Khwaja Abdul Hamied

'Dr. Khwaja Abdul Hamied’ born on 31 October 1898 in Aligarh to Khwaja Abdul Ali and Masood Jahan Begum. He was an Indian nationalist and anti-imperialist scientist who founded Cipla, India's oldest pharmaceutical company in 1935. His son, Yusuf Hamied headed the company after him for the next 52 years.

Hamied was born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and later graduated from Allahabad University in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and held M.A. and PhD degrees from the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany. He was a disciple of M.K. Gandhi and former founder professor along with Zakir Husain of the Jamia Milia Islamia in Aligarh, now based in Delhi.

Hamied followed Mahatma Gandhi's Indian nationalism. Hamied's family raised money to send him to study chemistry in England, India's colonial master, in 1924. Instead, he changed ships and went to Germany, then the world's leader in chemicals. On a Berlin lake, he met a Lithuanian Jewish socialist, whom he married. They fled as the Nazis rose to power in Germany.

Chemical, Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratories (CIPLA) was founded in 1935 with an initial capital of Rs. 2 lakhs. The company commenced production in 1937 making it the oldest pharmaceutical company in India. His eldest son Yusuf Hamied, who did study chemistry in England, is now Chairman of Cipla. Yusuf still refers to his chemistry notebooks from Cambridge.

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