Hotchand Gopaldas Advani (22 April 1907 - 9 May 1991) was an Indian lawyer, educationist, social reformist and a businessman. He was one of the founders of K.C. College, K.C. Law College and Jai Hind Cooperative Bank of India. He served as founding president of Hyderabad (Sindh) National Collegiate Board, and chairman of the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Gandhidham, India.

Early life and career

Hotchand Advani was born on 22 April 1907 in

Hyderabad, Sindh Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

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

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# ...

). His father Gopaldas Jhatmal Advani was a notable lawyer of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. He got early education in Hyderabad and graduated from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He served as a Municipal Councillor of Hyderabad and the President, Hyderabad Bar Association. He was the legal advisor of Hyderabad Municipality, Hyderabad District Local Board, and many other institutions of name and fame. He was also director and member of many banks, institutions, clubs and societies of Sindh. During the partition of

in 1947, he moved to

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

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 ...

and continued his career as a

Barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. Like his father, he proved himself as one of the leading reputable lawyers of India.

Contributions

Advani was not only a leading lawyer of his time but a great

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

as well. For the promotion of education, he and his father founded a trust called Hyderabad (Sindh) National Collegiate Board in 1921. After partition of India, he moved the trust to India in 1949 which was recognised by the Maharashtra State Government as linguistic ( Sindhi) minority educational institution. He served as the founding president of this trust in India. On the platform of this trust, Hotachand Advani and Principal K.M. Kundnani opened R.D. National College Bandra Mumbai in 1949. They opened second college - the Kishinchand Chellaram College (K.C. College) in 1954. Slowly but steadily, they founded a chain of twenty colleges and eight institutions – opening doors for so many young people to jobs, to education and training in various fields. Advani worked with many social and educational trusts and foundations. He served as a Vice-Chairman of the Watumal Foundation. This trust established the Watumal Senatorium in Mumbai for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. He also served as Chairman of the Saint Miran College Education Board (

), president of Jai Hind College Board, Chairman of the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Gandhidham, and chairman of the Board of Daily Hindustan.Dr Asha, Dayal (8 May 2022). "تعليمدان ۽ قابل قانوني ماھر بئريسٽر دادا ھوتچند آڏواڻي (Educationist and renowned Lawyer Barrister Dada Hotchand Advani)". ''Weekly Hindvasi''. May 2022: 5. Retrieved on 11 May 2022. He launched Sindhi language newspaper Hindustan and weekly Sindhi magazine Hindvasi.

Personal

Hotchand Advani was married to Savitri Hotchand Advani (5 April 1914 - 25 July 2016). He had three sons Rajkumar Hotchand Advani, Ashok Hotchand Advani and Hiroo Hotchand Advani.

Death

Hotchand Gopaldas Advani died on 9 May 1991.

References

{{Reflist 1907 births 1991 deaths 20th-century Indian educators Alumni of King's College London People from Hyderabad, Sindh People from Hyderabad District, Pakistan Indian Sindhi people