Chuni Lal Katial (1898 – 14 November 1978) was a

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

medical doctor and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who became the first

UK's The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

South Asian

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, after being elected mayor of the

Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury The Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough within the County of London from 1900 to 1965, when it was amalgamated with the Metropolitan Borough of Islington to form the Borough ...

in 1938.Museum of London "Indian London"
/ref>20th Century London "Indian London"
/ref> He was born in the

Punjab Region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

in 1898.

Career

Katial came to London in or around 1929, and started his career running a medical practice in

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

.Save Finsbury Health Centre
/ref> During that time, Katial – an acquaintance of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

– introduced Gandhi to

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

, at his house in Canning Town on 22 September 1931.Newham Story "Charlie Chaplin and Mr. Gandhi"
In 1935, Katial came to prominence as Chairman of the Public Health Committee of Finsbury Borough Council, where he was responsible for pushing forward a programme for health and housing known as the Finsbury Plan – an ambitious plan to build a centralised facility that would incorporate a health centre, libraries, public baths and nurseries in the famously

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

council.Open2.net "From Here to Modernity"
/ref> In 1937, as part of this plan, Katial commissioned

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Berthold Lubetkin Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Russian-born British architecture, architect who pioneered International style (architecture), modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint I ...

to build the Finsbury Health Centre.Islington Tribune "Pioneer's grandchildren plea to save historical health centre"
/ref>BMJ "Nothing is too good for ordinary people"
/ref> The Centre was renowned both for its architectural style and its new approach to centralised health, housing multiple free medical facilities under one roof, and predating the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

by over 10 years.UK PubMed Central "Asian Doctors in the NHS"
/ref> Katial was elected mayor of Finsbury for 1938–1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a First-Aid Medical Officer. In 1946, he was elected to the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, as one of the two borough representatives.Visram 2004. On 8 June 1948, he was granted the Freedom of the Borough of Finsbury.British Medical Journal (26 June 1948) Medical News
/ref>British Medical Journal (26 June 1948) Medical News, hosted on National Center for Biotechnology Information
/ref>

Career

References

Further reading