| Lambert Mascarenhas | |
 | |
| Birth: | 17 September 1914 Colva, Goa, India (then a Portuguese colony) |
| Death: | 27 June 2021 Dona Paula, Goa, India |
| Age: | 106 years, 283 days |
| Country: |  IND
|
| Centenarian | |
Lambert Mascarenhas [Goan Konkani: लॅम्बर्ट मास्कारेन्हस] (17 September 1914 – 27 June 2021) was an Indian centenarian, journalist, independence activist, and writer from Goa who was one of the oldest known living men in India at the time of his death. His family hailed from the Goan Catholic community.
Biography[]
Personal life[]
Mascarenhas was born in Colva, Goa, Portuguese India, but his early education took place in Pune and later at the St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He was married to Dr. Jolly Mascarenhas. He had four children. He had taken a vow that he would marry only after the liberation of Goa from colonial Portuguese rule. Hence, he married on 29 December 1961, exactly ten days after Goa's liberation by India on 19 December 1961.
Journalism[]
Mascarenhas started his career as a journalist in the Morning Standard at Mumbai. He worked as a sub-editor at the Bombay Sentinel, under editor B. G. Horniman. Mascarenhas later joined the Onlooker as an assistant editor. He later edited the Goan Tribune, which espoused the cause of Goa's invasion by India. Upon his return to a liberated Goa in 1961, he joined as the editor of The Navhind Times and later established and edited Goa Today.
Contribution to the independence movement[]
Mascarenhas also contributed to India's freedom movement. He authored the Goan Tribune, which was dedicated to the cause of Goa's liberation. While at the Goan Tribune, he wrote numerous articles against the Portuguese colonial regime in Goa and caught the attention of both Indian leaders as well as the Portuguese regime. While on a visit to Goa, he was arrested and jailed by the Portuguese for his articles. He was later released on bail and expelled from Goa. In Bombay, he joined the National Congress (Goa).
Books[]
Mascarenhas authored several books, including the novel Sorrowing Lies My Land, published in 1955. This work of fiction was based in the anti-Portuguese movement launched by the Indian politician Rammanohar Lohia in Margao in 1946.
Mascarenhas' other works include The First City, In the Womb of Saudade, The Greater Tragedy and Heartbreak Passage.
Awards[]
Mascarenhas was awarded the Laxmidas Borkar Memorial Award for journalism for 2004. He was also awarded Goa's highest civilian award, the Gomant Vibhushan. He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015.
Death[]
Mascarenhas died in Dona Paula, Goa, India on 27 June 2021 at the age of 106 years, 283 days.
Gallery[]
References[]
- NRI Commission of Goa Nri.goa.gov.in
- NRI Commission of Goa
- The Political Novels of Lambert Mascarenhas (PDF)
- Sorrowing lies my land - revisited Colaco.net, 23 April 2000 (dead link)
- Goans must be disciplined and hate nobody: A dialogue with Lambert Mascarenhas Independent Goa Observer, 11 September 2004 (dead link)
- Karnataka News : Briefly The Hindu, 27 October 2005 (dead link)
- Lambert Mascarenhas: Still sorrowing for his land Panorama / The Navhind Times, 7 October 2012
- Lambert Mascarenhas conferred 'Gomant Vibhushan' award WebIndia123, 29 May 2014
- Lambert Mascarenhas to get Gomant Vibushan Times of India, 30 May 2014
- The musings, moods & memories of Goa's jolly good fellow The Times of India, 14 September 2014
- A Daughter Speaks – Nayantara Lima Leitao Vasco Watch Online, 24 November 2014
- Padma Awards 2015 Press Information Bureau, 25 January 2015
- Renowned journalist and Padma Shri Lambert Mascarenhas no more The Goemkarponn, 27 June 2021
- Freedom fighter and journalist, Lambert Mascarenhas dies at 106 Times of India, 28 June 2021