Umedram Lalbhai Desai

(Rao Sahib) Umedram Lalbhai Desai (1869–1930) was a medical doctor in India during the time of the British Raj.

His medical qualifications included LRCP and LRCS (Edinburgh), LM and LFPS (Glasgow) 1894, MD (Brussels) 1895, MB Chb (University College, London and Owens College) 1895, MD (Victoria) 1900. He was the inventor of Screw Bone Perforator and instruments for Wiring Fractured Bones (Patented). (1904 British Medical Directory, Practitioners Resident Abroad)

Desai was born in Vyara, Valod in Surat district in the Indian state of Gujarat, India on 16 November 1869. He belonged to the caste of Gujarati Brahmins called (Palwada) Audichya Sahastra Brahmin (Udichta), from the province of Surat. He was the only son of Lalbhai Desai and Ankar Bai. Lalbhai Desai was a landowner (Zamindar) who owned vast amounts of land in Valod.

At the age of 17, Desai married Diwali Bai. Their marriage was arranged by their parents at an early age. He had two sons, elder son was Balvantrai and younger is champaklalcaeser

In 1887/188 Desai attended the Grant Medical College in Bombay. He is listed as a "Gaikavad Scholar" in the University Calendar 1887-1888.

In his early 20s Desai became a member of the Theosophical Society founded by Madame Blavatsky. He wrote many publications for the society. Among them were the following:

Desai is mentioned in the article "Why I Became A Theosophist" by Dr. Henry Travers Edge published in Theosophia: A Living Philosophy For Humanity in Volume XVI No. 4 (82) - Spring 1960.

"Among members of what might be called the household staff, I recall, besides the two Keightleys, the Countess Wachtmeister, whose name occupies a notable place in the pages of early Theosophical history; Mr. George R.S. Mead, H.P.B.'s secretary; Mr. Claude Falls Wright; Mrs. Cooper-Oakley and her sister Laura Cooper; Miss Kislingbury; Charles Johnston, Sanskrit scholar, who married Vera Zhelihovsky, H.P. Blavatsky's niece; Mr. Richard Harte, an American. Other notable names not included among resident members, are Herbert Burrows, leading Socialist; Dr. Franz Harman, well-known writer on occult subjects; Mrs. Alice Gordon, long resident in India and mentioned in early Theosophical annals; William Kingsland, then a young electrical engineer; Colonel Olcott. Among Hindus may be mentioned U.L. Desai and Rai Baroda K. Laheri."

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