I have received this note on the Christ the King Monument in Karachi from my aunt Heidi Fernandez in London, England. This note on my grandfather was written by my uncle, Matthew Andrades in Montreal, Canada. Aunty Heidi is “Dada’s” eldest daughter and Uncle Matt his youngest son. Dada was baptized at the Bom Jesus Cathedral on August 15, which is also the birthday of Pearl Silveira, the eldest daughter of Philomena Mascarenhas ( wife of Alfie Mascarenhas) , who was a daughter of M.X Andrades. She was also my God Mother. Aunty Heidi is 90 and kept in contact with Dada’s relatives in Goa, the former Portughese colony, now in India.
CHRIST THE KING
MONUMENT
KARACHI, PAKISTAN 1931
This beautiful his
beautiful and extraordinary architecture, the Christ the King Monument,
built in Karachi,
Pakistan in 1931with the help of many citizens, was designed by the (late)
Manuel Xavier Andrades also known as M.X.Andrade, or MX to some and Dada to his
family, grand and great grand children.
Born of simple
parents in Salcette, Velim, Goa, India on August 15, 1887.
He was the eldest
son of four children, 2 sons and a daughter, all have sadly passed away in Goa.
He travelled to
Bombay to complete his studies and graduated from J. J School of Arts and
Science specializing in drawing and Civil Engineering.
After graduating
he applied for various jobs and got an offer from Messrs.Herman and Mohatta
Engineering Company in Karachi. Thus his career began and his job was to
develop and design a machine to produce powdered ingredients for soup to be
packaged and sent to the military personnel in Pakistan. It was a success. He
worked there for quite a while and then got
employed by the
Government of Agriculture , Sindh as a Chief Mechanical Engineer and Head
Draftsman to design a variety of items like railway bridges,etc.
During this time
in Karachi he married Emily Sequeira and had six children, 4 have passed away
and two surviving. The eldest daughter, Heidi who married (late) Bernard
Fernandez, residing in London, England with her family and the youngest son
Matthew, who married Natalie Voeikoff , residing with their families in Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada.
While in Karachi
he got aquainted with St. Patrick’s church parish priest Fr.Giminez ,who
learned of his talents and requested MX to get involved with the building of
the Christ the King Monument. This is when he designed the Monument and the
building was completed in 1931. MX also carried out various repairs of
deteriorated and damaged statues.
Besides this major
achievement MX is also credited for the design of a similar Monument in
Asolana, Goa in 1937. He also designed the Goan Union Hall located on the South
end of Mansfield Street, Karachi, which includes a
library and space
for a temporary school. It was also used for weddings , parties and other occasions.
He was then
requested by the Karachi sport’s organization to design the Mayor Cabral Shield
for the hockey tournments held in Karachi, which was successfully completed.
He was well known
for drawings and paintings for friends as gifts and pleasing children by
drawing with chalk anything they requested on the paved
sidewalk. There may be many of his achievements we are not aware of.
Matthew Andrades 2022
https://www.thegoan.net/global-goenkar/monumental-connection-between-karachi-goa/91546.html#google_vignette
The
issue however is controversial since the official documents at the parish
indicate that a priest designed this monument. M.X Andrades was an active
consultant.-L.A
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