Kantilal Jivan Shah

Who is Kantilal Jivan Shah?

Kantilal Jivan Shah, known throughout Seychelles simply as Kanti, was a historian, naturalist and cultural custodian regarded as one of the most celebrated figures in the islands' modern history. Born in Gujarat, India, in 1922, he moved to Seychelles with his family at the age of five and grew up in Victoria, Mahe, where he later ran Jivan Imports, an export-import store his family had owned since 1925, keeping his personal library and living quarters above the shop. Largely self-taught beyond his early schooling, Kanti became an extraordinary polymath, described variously as a historian, folklorist, natural history expert, palmist, vegetarian cook, photographer, artist, sculptor and agronomist. He is best remembered for decades of pioneering environmental and conservation work in Seychelles, work recognised in 1990 when he received the United Nations Environment Programme's Global 500 Roll of Honour award and was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Over his lifetime he hosted and guided an extraordinary range of visitors to Seychelles, from Queen Elizabeth II and Mother Teresa to author Ian Fleming, who was inspired by him to include a character based on Kanti in his final James Bond novel. Kanti died in Victoria in 2010 at the age of 88, still remembered as one of the islands' most written-about citizens.

Sources: Kantilal Jivan, Wikipedia · Seychelles News Agency, "Jivan Shah: A Seychellois legend still missed by the near and far" · UN Environment Programme, Global 500 Roll of Honour (1990)