Mumbai Samachar director Muncherji Cama dead

Mumbai, July 3

Muncherji Nusserwanji Cama, a director at Mumbai Samachar, the oldest Indian newspaper in print, died on Saturday after a brief illness, sources said.

Cama, who was in his 60s, was active in the family’s publishing business till the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the sources said.

The former trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP) was a resident of Walkeshwar in south Mumbai. Founded in 1681, BPP is the apex body representing the Parsi Zoroastrian community in Mumbai and is among the oldest charitable trusts.

Keenly interested in history, languages and linguistics, Cama was on the board of several charities and was particularly interested in enhancing educational standards of the less fortunate and helped provide medical treatment for the poor.

His elder brother Hormusji N Cama is more active in the day-to-day operations of Mumbai Samachar.

On July 1, Mumbai Samachar entered its 200th year of publication. The Gujarati newspaper, with its office located in an iconic red building in south Mumbai’s Fort area, was first published in 1822.

Founded by Parsi scholar Fardoonji Murazban, the newspaper passed through several hands until bankruptcy turned it over to the Cama family in 1933. PTI