Mahomed Osman pictured at the age of 19. No. 387456 was his Immigrant Number. Source: MGI Archives (Mauritius). |
Abdoollatif Mahomed Osman
Abdoollatif Mahomed Osman is first Minister of Agriculture of Mauritius. He was appointed Minister while the country was still a British colony. Abdoollatif, the eldest son of Mahomed, was also a a large landowner and he was known for his sugar estate at Belle Isle, Bambous. He was the one who helped to build the first mosque at Morcellement St André. A popular road in the town of Quatre-Bornes bears his name.
Sir Abdool Raman Osman
Sir Abdool Raman Osman is very well-known. He was a comrade of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Mauritius' first Premier and first Prime Minister. They went to the Royal College of Curepipe and travelled together to England by ship for their further studies. While Seewoosagur read medicine, Abdool Raman opted for law.
Abdool Raman is first Muslim lawyer and barrister in Mauritius, the first Muslim Supreme Court Judge and the first Mauritian Governor-General appointed three years after the Independence of the country. Sir Abdool Raman was passionate about botany and horticulture, and he settled in rural Le Goulet, Baie du Tombeau, where his iconic house stood at the intersection of a river and the sea. A State College in Phoenix has been named after him.
Hossen Mahomed Osman
Hossen Mahomed Osman, the eldest son of Mahomed of his fourth marriage, is one of the very first Muslim attorneys in Mauritius. At the end of his life, he was the most senior attorney-in-law in the country. Hossen, also known as Dayas, is the first Town Clerk of the Municipality of Vacoas-Phoenix. A street in Vacoas, next to his house, bears his name.
Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra
Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra, grand-daughter of Mahomed Osman, is the first female Muslim lawyer and barrister in Mauritius, the first female Muslim Member of the Legislative Assembly (now called MP), the first female Muslim Minister and Attorney-General, the first female Muslim Ambassador and also the first Ombudsperson for Children of the country.