OMANE
Old Martinians Association of New England
(OMANE)
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Welcome Message from the President
Welcome to this website of the Old Martinians Association of New England (OMANE)!
OMANE was founded in the Boston area in the Fall of 2012, when several New England based alumni came together to celebrate Founder’s Day, commemorating the 212th death anniversary of the late Major General Claude Martin. At the following Founder’s Day celebration in the Fall of 2013, the participating alumni decided to formally constitute themselves as a Massachusetts non-profit organization, with a charter to serve the interests of fellow alumni from the seven La Martiniere schools in Calcutta, Lucknow (India), and Lyon, (France), the Founder’s birthplace.
The seven La Martiniere boys and girls schools in India and co-educational schools in France were established under the last will and testament of Major General Claude Martin, with the large legacy he bequeathed for that purpose upon his death.
Claude Martin came to India as a young soldier, and made India his home. He joined the British East India Company in Calcutta and spent his last years at his country estate Constantia, in Lucknow, which later became the La Martiniere College for boys at Lucknow. Claude Martin designed his own coat of arms and emblazoned it with “Labore et Constantia” (work and constancy), which has been adopted by all the La Martiniere schools as their logo.
The La Martiniere schools have a proud and lasting legacy. The Lucknow boys school, which has been referred to as the "Eton of the East," is the only school in the world to have been granted battle honors for its role in the revolution of 1857. The Calcutta girls and boys schools were recently ranked in 2013 second and third and the Lucknow boys and girls schools ninth and tenth respectively from among the top 725 schools of India.
A listing of distinguished alumini/ae of these schools reads like a veritable Who's Who of India. They include, among many others, Vijay Mallya (Calcutta) - industrialist and Member of Parliament, Leander Paes (Calcutta) - tennis ace, Merle Oberon (Calcutta) - actress, Shahnaz Husain (Lucknow) - cosmetics, the Keelor brothers (Lucknow) who shot down the Sabre jet and won gallantry awards in the 1965 war, Priyanka Chopra (Lucknow) - Bollywood actress, Muzaffar Ali (Lucknow) - film producer of Umrao Jaan fame, Mr. Vinod Mehta – eminent journalist, and Dr. R. K. Pachauri (Lucknow) who chaired the Intergovernmental (UN) Panel on Climate Change that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007.
OMANE is a small, yet growing organization. Its resources are limited, but it is motivated and its aspirations are unlimited. OMANE depends for its continued development on its membership, alumni volunteers, and well-wishers (collectively the OMANE family) who support its objectives by participating in its functions and generously contributing their time, effort, and resources for the common purpose. At present, its membership is limited to India-based alumni; however, it looks forward to identifying and enrolling France-based La Martiniere alumni as well. It also aims to reach out to other Old Martinians Associations worldwide for developing and integrating a much needed global network of Martinians.
If you cherish your school memories or, after visiting this website, you feel as we do, I invite you to join and support us in meeting our objectives.
Vive La Martiniere !