PROLOGUE
Not unlike other pioneering
endeavours, the Rotary movement in Mauritius had several false starts
before it finally and definitely got underway.
Probably the first real
attempt was made in April 1961, when the M.S. Tjitalengka called at Port
Louis on its way to the Rotary Convention in Tokyo. Rotarian (Rtn) Louis
Keyzer from South Africa, together with four other Rotarians aboard the
ship, met on April 27th at the old Flore Mauricienne restaurant with a
local group, which included P.G. Anthony, A. Archibald, Allan Bates, and
Ebrahim Dawood. A second meeting was held on July 8th during the return
voyage. But nothing concrete seems to have come out of these encounters.
The following year, it
appears that Henry Latham‑Koenig also tried to start a Rotary Club
in Port Louis, but again there was failure, at least in part it was said,
because businessmen and professionals usually lunched in their own offices
and the idea of eating out at mid‑day held no appeal.
By late 1963, the Rotary
seed began to germinate and early the following year eventually bore fruit.
Indeed, at one point, two simultaneous but separate organizing efforts
were in motion, led by Louis Espitalier‑Nöel and Maxime Seriès.
The eventful day proved to be April 8, 1964, when each of them unbeknown
to the other, convoked a meeting at his home. According to one source,
Seriès invited Espitalier‑ Nöel for his 5 o'clock meeting, unaware
that the latter had already called one of his own for 6 p.m. But the cooperative
spirit prevailed and the two groups soon joined, partially with the help
of Louis le Goff, president of the Rotary Club of Tananarive, and Paul
Giraud, one of the Tananarive members. A preparatory committee was formed,
which in addition to Messrs. Espitalier‑ Nöel, Seriès, and Bates,
Included Anauth Beejadhur and José Poncini. Under their leadership, the
provisional Rotary Club of Port Louis met for the first time in one of
Vatel's rooms in Curepipe on April 22, 1964.