The Sarabhai family is a prominent Indian family active in several fields. The patriarch, Ambalal Sarabhai, was a leading industrialist. While he created significant wealth, his children interested themselves in a wide variety of other endeavours, and the family is better known for those activities, rather than for their industrial enterprise. The family's business activities continue through Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises. [1]
The Sarabhai family are a major business family in India belonging to the Shrimal Jain Bania community. [2] [3] Its twentieth century patriarch, Sheth Ambalal Sarabhai, was a Jain industrialist. He had five daughters and three sons who were involved in the family business as well as the Indian independence movement. After India's independence, the family remained involved in developmental tasks undertaken by the Government of India.
Ambalal Sarabhai was a prominent mill owner and also interested in philanthropic activities. His wife Sarladevi Sarabhai was impressed by the Maria Montessori philosophy and in the year 1922, Montessori sent E. M. Standing to India for the homeschooling of Sarabhai children.
Sarabhai Enterprises branched out after India's independence and many pioneer ventures were made in fields dominated by foreign companies. The manufacture of drugs and pharmaceuticals, chemicals and intermediates, dyes and pigments, industrial and household detergents, soaps and cosmetics, industrial packaging and containers, and later engineering and electronic products.
Prominent members of the Sarabhai family include:
No.4 was renamed the Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre after Dr. Sarabhai’s death in 1971. No.18 & 19 were merged under the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre after Dr. Sarabhai’s death in 1971. Nos.21,22,23,24,25 and 26 were merged under the Space Applications Centre after Dr. Sarabhai’s death in 1971. No. 31 was renamed Vikram Earth Station after Dr. Sarabhai’s death in 1971.
Mallika Sarabhai is an activist and Indian classical dancer and actress from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of a classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer and performer who has specialized in using the arts for social change and transformation.
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped to develop nuclear power in India. Often regarded as the "Father of Indian space program", Sarabhai was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) in 1972.
Kasturbhai Lalbhai was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He co-founded Arvind Mills along with his brothers and several other institutes. He was a co-founder of the Ahmadabad Education Society which later founded Ahmedabad University and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Lalbhai served as the chairman of the historic and influential Anandji Kalyanji Trust, that manages Shatrunjaya and several other Jain pilgrimage centers, for 50 years.
Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, institution builder, and supporter of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the chairman and promoter of Calico Mills and the founder of The Sarabhai Group of Companies. He also was a participant in Indian independence movement.
Ahmedabad is the industrial center in western India after Mumbai. The gross domestic product of Ahmedabad metro was estimated at US$122 billion in 2022. Ahmedabad is the largest contributor to the GDP of Gujarat state, with an estimated US$68 billion as of 2017 out of $227 billion, textile and clothing in Ahmedabad is one of the oldest industries. It is the largest supplier of denim and one of the largest exporters of gems and jewellery in the country. Ahmedabad has one of the largest concentration of pharmaceutical and biotech companies in India. Ahmedabad hosts the headquarters of major public-sector banks Ahmedabad Dist Co Op Bank, Ahd Mercantile Co-Op Bank Ltd, Ahmedabad Mercantil Co Op Bank, Dena Bank, The Cosmos Co - Op Bank, Manager Gujarat Ambuja Co-Operative, The Gujarat State Co-operative Bank Ltd.Gujarat State Coop Bank, The Kalupur Bank, Ahmedabad Capital Bank, Kutch Bank co op, Bank of Rajasthan, Bank of Marwad.
Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, drama, music and puppetry, in the city of Ahmedabad. She received Padma Bhushan in 1992 and Padma Shri in 1965. She also received many other citations in recognition of her contribution to art.
The Calico Mills, officially Ahmedabad Manufacturing and Calico Printing Mills Ltd and M/S ILAC Ltd, was one of the earliest textile mills established in Ahmedabad, India, by the Sarabhai family. Established in 1888, it closed in 1998. The land, plant and machinery were sold in a public auction in 2010s.
The Calico Museum of Textiles is located in the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat in western India. The museum is managed by the Sarabhai Foundation.
Kartikeya Vikram Sarabhai is one of the world's leading environmental educators and a dedicated community builder. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2012.
Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya is a school and the Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyavihar is a group of educational institutes located within a campus in the Ambawadi area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in Gujarat established in 1912.
Darpana Academy of Performing Arts is a school for performing arts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, established by Mrinalini Sarabhai and Vikram Sarabhai in 1949, it has been directed by their daughter Mallika Sarabhai for the last three decades. The school organises a three-day Interart, the "Vikram Sarabhai International Arts Festival" at Ahmedabad, every year. It celebrated its golden jubilee on 28 December 1998, with the announcement of the annual "Mrinalini Sarabhai Award for Classical Excellence", in the field of classical dance.
Sarabhai is a surname, and may refer to:
The National Institute of Design (NID) is a public design university in Paldi, Ahmedabad, with extension campuses in Gandhinagar and Bengaluru. Regarded as one of the foremost design schools in Asia as surveyed by Bloomberg Businessweek in 2009 and on Ranker, it is ranked 51-100 among the top art and design institutes in the world as of 2022 by QS. The university, along with the other NIDs across India, functions as an autonomous institute under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. NID has been accorded an Institute of National Importance under the National Institute of Design Act, 2014.
Anasuya or Anusyabehn Sarabhai was a pioneer of the women's labour movement in India. She founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association, India's oldest union of textile workers, in 1920 and Kanyagruha, in 1927 to educate girls of the mills. Also being beloved friend and pupil of Mahatma Gandhi who considered her "Pujya" ("Revered"), during his initial struggle of the Indian Independence Movement and as well as helping him establish his ashram at Sabarmati.
Revanta Sarabhai is an Indian film and theatre actor, dancer, and choreographer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. He is known for being one of the few male Bharatanatyam soloists of his generation.
Gautam Sarabhai was an industrialist and businessman from the Sarabhai family of Ahmedabad.
Chinubhai Chimanlal also commonly referred to as Chinubhai Mayor was industrialist, cotton textile mill owner and one of the scions of Lalbhai group. He was elected as first mayor of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
Gira Sarabhai was an Indian architect, designer, and a design pedagogue. She was born into the Sarabhai family and was the youngest of eight siblings. She is known for contributing to several industrial and educational projects in Gujarat. She was the representative of the Sarabhai Foundation, a public charitable trust. Gira, along with her brother Gautam Sarabhai were crucial in establishing and designing the academic curricula of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Geeta Sarabhai Mayor was an Indian musician, well known for her patronage in music. She was among the first women to play the pakhavaj, a traditional barrel-shaped, two-headed drum. She promoted exchanges between Indian and Western music, particularly for bringing Ahmedabad to New York City. During a study stay in New York, she taught Indian music and philosophy to the experimental composer John Cage, in exchange for a course on the theory of Western music. The course included the twelve-tone technique of Arnold Schoenberg. In 1949, Geeta Sarabhai founded the Sangeet Kendra in Ahmedabad, whose mission is to document and promote classical and popular Indian musical traditions. Gita was a part-time faculty of music at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
The Sarabhais are Gujarati (Jain Bania Shrimali) from Ahmedabad.