This is a list of famous and notable people from Goa, India. This list includes Goans and persons of Goan origin who are known to a large number of people, and not based on the extent of their popularity. Neither is the list viewed from the context of the present. Their fame could be brief; what matters is that they were well known during the peak of their popularity. The names are arranged in alphabetical order in their respective categories.
Architects
- Charles Correa, Architect of Goan origin[1]
Artists
- Antonio Piedade da Cruz, twentieth-century painter and sculptor[2]
- Angelo da Fonseca, noted for presenting Christian themes in an Indian style
- Mario de Miranda (1926–2011), famous for his cartoons in The Illustrated Weekly of India; Padma Vibushan awardee
- Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924–2001), regarded as India's foremost abstract artist; received Padma Shri Award in 1971; born in Nagpur of Goan parents
- Kimi Katkar, film actress
- Subodh Kerkar, artist
- Kartika Rane, film and television actress
- Francis Newton Souza (1924–2003), artist
- Varsha Usgaonkar, film and television actress
- Sarah Jane Dias (born 1982), Goan Catholic actress
Business people
- Cincinnatus Fabian D'Abreo, Pakistani civil servant and businessman
- Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo of Goan origin
- Tony Fernandes, Malaysian founder of Tune Air, owner of budget airline Air Asia. Father originally from Goa.
- Manuel Menezes, Engineer and former Chairman of the Indian Railway Board
- Vasudev Salgaocar Goan Businessman
- Victor Menezes, Senior Operating Advisor for New Silk Route
Governors
- Bernardo Peres da Silva, of Neurá; appointed Prefect of Estado da Índia Portuguesa in 1835, the only Goan to hold a post equivalent to a Governor-General
Indologists & Archeologists
- Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi (1907–1966), Indologist
- Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi (1876–1947), studied Pali; Buddhist scholar
- José Gerson da Cunha (1844–1900), historian and Orientalist; wrote the first book on history of Bombay, The Origin of Bombay (1900), published by the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society[3][4]
- Mahadevshastri Joshi
- Prakashchandra Pandurang Shirodkar
Lawyers & Judges
- Fitz R S de Souza, barrister-at-law and PhD from London; important figure in African politics; participated in Kenya's struggle for freedom
Military
- André Pereira dos Reis, commander who lost Muscat in 1680[5]
- Francis Dias, Lt. General Indian Army
- General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, former Chief of Army Staff & former Governor of Punjab
Musicians
- Anjanibai Malpekar (1883–1974), Hindustani classical singer of Bhendibazaar gharana, Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1958)
- António Fortunato de Figueiredo (1903–1981), conductor, violinist; founder-director of the Academia de Música (now Dept of Western Classical Music, Kala Academy); founder-director of the Orquestra Sinfónica de Goa (Goa Symphony Orchestra)
- Anthony Gonsalves (1927–2012), violinist; taught R.D. Burman and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (a member of the Laxmikant Pyarelal team) and worked with most of the legendary composers of the 1950s and 1960s
- Chhote Rahimat Khan, Hindustani classical sitar player of the Bande Ali Khan (beenkar) Gharana,scored music to Vadhachakra, the first Marathi film of Goa, in 1992, and also to Tulsi, a Konkani Tele Film, in 1994, currently the director of FIM,Kala Academy
- Chris Perry, the king of Goan music
- Datta Naik, Hindi film music director
- Dinanath Mangeshkar, dramatist and classical vocalist
- Hema Sardesai, playback singer
- Ian D'Sa, UK-born, of Goan descent; guitarist of Canadian rock band Billy Talent
- Jason Lobo, Canadian Indian Classical pianist
- Jitendra Abhisheki, Indian musician
- Kesarbai Kerkar (1892–1977)
- Khaprumama Parvatkar (1879–1953), ghumot and tabla player
- Kishori Amonkar, classical vocalist
- Lorna Cordeiro, Konkani language singer
- Mogubai Kurdikar, classical vocalist
- Oliver Sean, singer/songwriter
- Prabhakar Karekar,Hindustani classical singer
- Remo Fernandes, musician and Bollywood playback singer
- Suresh Haldonkar, classical vocalist, actor
Olympians
- Jack Britto, field hockey, 1952, representing Pakistan
- J.M. Carvalho, field hockey, 1976, representing India
- Lawrie Fernandes, field hockey, 1948, representing India
- Leo Pinto, field hockey, 1948, representing India
- Walter de Sousa, field hockey, 1948, representing India
Politicians
- Abbé Faria, priest, key participant in the Conspiracy Of The Pintos; became a famous hypnotist and revolutionary in France
- António Costa, Portuguese Prime Minister (since 26 November 2015) and former Mayor of Lisbon (2007–2015)
- Erasmo de Sequeira, head of United Goans Party; former member of the Indian Parliament at New Delhi
- Eduardo Faleiro, politician and former central minister
- Dayanand Bandodkar, first Chief Minister of Goa
- Alfredo Nobre da Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal in 1978
- Alfredo Bruto da Costa, Minister for Health and Social Welfare of Portugal
- Jack de Sequeira, prominent campaigner for the opinion poll that retained Goa as an separate 'Union territory'
- Luís de Menezes Bragança, journalist, writer and anti-colonial activist
- Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa; former Defense Minister of India[6]
- Narana Coissoró, left his motherland of Goa to serve the Portuguese people and became a member of the Portuguese Parliament
- Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, formerly a Portuguese military officer, was the chief strategist of the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon; was born in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo); Mozambique of some Goan ancestry
- Pandurang Purushottam Shirodkar, first speaker of the Goa Assembly[7]
- Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, longest serving Chief Minister (15 years and 250 days), longest serving MLA (1972 - Present) and oldest speaker in Goan assembly history at (73 years) in 2012
- Dayanand Narvekar, youngest speaker in Goan assembly history at (34 years) in 1984
- Pio Gama Pinto, Kenyan freedom fighters and politician; director of the Pan African Press
- Shamrao Madkaikar
- Jaime Valfredo Rangel, physician and president of the Municipal Council of Bardez, also delegate to the International Labour Organization.
- João Leão, Finance Minister of Portugal
- Nelson de Souza, Minister of Planning for Portugal
- Shashikala Kakodkar, only woman Chief Minister and the youngest (38) serving CM
- Churchill Alemao, first Catholic Chief Minister and the shortest serving CM of Goa.
- Luis Proto Barbosa, former CM
- Ravi Naik, former CM
- Wilfred de Souza, oldest (71) serving CM.
- Luizinho Faleiro, former CM and the first unopposed MLA.
- Francisco Sardinha, former CM and current MP of South Goa.
- Manohar Parrikar, former CM
- Digambar Kamat, former CM
- Laxmikant Parsekar, first incumbent CM to lose it's assembly constituency
- Pramod Sawant, current CM
- John F Fernandez, first Rajya Sabha MP
- Vinay Tendulkar, current Rajya Sabha MP
- Sanyogita Rane, only woman MP
- Shripad Naik, longest serving MP from Goa and the current MP of North Goa
Professors & Educationists
- Armando Menezes, Head of the Department of English St Xavier's College Bombay; Principal of Karnataka College Dharwad; Under-Secretary Education, Government of Maharashtra
- Rui de Figueiredo, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mathematics, University of California, Irvine
- Yasmin Modassir (d. October 2016), Zoologist, Principal Dhempe College of Arts and Science, Goa
Priests, Bishops and Religious leaders
- Angelo Innocent Fernandes, Archbishop of New Delhi
- Anthony Theodore Lobo, Bishop of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan (Karachi/Goa)
- Anthony de Mello, Jesuit priest, Psychotherapist & Author
- Bridget Sequeira F.M.C.K. founded the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King, a missionary religious congregation for women in Karachi, Pakistan.
- Evarist Pinto, from Aldona, Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan
- Filipe Neri Ferrão, from Aldona, current archbishop of Goa and Damao
- Ivan Dias, Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Rome (Mumbai/Goa)
- Joseph Vaz, missionary in Sri Lanka (Ceylon); patron of Goan Archdiocese
- Joseph Cordeiro, Pakistani Cardinal (Karachi/Goa)
- Joseph Coutts, Cardinal Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan
- Matheus de Castro (c. 1594–1677), first Indian Bishop of the Catholic Church
- Moreno de Souza, translated the Bible into Konkani language
- Oswald Gracias, from Carmona, Archbishop of Mumbai
- Robert D'Silva, Pakistani priest for over 50 years
- Valerian Gracias, Cardinal in Bombay (Mumbai/Goa)
Scientists and Researchers
- Froilano de Mello, Portuguese microbiologist, medical scientist, professor, author and independent MP in the Portuguese parliament
- Garcia de Orta (1523–1580), physician, druggist, and botanist; wrote and published the first major book on Indian drugs and remedies; a Portuguese/Spanish Jew who lived some time in Goa
- Raghunath Mashelkar, eminent scientist and head of the prestigious Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
Sportsmen/Sportswomen
- Seraphino Antao, represented Kenya in sprinting in the Common wealth Games during the 1950s and early 60s; won two gold medals
- Stephie D'Souza, 1954 Asian Games 4×100m relay team
- Mary D'Souza Sequeira, 1954 Asian Games 4×100m relay team
- Fortunato Franco, 1960 Rome Olympics Football Team
- Neville D'Souza - only Indian footballer to score a hat-trick in Olympics
- Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, former Indian football team captain; one of Goa's best goalkeepers; Arjuna awardee
- Bruno Coutinho, former Indian football team captain, Arjuna awardee and AIFF Player of the Year
- Mauricio Afonso, former Indian football team captain
- Climax Lawrence, most capped Goan International footballer and AIFF Player of the Year
- Maria Rebello, former Indian Women footballer and currently a reffree
- Rowllin Borges, AIFF Emerging Player of the Year and the highest scoring Goan in ISL
- Mandar Rao Dessai, record Appearance maker in ISL
- Victorino Fernandes, leading Goan goalscorer in I-league
- Pratesh Shirodkar, record Goan Appearance maker in I-league
- Brandon Fernandes, all time top Indian assister in ISL
- Antao D'Souza, represented Pakistan cricket team in Tests in the 1950s and early 60s
- Wallis Mathias, represented Pakistan cricket team in 1955
- Dilip Sardesai, former Indian cricketer
- Paras Mhambrey - former Indian cricketer
- Peter Paul Fernandes, 1936 Berlin Olympics Hockey team
- Lawrie Fernandes, 1948 London Olympics Hockey Team
- Leo Pinto, 1948 London Olympics Hockey Team
- Maxie Vaz, 1948 London Olympics Hockey Team
- Walter de Sousa, 1948 London Olympics Hockey Team
- Reginald Rodrigues, 1948 London Olympics Hockey Team
- Mervyn Fernandis, 1980 Moscow Olympics Hockey Team
- Fiona Albuquerque, 1982 Asian Games hockey team
- Selma D'Silva, 1982 Asian Games hockey team
- Eliza Nelson, 1982 Asian Games hockey team
- Clarence Lobo, former Indian hockey coach and the only Goan Dronacharya Awardee
- Swapnil Asnodkar, opening batsman for Goa and Rajasthan Royals; played a key role help his team win the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League
- Shadab Jakati, spin bowler for Goa and Chennai Super Kings; played a key role to help his team win the IPL
- Leander Paes, 1996 Atlanta Olympics Tennis bronze medallist
- Leslie Buddy D'Souza, first awardee of Arjuna Award in boxing and national champion in middle-weight category for 9 consecutive years
- Dominic John Rebelo - 1996, 2000 Olympian in Archery for Kenya
- Anurag Mhamal, Grandmaster in Chess
- Leon Luke Mendonca, Grandmaster in Chess
- Bhakti Kulkarni, International Master and Woman Grandmaster in Chess
- Ivana Maria Furtado, Woman International Master in Chess
- Carlos Cordeiro, former President of the United States Soccer Federation
- Anthony de Mello - first secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
Writers, Editors & Journalists
- Armand de Souza (1877–1922), founding editor of the Morning Leader in Ceylon; early freedom fighter; gaoled by the British colonial government for advocating democracy, but was released following public protests; author of Hundred days in Ceylon under martial law in 1915;[8] father of Senator Doric de Souza (Professor of English) and the late editor of the Times of Ceylon, Tory de Souza
- B. D. Satoskar, author, ex-editor of Gomantak daily
- Chandrakant Keni, retired editor of Marathi daily Rashtramat and Konkani daily Sunaparant; former freelance journalist; was associated with the development of Konkani language; won Sahitya Academy Award for his book Ashadh Pawali
- Dom Moraes (born 1938), won the American Press Club Citation for Excellence in Reporting, for some 20 articles he wrote for the New York Times Sunday Magazine; poet; died earlier this decade
- Francisco Luís Gomes (1829–1869), Portuguese physician, politician, writer, historian, and economist
- Frank Simoes, passionate Goan advertising person; author of Glad Season in Goa
- Frank Moraes, editor of many prominent newspapers in post-independence India, including The Indian Express
- Ian Fyfe was a cricketer, coach and a sports journalist from Karachi, Pakistan
- Ivo de Figueiredo (born 1966) is a Norwegian historian, biographer and critic of Goan origin
- Lambert Mascarenhas, author of the classic novel Sorrowing Lies My Land (1955), which was reprinted thrice and has been translated into Marathi, Telugu and Konkani; editor of the Goan Tribune; founder editor of Goa Today, former editor of The Navhind Times; won the State Cultural award
- Manohar Rai Sardesai, Konkani and French novelist and poet
- Maria Aurora Couto, writer, academic and literary critic with books including Graham Greene: On the Frontier, Politics and Religion in the Novels, and Goa: A Daughter's Story
- Olivinho Gomes (1943–2009), (b.St Estevam, Goa, 1943—30 July 2009) was an eminent Konkani scholar and former acting vice chancellor of the Goa
- Orlando da Costa (1929–2006), Communist Portuguese poet and writer of Goan descent, born in the capital of the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique, Maputo
- Preetu Nair, Principal correspondent, Times of India
- Ravindra Kelekar (born 1925), freedom fighter, writer and revivalist of the Konkani language
- Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado (1855–1922), of Assagao, linguist; knew Malayalam, Sinhala, Bengali, Kannada, Marathi, and Sanskrit; in 1892, he produced a Konkani-Portuguese dictionary and later a grammar
- Teotonio R. de Souza, historian, founder-director of Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Goa (1979–1994); Fellow of the Portuguese Academy of History; author of Medieval Goa (1979), Goa to Me (1994), Goa outgrowing postcolonialism (2014) and several other publications on Goan history and culture
References
- ^ "Charles Correa Associates". www.charlescorrea.net. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^ J. Clement Vaz, "Profiles of Eminent Goans Past and Present", Concept Publishing Company, 1997, ISBN 9788170226192
- ^ Chatterjee, Sudeshna (31 August 2003). "Family Matters". The Times of India.
- ^ Vaz, J. Clement (1997). Profiles of eminent Goans, past and present. Concept Publishing Company. p. 118. ISBN 81-7022-619-8.
- ^ Cortesão, Armando; Teixeira da Mota, Avelino (1987). Portugaliae monumenta cartographica. Lisbon: INCM. p. Vol 5.
- ^ "Manohar Parrikar appointed as new Goa Chief Minister". The Economic Times. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^ Past speakers of Goa Archived 24 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hundred days in Ceylon under martial law in 1915. Printed by Woolridge & Co. 1916.