Paul Pothen (1916-2004) was an Indian industrialist and one of the pioneers of fertilizer industry in India. He was the founding managing director of three large scale fertilizer manufacturing firms in India. Pothen was born in a Mallapally-based Christian family on 8 January 1916 at Nedumangad, in the

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

district and graduated from the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

in 1935, after which he secured his graduation in civil engineering from the

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and the premiership of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The university is recognised by t ...

in 1940. He continued his studies to get higher training in electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (formerly Rourkee University) and did an advanced course in Canada under the aegis of

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

in 1965-66. Pothen started his career by joining the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) in a senior management position in 1944 where he stayed until 1965 when he was made the founding managing director of ''FACT Engineering and Design Organisation'' (FEDO) in 1965. Three years later, when the

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, also known as IFFCO, is a multi-state cooperative society engaged in the manufacture and marketing of fertiliser. IFFCO is headquartered in New Delhi, India. Started in 1967 with 57 member cooper ...

(IFFCO) was established in 1968, Pothen was made the founding managing director. He continued at IFFCO till 1981 and moved to Krishak Bharati Cooperative (KRIBHCO) as the organization's founding managing director. He headed the Fertilizer Association of India for several years and was also associated with the Travancore Cochin Chemicals and Fact Technical Society. 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 ...

awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 1977. He died on 3 August 2004 at the age of 88, succumbing to old age illnesses at Amrita Hospital in Kochi. The

named one of their townships as Paul Pothen Nagar, in honour of their former managing director.

References

Recipients of the Padma Shri in civil service 1916 births 2004 deaths People from Thiruvananthapuram district Businesspeople from Kerala Malayali people Indian industrialists University of Madras alumni University of Mysore alumni IIT Roorkee alumni Indian corporate directors {{India-business-bio-stub

See also

References