968–73),

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

(1970–73),

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

(1972–73) and

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

(1972–73). He was transferred overnight as the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir to Gujarat after he refused to help Indira Gandhi in destabilising the Farooq Abdullah government.

International

Nehru worked as executive director in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

(1949) and was Economic Minister at the Indian Embassy in Washington (1954). He helped to create the ''Aid India Club'' in 1958, which was a consortium of donor nations that committed to donate $2 million for the development of India. He also served as a diplomat, as ambassador to several countries and was offered the post of secretary-general of the United Nations in 1951, but declined. Nehru was also the Indian High Commissioner in London from 1973 to 1977. Braj was chairman of the United Nations Investment committee for 14 years. He represented India in the 'Sterlings balances' negotiations with Britain at the post-Second World War reparations conference.

Writer

Nehru wrote an autobiography titled ''Nice Guys Finish Second''. Mr. Ramesh Kumar Saxena, who worked for him for 35 years, helped writing his biography.

Awards

He was appointed an MBE in the

1945 New Year Honours The 1945 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1945 for the Britis ...

. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 1999. The speech "Civil Service in Transition" delivered at the India International Center in New Delhi on 15 October 1999 describes the need and the role played by a strong civil service. It also details the causes for the prevalent corruption in India's political system and civil services.

Death

Nehru died in

, Himachal Pradesh, India on 31 October 2001 at the age of 92. His body was cremated in Delhi & the memorial service was held amongst the chanting of ''mantras'' from the holy scriptures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nehru, Braj 1909 births 2001 deaths Kashmiri people Indian diplomats Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service Nehru–Gandhi family Governors of Jammu and Kashmir Governors of Assam Governors of Gujarat Governors of Manipur Governors of Meghalaya Governors of Nagaland Governors of Tripura Ambassadors of India to the United States Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Members of the Order of the British Empire High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom People from Allahabad Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford