Maurice Frydman is Notable.

Biography

Birth

The starting point for a brief biography of this extremely gifted but very private, egoless Polish man is the usually reliable Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, title “Maurice Frydman”^[1]. This gives his birth date as 20 October 1901 and Polish name as Maurycy Frydman or Maurycy Frydman-Mor, with the anglicised version as Maurice Frydman, and birth place as Warsaw, Russian Empire. It has three Polish sources none of which are directly accessible.

A distinctly alternative birth year and location has become popular, of 1894 in Krakow, Poland, which was part of the Russian Tsarist Empire at that time. It seems to originate with Apa, B. Pant (Pant, Apa B., 1991, Maurice Frydman, ... p.33) who became a close friend, and disciple of Maurice from his return to India in November 1937 to the latter’s death in 1976, when he was one of the few at his bedside. However, Apa seems to have had problems with dates and ages as is clear from the quotation in the Wikipedia article “Frydman had great influence with my father, and on his seventy-fifth birthday, he said, 'Raja Saheb, why don't you go and make a declaration to Mahatma Gandhi that you are giving all power to the people because it will help in the freedom struggle’” (Allen, Charles, 1984, pp.314-5), but not corrected in either the Wikipedia or Allen’s articles, it being far too late in 1943, which is implied if his father was 75. It should have been earlier than January 1939, when the Constitution that Gandhi drew up was adopted as a consequence of the visit! On another occasion in November 1937, Apa stated that his father was 61 years of age, when he was actually 69, but it should also be noted that Apa was himself a notable career diplomat serving the Indian Government for over 40 years^[2].

However, David Godman^[3] has kindly provided both an English translation and a copy of his Polish birth certificate that reads as follows: “Maurycy Frydman, was born in the capital city of Warsaw, in the house registered under the number 5541, on the twentieth day of October nineteen hundred and one (1901). Father: Icek Lejba Frydman, Mother: Mariem, surname at birth: Herman. The registration of this birth was recorded in the Civil Registers of non-Christian denominations at the 11th Commissariat of the capital city of Warsaw on the 27th day of October 1901, under No. 79”. Below the seal is added:- “The original of this document is kept in the file of Warsaw Technical University 12. 04.02.2010”. Godman further added that “this is the correct Maurice. Warsaw University has records of his time there, including his birth certificate, an essay he wrote in which he had to argue the case for his admission, a photo from his school days (recognisable as him), his grades for each course, and so on”.

Apa Bant’s description of Maurice’s early life is the only significant source with his father a devout Jew working in a synagogue, wanting his eldest son to become a rabbi, while his mother did her best to bring up the family with hardly any money. However, by the age of 10 he was reading and writing in the Cyrillic, Roman and Hebrew alphabets and speaking fluent Russian, Polish, French, English and Hebrew (Pant, Apa, B., 1991, Maurice Frydman, ... p.33).

Education

His talents were recognised by his school teachers, which allowed the rare occurrence of a Jew to enter the tsarist Russian school in the area. He came first among 500 boys in his High School examinations, and followed this with 95% in the Central Scholarship Examination, coming first in the province of Poland, giving him a State Scholarship. From Godman’s comments above this would have led him to the technical branch of Warsaw University, doing a course in electrical engineering according to Apa Pant, which would lead to patents for about 100 inventions before the age of 20 (op.cit.), which was in 1921 if born in 1901 but in 1914 if born in 1894.

Occupation

“Soon he was picked up by the laboratories and then research institutes, and by 1925 had travelled over much of Europe and worked in German, Dutch and Danish industrial establishments” (op.cit.). This would not have been possible if he was born in 1894 due to World War I.

Religious Dogma

By the age of 25 (1926), Maurice desperately wanted to “see God” and turned from the dogmatism of Judaism to become a monk in the Russian Orthodox faith in a Polish monastery. He survived Satan’s temptation but was sick and tired of all orthodox dogmas, and “came in touch” with the Theosophical Society, through whom he would meet with Annie Besant, the President and Jiddu Krishnamurti her protégé for the expected “World Teacher”^[4] and (Pant, Apa B. 1991, Maurice Frydman, ... p.33-34)). Krishnamurti would refute the World Teacher concept in 1929 but remain a lifelong debating friend of Maurice Frydman’s.

Occupation

It was in 1928 that he again sought work and moved to Paris, France, where he found a job in a new electrical factory, becoming the General Manager by 1934, but continuing his spiritual search by reading extensively about the Hindu faith in India, including Paul Brunton’s books on Ramana Maharshi –A Search in India Secret, andConscious Immortality: Conversations with Sri Ramana Maharshi- that really excited him (op.cit., p.34). Godman tells a story of how Maurice caught sight of Gandhi at a Paris railway station for a couple of minutes^[5]. This would have to have been when Ghandi attended the 2nd Round Table Conference in London, to discuss constitutional reform in India, choosing to stay for 2 to 3 months in the East End among the working-class people, in 1931, and was on his way back to India^[6].

All this led up to Maurice immediately accepting an offer by Sir Mirza Ismail (1883-1959), Diwan (Prime Minister) of the Kingdoms of Mysore, Jaipur and Hyderabad, India^[7], who was very highly regarded and on a mission in England and Europe, in 1935 [?], to modernise the Government Electrical Factory in Bangalore (now known as Bengaluru), to at least visit and advise on its development (Pant, Apa B., 1991, Maurice Frydman, ... p.34-35). However, it is known from the Collected Works^[8] of Mahatma Gandhi that Frydman was resident at Race View, Race Course Road, Bangalore about 4 November 1934, with the text suggesting he had been there for some time (CW, Vol.65, p.287). This indicates that Sir Mirza Ismail had been in Paris earlier than 1935 but no other dates have so far been found.

Spiritual Path

The next, seemingly reliable date for Maurice in India is September 1935, when he paid his first visit to Sri Ramanasramam and met Ramana Maharshi for the first time at Tiruvannamali (The Mountain Path, Vol.18, No.2, April 1981, p.69) and stayed for 3 days. [NB links to all issues of this journal can be found through^[9]]. The author is unknown but the Editor’s footnote states that he would eventually become a resident of the ashram for a period of 3 years [not continuously!], and during the later stages of his stay, he compiledMaharshi’s Gospel, which was published on 27 December 1939 on the 60th Jayanti of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. However, prior to that Maurice worked at the factory weekdays but found a need to recharge his batteries at weekends: “What can I do? My battery can take only so much. Within a week it dries up. I have to come here every week to be in Bhagavan’s presence and get it recharged!”^[10] It was during one of the many visits that resulted in a close interaction between them that he wrote a poem, which Bhagavan recognised as having been written several centuries earlier by Appayya Dikshitar, a sage, which the former understood meant that this wasn't Maurice's first time in India!^[11].

Maurice first met Mahatma Gandhi when the latter was recuperating from high blood pressure at Nandi Hills for 45 days ending 31 May 1936^[12] as recorded in a discussion on or before 25 August 1936 (CW Vol.69, p.320/1, in footnote 2 of Item 415)^[8] that outlines Gandhi’s motivation to seek awakening through working for the village people.

Gandhi had moved from Wardha to Sevagram in April 1936 and was visited there by Frydman on 25 June 1936 (CW Vol.72, p.49, in footnote 3 of Item 69, Letter to Maurice Frydman, of 20 July 1937)^[8]. In that letter Bapu wrote “So you have taken sannyasa. Were you not a sannyasi even when you came to Segaon? … “, perhaps implying that Maurice had no attachments. Maurice had found that Ramana Maharshi would not give sannyas and being determined to follow that path he went to Sri Swami Ramdas^[13] at his Anandashram in Kanhangad, Kerala, who named him Swami Bharatananda, and told him that it was his last birth (Pant, Apa, B., 1991, Maurice Frydman, ... p.35). No dates are given as to when it occurred. However, it was not until 1937, and probably close to the July letter above, as Gandhi had received a favourable reply in relation to assistance from Sir Mirza Ismail to allow Frydman to assist with his village project, written on 13 December 1936 (CW Vol.70, p.121 and 174)^[8] and provide other assistance. Of course, Ramdas, like Maharshi, already understood the greatness of Maurice Frydman^[10].

After the return of Apa P Bant in November 1937, from Oxford University and Lincolns Inn, London, the 25 yrs old second son of Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi the ruler of the princely state of Aundh^[2] Maurice wasted no time in taking him to Ramanashram for a few days to be in the presence of Ramana Maharshi, in December. This was followed almost immediately by parts of 10 days spent with J. Krishnamurti! (Pant, Apa B., 1991, Maurice Frydman, ... p.34).

The Aundh Experiment

Once again it would be Maurice who was the driving force, this time behind a trial of Gandhi’s dream of self-development for village people. It began in 1938 when Apa asked Sir Mirza to release Maurice for 6 months to help the 75 villages of Aundh state receive assistance in science and technology made simple. When it became clear that he would not do so, Maurice walked out of the Factory taking only his gerua (sannyasa) clothes with him and went to share Apa’s room at the Aundh palace, asking only for a desk and food! (Pant, Apa B., 1991, An early devotee, ... p.125).

The first step was for Maurice to suggest to Raja Bhavanrao Srinivasrao, "Raja Saheb, why don't you go and make a declaration to Mahatma Gandhi that you are giving all power to the people because it will help in the freedom struggle" (Allen, Charles, 1984, pp.314-315). “Frydman wrote a draft declaration, and the Raja and his son [Apa Bant] travelled to Wardha [Sevagram/Segaon] to see Gandhi”^[14], “who dictated the final draft of the constitution, which was sent to the state assembly to be ratified on January 21, 1939”. This brief mention of Frydman’s involvement does not do justice to his role in not only initiating the ‘Experiment’ but in doing the ‘footwork’, including visiting all 75 villages and getting Raja Bhawanrao not only to commute the death sentences on prisoners but also to release to him from Atpadi Prison “25 of the "most desperate" and dangerous of these convicts for his colony [that would be named Swatantrapur (City of the Free)]. Bhawanrao, as usual, responded spontaneously to this objective compassion (karuna) of Swami Bharatananda and, with Haji Abdul Aziz, Maurice established in 1939 the first ever "Free Prison", not only in Aundh, but in the whole of India.” (Pant, Apa B., 1991, An early devotee, Maurice Frydman, ... p.126).

It was also during the late 1930’s, starting in 1936 (CW Vol.69, p.320/1)^[8], when Maurice would invent several charkhas (spinning wheels), including the most efficient one named a “Dhanush Takli”, of which there is a photograph showing Gandhi using it dated 1940^[15], to make the people independent of British textiles in favour of locally spun khadi; creation of financial liberty for every citizen, and a method and a symbol of non-violent protest^[16].

The 1940s

Wanda Dynowska, born in Russia but of the Polish nobility, and a Theosophist, was like Maurice an exceptionally talented linguist, and had arrived in India in 1935^[17], after Maurice, not before as Apa Pant has it. They both met Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti and Gandhi but it is not clear exactly when they met each other, although she was staying with him in July 1937 in Mysore Road, Bangalore City (CW Vol.72, p.49)^[8]. By 1944 they had started on building up a Polish-Indian library collection by translating Polish literature and poetry into Hindu, Tamil and English, while residing in Madras. This would be followed by the Indo-Polish library^[17] that would comprise translations of about 50 books originally in Sanskrit (Pant, Apa B., 1991, An early devotee, ... p.127).

“During the 2nd World War he helped with the transfer of Polish orphans from Siberia, displaced there by the Soviets after their annexation of Eastern Poland to Siberia in 1939-1941”^[1], some of whom were sent to India. Whether this is strictly correct is not clear or rather helped when they arrived in India, as did Uma Devi (the Hindu name taken by Wanda Dynowska) who “threw herself into helping the Polish refugees arriving in India during the war, not just by writing for the press but also involving herself in their lives”^[17]. They may have worked together on this as well.

V. Ganesan seems to imply that Maurice was still working on the Aundh Village Project when both Mahatma Gandhi and Ramana Maharshi had passed away, i.e. in 1948 and 1950^[10].

It would appear from Gordon’s story in the 1970’s (Biography #3 Maurice Frydman^[18]) that Maurice gave up the sanyasi approach to enlightenment towards the end of the 1940’s.

The 1950s

Maurice’s next phase would appear to be related to helping his long-time friend, and debating partner, Jiddu Krishnamurti, his first ‘contact’ of Indian origin. He was managing and coordinating activities for the Krishnamurti Foundation (Biography #7 by NK Srinivasan^[18]) that had been originally set up with Annie Besant in 1928, and which then had extensive activities at the Rajghat Center in Varanasi, where the Rajghat Besant School, the 2nd oldest had been set up in 1934. He did not help establish the Rishi Valley School at Madanepalli, Chittor, AP (as Biography #7 has it), which was Krishnamurti’s 1st school but may have assisted there. Dr M. Sadashiva Rao has that after Rajghat, Maurice “went to Bombay to work in the All India Khadi and Village Industries Board (later the Khadi and Village Industries Commission) set up by the Government of India in 1953”^[19]. This was the year that Dr Rao met him as he had been asked by the Khadi Board to organise a Research Institute for village industries, which Maurice helped him with (op.cit.). Earlier in the same article Dr Rao wrote that he worked with Maurice for about twelve years.

In 1958-59 Apa (Bant, Apa, B., An early devotee, ... p.127) writes how Maurice was staying with him in Sikkim (where he had been Political Officer for the state from 1951 to 1956 (Biography #7, Ch.4^[18]) “watching the Tibetans fleeing in their thousands and being helplessly lost in India … seeking shelter in the land of Gautama Buddha,” Buddhism being their religion. The Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, did not know how to handle the situation, whereas Maurice saw it as a simple, compassionate human being, not through the eyes of a diplomat or a politician who plays for power. For him, to feel was to act, so he wrote a letter, as though from Apa Pant (who had been a Diplomat in the Nehru government (op.cit.) to Prime Minister Nehru, which he carried himself to Delhi. He then sat in Nehru’s office until the latter agreed to write letters to various state governments to grant land for the use of the Tibetan refugees. Maurice, being a man of action, not confined to an ashram, at his own expense, travelled to various states where state land above 3,500 feet was available, and got land and money to create five setttlements where thousands of uprooted Tibetans were rehabilitated. Maurice probably had the same influence over Nehru when the Dalai Lama reached the Tibet/India border in March 1959 and Nehru was primarily concerned about China’s response if he allowed the Dalai Lama to escape from Tibet^[20].

The 1960s

Wanda Dynowska would join Maurice’s efforts to help the Tibetan refugees from 1960 and resided in Dharamsala for the entire decade^[17]. While there is a second mention by Apa Pant of Maurice staying with him at Sikkim (Bant, Apa, B., An early devotee, … p.127-8) but without a date or though seemingly later, with his friend Hilla Petit, “his constant companion and fellow pilgrim, a gracious Parsi lady, and her adopted daughter Babul”, crossing a pass in the high Himalayas, and nearly dying. [Hilla Petit was the daughter of J.B. Petit and Mrs Jaijee Jehangir Petit, the latter 1st President of the Bombay Branch of the Women’s Indian Association founded by Herabai Ardeshir Tata in 1919 (see Gouri, Srivastava, 2000, p.139)]No other evidence has been found that Maurice was doing otherwise in his late 60’s and early 70’s, until Gordon arrived in 1971.

The 1970s

In ‘Biography #3 Maurice Frydman’^[18] Barry Gordon has that “Maurice lived on Nepean Sea Street [in Bombay], at the home of Ms. Hirubhai [??] Petit, a former devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Mrs.[Ms] Petit was a wonderful lady Parsi, a little younger than Maurice and almost deaf. It [She] was usually seen at meal times. Maurice and she had been constant companions for many years.” This would have been about the end of 1971 or beginning 1972, when Maurice invited Gordon to stay “if I helped him to pack and send to Poland the books he had published … for the Hindu-Polish Library” (op,cit.). The association lasted for 18 months and included helping Maurice with his social projects - various charities, most of which had been started and completed by him. … He also opened orphanages, centers for training prostitutes, and an organization to find gifts for them so they could get married - accompanying him weekly when Maurice, who could speak the Marathi language fluently, when they went to interviewNisargadatta Maharaj in preparation for writing the book “I am That”, a project Maurice had started about 12 months before Gordon met Maurice, and helping edit the book.

The Translator’s Note, dated 16 October 1973, location Bombay, by Maurice Frydman, in a 1982 edition of the book, starts with “I met Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj some years back”. Chetana Pvt. Ltd. of Bombay was the first publisher of the book, which has achieved world wide acclaim.

Maurice Frydman’s last brief article, written under his Hindu name Bharatanada was published in The Mountain Path, Vol.13, No.2, April 1976, on p.66, titled ‘Readiness’, in which he expressed his sorrow that he did not take full advantage of Maharshi’s presence, followed by:- “When the search 'Who Am I?' becomes the only thing that matters, when we become a mere torch and the flame all-important, it will mean that we are ripening fast.”

Death

His great friend and close supporter, Apa B Pant asked Sri Nisargadatta, “Maharaj, where is Maurice going? What is happening to him?” He replied, “Nothing is happening. No one is dying, no one was born.” Nevertheless, in a way quite tangible to me, Maurice is not gone. He is, as always, here, and now, a constant inspiration to love, to serve, to be fearless, sincere, and full of Joy! (Pant, Apa B., 1991, An early devotee, ... p. 128). The specific date was 9 March 1976, and the location Bombay, India. The day before, after Maurice had driven everyone else out of the room, he said to Apa, “Apa, I hear the music, I see the bright light. Who dies? No one is dying. This diseased body is keeping me away from that Harmony and Beauty. Do not let them keep me in this body. Go now in peace.” (op.cit.).

Sources

1. ↑^1.01.1[1]
2. ↑^2.02.1[2]
3. ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Godman
4. ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Besant
5. ↑[3]
6. ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi
7. ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza_Ismail
8. ↑^{8.08.18.28.38.48.5}[4]
9. ↑https://realization.org/p/ramana/index.mountain-path.html
10. ↑^10.010.110.2[5]
11. ↑https://www.innerdirections.org/maurice-frydman
12. ↑https://www.deccanherald.com/content/282638/when-gandhi-came-rest-recover.html
13. ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Ramdas
14. ↑https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aundh_Experiment
15. ↑https://indianculture.gov.in/textile-freedom/gandhi-spinning-dhanush-takli-sevagram-ashram
16. ↑https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/charkha-the-device-that-charged-india-s-freedom-movement-mode/AQICNSJPyMyVJg?hl=en
17. ↑^{17.017.117.217.3}[6]
18. ↑^{18.018.118.218.3}[7]
19. ↑https://archive.arunachala.org/newsletters/2009/sep-oct#article.2
20. ↑https://www.davidgodman.org/remembering-nisargadatta-maharaj/

• Allen, Charles, 1984, Lives of the Indian Princes. London: Century Publishing.
• Gouri, Srivastava, 2000, Women's Higher Education in the 19th Century, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi - 110059.
• Pant, Apa B., 1991, Maurice Frydman, The Mountain Path, Vol. 28, No. 1-2, Aradhana, pp.31-36.
• Pant, Apa B., 1991, An early devotee, Maurice Frydman, The Mountain Path, Vol. 28, No. 3-4, Jyanthi, pp.125-128.

Is Maurice your ancestor? Please don't go away!

Login (free, instant) to comment or collaborate with our community of genealogists to make Maurice Frydman's profile the best it can be.At leastcontact the profile manager.Thank you!