St. Xavier's High School, Fort

St. Xavier's High School
St. Xavier's High School
	File:XavierFortMumbai.png
	St. Xavier's High School Mumbai in 1908.; Architect: Fr. Karl Wagner, S.J., from Mainz, Germany.
Address
	Fort; Mumbai, Maharashtra; India
Coordinates	18°56′39″N 72°49′49″E / 18.94417°N 72.83028°E
Information
Type	Private primary and secondary school
Motto	Latin: Duc in Altum; (Launch out into the deep)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Denomination	Jesuits
Patron saint(s)	Francis Xavier, SJ
Established	1869; 157 years ago
Authority	Department of Education, Maharashtra
Director	Fr. Francis Swamy, SJ
Principal	Sharmila Sunny
Grades	K-10
Gender	Boys
Enrollment	c. 2000
Language	English medium
Website	stxaviersfort.org

St. Xavier's High School, Fort, is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys located in Fort, Mumbai, India. The English medium school was founded in 1869 and is run by the Society of Jesus.

History[edit | edit source]

First century[edit | edit source]

The school was built when the Bombay port took on new importance as the "Gateway to India", in the same year as the Suez Canal was built, 1869. At that time it incorporated primary students from the Jesuit St. Mary’s on Cavel Street that had been opened in 1860. By 1870 there were eight years of school and a seminary on the premises, with boarding facilities for the St. Mary’s boys and seminarians. The 512 students came from diverse religious backgrounds: 337 Catholic, 98 Hindus, 45 Parsis, 20 other Christians, ten Muslims, and two Jews. The top floor became the Jesuit residence, then housing sixteen Jesuits.

Music was taught from 1873 – singing, the harmonium, piano, flute, and violin. A band followed in 1878. Cricket was played at the school since 1874 and football from 1896. German fathers founded and ran the school, but during World War I they were sent to concentration camps^{[citation needed]}; Jesuits from Tarragona Spain and some from Switzerland filled in for them. In 1936, five graduates were in the top twenty among 7,014 successful candidates who passed the Matriculation Examination. In 1940 the East Wing was completed to accommodate the upper standards, including a hall with a capacity for 700. In 1948 a night school was opened with members of the Catholic Young Men’s Sodality as staff; it soon had an enrollment of 200 for courses like fitting and mechanics.^[2]

Memorabilia[edit | edit source]

St. Xavier's occupies the neo-gothic building it had from its foundation by the Jesuits in 1869. Fragments of its history are visible in the corridors of the primary section in the form of stuffed hunted animals shot by priests during the British Raj. Notable among these is the butterfly and bird collection on the first floor and the stuffed tiger on the third floor. The tiger was donated by the Maharaja of Vanzra, Gujrat, who attended St. Xavier's. The butterfly and bird collection is the work of Brother Navarro, a Spanish Jesuit and a naturalist who was associated with the school. At one corner of the primary quadrangle is a section of a ship's propeller which landed there at the time of the Bombay Harbour Explosion of 1944. St. Xavier's High School is approaching its 150th jubilee.^[3]

Education[edit | edit source]

St. Xavier's follows the SSC board which is the state board of the Government of Maharashtra. It runs classes from standard one to standard ten. The primary (standard one to four) and secondary school occupy different buildings. A class has four sections (A to D) with about fifty students per section.

All students of the secondary school belong to one of four houses - Claver (blue), Gonzaga (yellow), Britto (red), Berchmans (green). These were earlier known as Ashoka (blue), Tilak (yellow), Nehru (red), and Tagore (green).^[4] Each house has an elected House Captain from standard ten and a Vice-Captain from standard nine. Additionally, a School Captain and Vice-Captain are elected from standard ten. There is a sports captain and a sports vice captain also. These student representatives maintain student discipline and lead student and ceremonial activities.^[5]

Principals[edit | edit source]

The following individuals have served as principal of the school:^[6]

Ordinal	Officeholder	Term start	Term end	Time in office
1	Fr. Joseph Willy, SJ	1869	1870	0–1 years
2	Fr. Anselm Lester, SJ	1870	1873	2–3 years
3	Fr. Henry Depelchin, SJ	1873	1876	2–3 years
4	Fr. Edward De Vos, SJ	1876	1879	2–3 years
5	Fr. Theo Dalhoff, SJ	1879	1884	4–5 years
6	Fr. Julius Mayr, SJ	1884	1890	5–6 years
7	Fr. John Stein, SJ	1891	1897	5–6 years
8	Fr. H. Jurgens, SJ	1897	1900	2–3 years
9	Fr. Jos Hoene, SJ	1900	1902	1–2 years
10	Fr. W. M. Shapter, SJ	1902	1905	2–3 years
11	Fr. Henry Boese, SJ	1905	1908	2–3 years
12	Fr. Jac. Weingartner, SJ	1908	1914	5–6 years
13	Fr. Max Rieke, SJ	1914	1915	0–1 years
14	Fr. Max Riklin, SJ	1915	1923	7–8 years
15	Fr. Anice Deniz, SJ	1923	1930	6–7 years
16	Fr. Florencio Zurbitu, SJ	1930	1930	0 years
17	Fr. Aniceto Deniz, SJ	1931	1936	4–5 years
18	Fr. Aloysius Coyne, SJ	1936	1939	2–3 years
19	Fr. Angelus Solagran, SJ	1939	1945	5–6 years
20	Fr. Sebastian Bonet, SJ	1945	1951	5–6 years
21	Fr. Francis Ribot, SJ	1951	1952	0–1 years
22	Fr. Angelus Solagran, SJ	1952	1955	2–3 years
23	Fr. Richard Pereira, SJ	1955	1957	1–2 years
24	Fr. Fredrick Britto, SJ	1957	1960	2–3 years
25	Fr. Hilary Miranda, SJ	1960	1969	8–9 years
26	Fr. Lancelot Rodricks, SJ	1969	1977	7–8 years
27	Fr. Benjamin Fernandes, SJ	1977	1979	1–2 years
28	Fr. Edmund Caracco, SJ	1979	1986	6–7 years
29	Fr. Joaquim Mascarenhas, SJ	1986	1993	6–7 years
30	Fr. Herman Castelino, SJ	1993	1999	5–6 years
31	Mr. Manuel Raphael, SJ	1999	2000	0–1 years
32	Fr. Baptist Pinto, SJ	2000	2010	9–10 years
33	Jennifer Dias	2010	2018	7–8 years
34	Sharmila Sunny	2018	incumbent	7–8 years

Notable alumni[edit | edit source]

Arjun Appadurai - anthropologist^[7]
Somnath Bharadwaj - Indian theoretical physicist^[7]
Ashok Chavan - former Chief Minister of Maharashtra^[8]
Charles Correa - architect^[7]^[9]
Nari Gandhi - architect^[7]
Sunil Gavaskar - captain of Indian cricket team^[8]
Rais Khan - musician^[7]^[10]
Deepak Parekh - banking^[11]
Gautam Rajadhyaksha - photographer^[12]
Julio Ribeiro - Police Commissioner of Mumbai, DGP Punjab, Ambassador to Romania^[8]
Homi Sethna - scientist^[13]
Aham Sharma - actor^{[citation needed]}
Aftab Shivdasani - actor^[7]
Sidharth Shukla - actor^[7]
Soli Sohrabjee - Attorney General of India^[14]
Adi Godrej - Indian businessman and industrialist^[7]^[15]
Milind Rege - former Indian first-class cricketer^[7]
Tiku Talsania - Indian film and television actor^[7]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ "Principal's message | St. Xavier's High School". stxaviersfort.org.
↑ "History". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
↑ "Home page". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
↑ "House System". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
↑ "Student Cabinet". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
↑ "Past principals". St. Xavier's High School, Fort. 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
↑ ^7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 "Alumni | St. Xavier's High School". stxaviersfort.org. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 Vibhute, Kranti (6 January 2018). "150 years of glory: St Xavier's celebrates with alumni today". DNA India. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
↑ Fern, Joaquim; Jun 17, es / Updated. "The 'Moidekar' who hoped to save Goa | Goa News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 May 2021. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ Khurana, Suanshu (9 May 2017). "Ustad Rais Khan (1939-2017): The Man Who Made the Sitar Sing". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
↑ "Top banker Deepak Parekh of HDFC says he barely passed in school". The Financial Express. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
↑ "Notable alumni". official website. St. Xavier's High School, Fort.
↑ "Alma mater to honour late scientist with 'Xavier Ratna'". dna India. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
↑ Anand, Utkarsh; Ratnam, Damini (30 April 2021). "Adieu Soli Sorabjee, jurist, legal luminary, and jazz aficionado". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
↑ "St Xavier's School Mumbai Go Solar". NDTV.com. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

External links[edit | edit source]

[1] "Principal's message | St. Xavier's High School". stxaviersfort.org.

[2] "History". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

[3] "Home page". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

[4] "House System". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

[5] "Student Cabinet". stxaviersfort.org. St. Xavier's High School. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

[6] "Past principals". St. Xavier's High School, Fort. 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021.

[schllst-7] 7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 "Alumni | St. Xavier's High School". stxaviersfort.org. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

[almni150-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 Vibhute, Kranti (6 January 2018). "150 years of glory: St Xavier's celebrates with alumni today". DNA India. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

[9] Fern, Joaquim; Jun 17, es / Updated. "The 'Moidekar' who hoped to save Goa | Goa News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 May 2021. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[10] Khurana, Suanshu (9 May 2017). "Ustad Rais Khan (1939-2017): The Man Who Made the Sitar Sing". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

[11] "Top banker Deepak Parekh of HDFC says he barely passed in school". The Financial Express. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

[12] "Notable alumni". official website. St. Xavier's High School, Fort.

[13] "Alma mater to honour late scientist with 'Xavier Ratna'". dna India. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

[soli-14] Anand, Utkarsh; Ratnam, Damini (30 April 2021). "Adieu Soli Sorabjee, jurist, legal luminary, and jazz aficionado". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

[adi_god-15] "St Xavier's School Mumbai Go Solar". NDTV.com. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

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