Guru Dutt Sondhi (10 December 1890 – 20 November 1966)The Olympic Movement in Mourning
1966 was an Indian sports administrator in

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 ...

. Sondhi was manager of the

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 2 million people in the UK, making them the single largest Ethnic groups in the United Kingdo ...

Olympic hockey team at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

, founder of the

Western Asiatic Games The Western Asiatic Games was a multi-sport event for athletes from Western Asia. The games were established since as a replacement to the Far Eastern Games, which were cancelled due to the political difficulties between Republic of China (1912– ...

and the founder of the Asian Games Federation, which held the first Asiad.Stefan Huebner, ''Pan-Asian Sports and the Emergence of Modern Asia, 1913-1974''. Singapore: NUS Press, 2016, chapter 3 (on the First Asian Games); Stefan Huebner, "Guru Dutt Sondhi (1890-1966): Indian IOC Member and Visionary of Asian Integration through Sport." In:
Education about Asia
'' 21,2 (2016), 29-34. At the time of the inaugural Asian Games in New Delhi, he was the Secretary General of the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

Early life

Guru Dutt Sondhi was born on 10 December 1890 in the city of

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, then in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

now in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, to a Punjabi family. His father was a barrister in

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

Punjab 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 ...

. He attended

Government College, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

from 1905 to 1911 and then

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, England from 1911 to 1914. He was interested in sports. During his study years in the Government College he was the half-mile and cross-country sports champion of

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

in 1911. He was also the member of Trinity College's hockey team.

Sports and University Administrator

Guru Dutt Sondhi served in several positions: *Professor at

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

*Honorary Secretary of the Punjab Olympic Association, 1924-36. *Chairman of the Punjab Olympic Association, 1936-45 & President for some years.Stefan Huebner, ''Pan-Asian Sports and the Emergence of Modern Asia, 1913-1974''. Singapore: NUS Press, 2016, chapter 3 (on the First Asian Games). *Second Secretary General of the

since 1927 *Manager for the Indian Olympic athletics team at the 1928 Olympics. *Manager for the Indian Olympic hockey team at the 1932 Olympics. *Principal of

Government College University, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

, 1939–45; when his term ended in 1945, became sports advisor to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. *The first President of the

Athletics Federation of India The Athletics Federation of India is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in India, and is responsible for conducting competitions in the country. It was formed in 1943. It is affiliated to World Athletics and Asian Athletics As ...

(1946–50) and Vice-President of the

International Hockey Federation The International Hockey Federation, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major int ...

in 1946. *Founder of the

1951 Asian Games The 1951 Asian Games, officially known as the First Asian Games (), were a multi-sport event celebrated in New Delhi, India from 4 to 11 March 1951. The Games received names like First Asiad, 1951 Asiad, and New Dehli 1951 (). A total of 489 athl ...

. *

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC) member from 1932 until his death in 1966.Members of the IOC do, in theory, not represent countries but are ambassadors from the IOC to the sports associations of their countries

The First Asian Games

The idea for Asian sports, going back to the Western Asiatic Games (1934) and the

Far Eastern Championship Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...

(1913-1934), was reborn shortly before the end of the Second World War and discussed during the

Asian Relations Conference The Asian Relations Conference was an international conference that took place in New Delhi from 23 March to 2 April, 1947. Organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), the Conference was hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Vice-P ...

held under the leadership of

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

shortly before India's Independence in 1947. The idea was translated into reality during the 1948 London Olympic Games when India’s Prof. Guru Dutt Sondhi,

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 an ...

(from the Philippines), and others called a meeting to form the Asian Games Federation (AGF). East Asian and Southeast Asian delegates, contemplating about recreating the Far Eastern Championship Games, eventually decided to join the meeting and to host the First Asian Games in Shanghai. This could not be realized due to the Chinese Civil War, meaning that Sondhi later agreed to host the event in India. Following this, the AGF was formalised at Delhi’s Patiala House on 12–13 February 1949, and delegates drafted and accepted a constitution. The charter members forming the federation were

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, Ceylon (now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

), the Dutch East Indies (now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, Nepal, Pakistan, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, and Thailand, while the Iranian nominee could not attend. The delegates also decided to hold the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

after every four years, midway between the Olympic Games; at a later meeting, during the First Asian Games, they agreed on the simple motto which was designed and proposed by Guru Dutt Sondhi: "Ever Onward". The official flag, inspired by the flag Sondhi had designed for the Western Asiatic Games, shows a red sun that represents the ever glimmering and warm spirit of the Asian people.

References

External links

History of Olympic Council of Asia

The First Asian Games(New Delhi 1951) Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sondhi, Guru Dutt 1890 births 1966 deaths People from Lahore Asian Games Indian sportspeople Indian sports executives and administrators Indian International Olympic Committee members

Early life

Sports and University Administrator

The First Asian Games

See also

References

External links