Joachim Alva

Joachim Alva Biography

Joachim Alva was an Indian lawyer, journalist and politician from Mangalore. He along with his wife Violet Alva was the first married couple in the Indian Parliament. He was one of the prominent figures of Indian freedom struggle movement from Karnataka belonging to Christian community. After Independence, he became Sheriff of Bombay in 1949. In 1950, he entered the Provisional Parliament of India. He has been elected to the Lok Sabha three times - 1952, 1957 and 1962 from North Kanara.

Joachim Alva belonged to a Mangalorean Catholic clan of Udupi district, Karnataka. His higher education was done at Elphinstone College, Government Law College, Mumbai and Jesuit St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. In 1928, Alva became Secretary of the fifty-year old Bombay Students Brotherhood. He was the first Christian to be appointed in this position. He was a prominent figure of the Bombay Youth League at a time when Khurshed Nariman, H.D. Raja and Soli Batliwala were active. In 1930, Alva founded the Nationalist Christian Party. His intension was to invite more Christian communities to freedom struggle movement. He was expelled from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai for moving a resolution at the Catholic Students Union to join other community students as well.

He was involved in organizing "No-Tax" campaign at the Bardoli Satyagraha. Once while in prison, he authored two books - Men and Supermen of Hindustan and Indian Christians and Nationalism and Men and Supermen of Hindustan. In 1937, Alva married Violet Hari, a Gujarati Protestant from Ahmedabad. Their son, Niranjan is married to Margaret Alva, former General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and Governor of Uttarakhand and presently Governor of Rajasthan. Niret Alva- an entrepreneur is his grandson.

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Updated: February 13, 2014