Jivat Thadanidied peacefully of heart failure at the age of 94 on December 23, 2021 at his home in Vermont, USA. He was the 4th child of Nanikram Thadani and Parpatibai Thadani (née Ramchandani). Born in Hyderabad, Pakistan he was schooled at home in Delhi, where his father was principal of Hindu College. He subsequently attended Hindu College, and after changing his subject from English to Economics, he became the first student to be granted a PhD in Economics by Delhi University.

He then joined the Indian Administrative Service and was posted to Punjab where between 1950 and 1957 he served in several districts including Amritsar, Hissar, Karnal, Mahendragarh and Ferozepur. From 1957 to 1962, he was Director of Industries, Punjab. After resigning from government, he joined Delhi Cloth and General Mills to help in developing new industries in various parts of the country.

In 1969, he was employed by the World Bank in Washington DC and was a senior adviser for industrial projects at the time of his retirement in 1987. Throughout his career, he sought to advance industrial development through various different routes, seeing in it the only way to improve the condition of the poor and underprivileged whose plight had influenced him from his earliest days in India.

In 1953, he married Jaya Thadani (née Dalip Singh) who survives him after a long and devoted marriage that lasted for 68 years. Personally, a man of considerable resolve and courage, he was tolerant of the failings of others, and generous to an extreme in his dealings with friends and family. He was widely read in history, economics, and philosophy, and remained to the end clear in intellect. While critical of laziness and sloppy thinking, he never allowed a truly superior intelligence to blunt his wider sympathies.

His last years were spent in travelling between India, the USA, and the UK, as well as in the company of his immediate and extended family, to whom he was devoted.

He is survived by his wife, Jaya Thadani, son, Vijay Thadani, daughter-in-law, Onita Connington, and grandchildren, Eleanor and Michael Thadani of Norwich, Vermont, USA.

His family would like to thank those who cared for him in his last days, particularly the staff at The Village in White River Junction, Dr. Lazar and other providers at Bayada Hospice, his personal physician Dr. Stephen Liu, Dr. Andrus, and the staff at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

A Memorial Service, with reception to follow, will be held at St. Denis Church, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA on December 30, 2021 at 11.00 AM.