Nicolau Pereira

Fr. Nicolau Pereira (1926−2003) was a Catholic priest who was a prominent educationist in Goa. He was principal of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa. A scientist himself, he educated and encouraged a generation of students, some of whom migrated to prominent positions abroad.

Vice-Principal, Principal

Fr. Antonio Nicolau Pereira. Ph.D. interrupted his post doctoral research in Maryland, USA. He first joined St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa as Vice Principal in the academic year 1964-65, and then assumed the principalship in June 1965. At that time, the college was barely two years old, and was functioning from an existing school building in the nearby village of Bastora.

He became the second Principal of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa, then functioning in Bastora, and just in the process of being established, following the end of Portuguese rule in Goa. That was 1964, just three years into post-Portuguese-ruled Goa and two years after the first college in Goa was started by Dayanand (Bhausaheb) Bandodkar-led Goa Education Society.

"Pop"

Affectionately known as "Pop", Fr. Nicolau was the paternal figure of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa for virtually a generation. He also started the St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School in 1989 when the pre-university course was separated from colleges by the Goa Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education.

In St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa, for much of his tenure, he colleague was vice principal Fr. Ivo Mascarenhas, who was known as Vice Pop.

At Pilar too

He was also the Founder Principal of Fr. Agnelo's College of Arts & Commerce, Pilar, in Goa in 1991. Fr Pereira wrote science-related articles in the Konkani language, as this article from the Ixtt notes. This article is titled Pois ravun topsanni (Examining from a distance... ) and is on remote sensing and related science issues.

Brief bio

His family hailed from Calata in Goa's Majorda village. After his primary education in Portuguese, he chose to become a Catholic priest, and joined the Rachol Seminary, where he completed the Course of Philosophy with distinction and the Course of Theology with accessit. Fr Pereira was ordained priest by D. Jose da Costa Nunes on April 16, 1950 at the Pilar Seminary chapel in Goa. He chose education as his vocation and mission.

At the Seminary of Our Lady in Goa, he taught Marathi and Konkani languages, besides Maths. At the Rachol Seminary, he lectured on the natural history, physics and chemistry. He was awarded the degree of doctorate in inorganic chemistry from St Louis University, USA, in 1964.

Career

Fr Pereira launched his career after obtaining his doctorate, as a Graduate Assistant at St. Louis University in the United States, and later worked as a research associate at the Institute of Molecular Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, in 1964.

He was a member of the American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi, American Crystallographical Association, Institute Menezes Braganca (Goa), Senate of the University of Bombay, various educational committees of the Government of Goa, the chairman of the Goa College Principals' Forum, the academic and executive councils of the Goa University, among other institutions.

New college

After the end of Portuguese colonial rule in Goa in 1961, the Church of Goa set up its first college, in the north Goa town of Mapusa. Barring the first two academic years -- 1963-65 -- when the college was administered by the Jesuits, the then Apostolic Administrator of Goa Bishop Francisco da Piedade Rebello invited Fr Pereira, then serving as an associate professor at the Fordham University to take over charge of the young college, and become the first Diocesan priest as its principal. He continued in this post from 1965 till 1991, when he relinquished principalship, after being given extensions twice.

In recognition of his contribution to the field of education, the Government of Goa conferred him with a State award. He was also the chief editor of Renewal, a magazine published by the Archdiocese of Goa and was the president of the prestigiousu Instituto de Menezes Braganza in Panjim.

Voracious reader

In Goa he headed the Diocesan Society of Education for over two decades. He was appointed a post-graduate teacher of the University of Bombay as well as the erstwhile Centre of Postgraduate Instruction and Research in the Goan capital of Panjim or Panaji.

Fr Pereira was known to his colleagues as a voracious reader -- not just of the Sciences, but being interested in the Humanities too. His evenings and nights were dedicated to reading -- his favourite areas being Chemistry and whatever was connected with Goa. He was known for remembering students by their names.

Views

In his inaugural speech as principal of the St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa in June 1965, he commented: "A college is not the work of patrons or sponsors. It is above all the work of students and teachers. For a suitable college, there is need of the right type of building, and good modern equipment -- that is all true. But above all these things, the efforts of students and teachers are the most important factors in the life and results of the college."

On short-list

According to Fr Eufemiano de Jesus Miranda, ex-lecturer of the Department of History at the St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa, writing in the college magazine The Halcyon, Fr Pereira was one of those short-listed to occupy the Archbishopric See of Goa and Daman. Miranda writes, "When in 1977 the Holy See, through the Apostolic Nuncio in New Delhi, set in motion the process of selecting the person to occupy the Archbishopric See of Goa and Daman, Fr Nicolau (Pereira) was one on a list of three candidates (terna)."

Campus greening

Fr Pereira is also credited with having played a role in changing the campus of the St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa in more ways than one. Writes Fr Miranda, a long-time colleague: "The college campus in the early 'seventies, was a bare, arid, rocky ground. Driving his Standard (which in the 'eighties had become a vintage specimen) he would bring in its boot, from his home at Majorda, crotones, banana, acacia saplings. When I shared with him my plan of growing big trees (acassias, feltaforu ferrugineum, gulmohar, etc) he was overjoyed. The next morning, a Sunday, when the hostelites were still having their breakfast, Pop with a coita (traditional Goan chopper) in hand, was trimming the wild growth. Taking a cue from him, they were ever-ready to lend a helping hand to the warden to create a green cover for the campus." (Beyond the Distance by Fr Eufemiano De Jesus Miranda, ex-Lecturer, Department of History, in The Halcyon, souvenir of St Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa 2002-2003).

Death

News of Fr Pereira's death reached St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa on January 26, 2003, when faculty, staff and students were assemble to mark the celebrations of India's Republic Day.

External links

• Rev. Dr. Fr. Nicolau Pereira's Scholarship
• The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus - The Jesuits in Goa

Persondata
Name	Pereira, Nicolau
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1926
Place of birth
Date of death	2003
Place of death