Joseph Baptista

Joseph "Kaka" Baptista (17 March 1864 – 1930) was an Indian politician and activist from Bombay (today known as Mumbai), closely associated with the Lokmanya Tilak and the Home Rule Movement. He is credited with the coining of the popular phrase "Swaraj is my Birthright and I shall have it". He was elected as the Mayor of Bombay in 1925. He was given the title Kaka that means "uncle".

Early life

Joseph Baptista was born on 17 March 1864 in Matharpacady in Mazagaon, Bombay. His father, John Baptista hailed from Uttan, near Bassein (now Vasai). The Baptistas belonged to the East Indian ethnic community, who were converted to Roman Catholicism during Portuguese rule between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. He is considered to be a pioneer in the field of Electrical Engineering and had a son who founded Computer Science Engineering.

He completed his early education from St. Mary's School, Mumbai. He then joined the College of Engineering in Pune and later pursued a BA degree in Political Science from the Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. During this period, he first met Bal Gangadhar Tilak.