Zafar Futehally
Zafar Rashid Futehally (born 19th March 1920) is an Indian naturalist and conservationist best known for his work as the secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society and for the "Newsletter for Birdwatchers" a periodical that helped birdwatchers around India to communicate their observations.
Zafar Futehally was born in Andheri. He studied economics at St. Xavier's College in Bombay and worked with Dynacraft Machine Company from 1942. The company was run along with his brother and cousin. He was a distant cousin of Salim Ali and is married to Laeeq Futehally, a niece of Salim Ali.[1]
He founded the "Newsletter for Birdwatchers", a periodical, in 1959 and became Honorary Secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society remaining until 1973 when he moved from Bombay to Bangalore. The "newsletter" included Salim Ali, Biswamoy Biswas and other eminent ornithologists of its time on the editorial board and was for many years mimeographed and distributed to subscribers in India and outside. In later years the covers were printed and still later the entire issue was printed. The newsletter encouraged an essay style of writing and some authors like Ramachandra Guha found their first opportunity to publish their writings in it.[2]
In 1965 he was involved in organizing the IUCN meeting at New Delhi and became a member of its executive board in 1966. He became Vice-President of the IUCN in 1969, received the Padma Shri in 1970, Order of the Golden Ark in 1980 and the Karnataka Rajyotsava award of 1983.[1]
References
- ^ a b Anonymous (1985). "Profile". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 25 (1&2): 12.
- ^ Guha, R (2003). "The bird men of India". The Hindu. 26-October-2003.