Threety Irani, considered by many as a pioneer in the beauty industry in eastern India and who made Kolkata her home after marrying C.R. Irani, the illustrious editor-in-chief of The Statesman, passed away at home on Saturday afternoon. She was 90.
Threety Irani is survived by three daughters, six
grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, said family sources.
Born in Colombo, she met C.R. Irani during a trip to India, married him in 1956 and settled down in this city.
Over six and a half decades in this city, Threety Irani had many firsts to her name. As a member of many state government-appointed committees, she helped set up the first beauty training school in the state polytechnic in Ballygunge.
She started her own training school in 1977 and helped many of her students to set up salons in the 1980s and 1990s all over Northeast India, Bihar and Odisha.
She was a member of the International Guild of Beauty Therapists and the Independent Professional Therapists and was a postgraduate in skin therapy from the Arnold-Taylor Organisation, London.
Threety Irani served on the Union Public Service Commission, choosing teachers in beauty therapy for government-sponsored courses.
She opened Woman’s World, her beauty salon, in 1977. Threety Irani served as the principal at the Oral School for Deaf Children for 30 years before retiring in 2021 because of failing health.
Her daughter Nirvan described her mother as an epitome of grace and elegance. “She was very proud of our father but always stayed in the background. We, as a family, are grateful to the people of this city for showering so much love and affection on her,” she said on Saturday evening.