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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
A Student's Tribute to late Dr. (Smt) Maniben P. Kamerkar
- Dr. Sudha Mehta
A graceful and knowledgeable lady, Dr. Mani Kamerkar was respectfully and fondly known as Madam to her students and colleagues.
Dr. Mani P. Kamerkara (1925 2004)
A specialist in History, she had bagged the prestigious Padhye and Kanga Prizes for History when she topped at B.A. (Hons) from Elphinstone College. She completed her M.A. in 1949 and obtained her Ph.D. in 1976 from Bombay University.
Having served for almost a decade as Professor and Head of History Dept. at National College, Bandra, she joined Maniben Nanavati college for Women, Vile Parle as the head of History Department and later occupied the post a its Principal in it until 1976. She then was made Director, College Development Council of SNDT Women's University, Bombay, until 1990. She had also held the distinguished post of Chairperson, Board of Studies for History and many other offices in connection with Seminars and Workshops organized during her tenure.
She was Chairperson of the Society for Indian History and Culture fro years. Since 1990 She was a Vice President for the Asiatic Society of Bombay. Her publications include 2 books and 30 Research Articles that were included in several publications from India and abroad. These were collective writings on History and various topics of Modern Indian History. Maniben always chose to highlight the information about the downtrodden sections of society, neglected sections of society whose contribution to its development had been crucial but was only cursorily referred to by general historical writings. She had a keen interest in her own community of the Parsees and women's studies. She also wrote articles for the Local History Society of Bombay and took keen interest in its activities. She has guided 6 students to obtain their Ph.D. Degree from SNDT Women's University, Covering topics of historical interest from Maharashtra and Gujarat. She knew both Gujarati and Marathi well, and red profusely from the original sources for her studies.
She also served as Visiting Lecturer and Professor at certain Universities of Canada and USA. She attended a large number of Seminars and Workshops of History organizations of national and international reputation, representing her University and herself.
A person with great enthusiasm for life and devoted to her academic interest, Maniben was a source of inspiration in both these fields for all who came into her contact. She had a knack of building lasting relationships with all of them, be they students, colleagues and staff, or friends, relatives and neigh
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