CleanupBot: /* Early life */clean up

2022-12-11T06:13:39Z

Early life: clean up

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	==Early life==		==Early life==
	She was born Shanta Gaury Pathak Pandit in [[Zanzibar]], [[Tanganyika (territory)\|Tanganyika]], on 2 February 1927, and was of Gujarati descent. <ref name="ONDB">{{cite web\|last1=Pimlott Baker \|first1=Anne \|title=Shanta Gaury Pathak [née Pandit] (1927–2010) \|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/65904/103129 \|website=ONDB \|publisher=OUP \|accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref>		She was born Shanta Gaury Pathak Pandit in [[Zanzibar]], [[Tanganyika (territory)\|Tanganyika]], on 2 February 1927, and was of Gujarati descent.<ref name="ONDB">{{cite web\|last1=Pimlott Baker \|first1=Anne \|title=Shanta Gaury Pathak [née Pandit] (1927–2010) \|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/65904/103129 \|website=ONDB \|publisher=OUP \|accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref>

	In 1945, she married [[Laxmishanker Pathak]], who in 1938 had emigrated from [[Gujarat]] in British India to [[Mombasa]], Kenya, where his eldest brother had a small business making sweets and samosas to the city's burgeoning Indian population.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/8222809/Shanta-Pathak.html\|title=Shanta Pathak\|date=23 December 2010\|publisher=\|accessdate=25 November 2017\|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> After the Mau Mau insurgency, they left for England in 1956, reaching London with just £5.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>		In 1945, she married [[Laxmishanker Pathak]], who in 1938 had emigrated from [[Gujarat]] in British India to [[Mombasa]], Kenya, where his eldest brother had a small business making sweets and samosas to the city's burgeoning Indian population.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/8222809/Shanta-Pathak.html\|title=Shanta Pathak\|date=23 December 2010\|publisher=\|accessdate=25 November 2017\|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> After the Mau Mau insurgency, they left for England in 1956, reaching London with just £5.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

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2021-08-25T08:04:39Z

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{{short description|Co-founder of Patak food brand}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Shanta Pathak
| image = Shanta_Gaury_Pathak_died_2010.png
| alt =
| caption = Pathak stood by a company van.
| birth_name = Shanta Guary Pandit
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|02|02|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Zanzibar]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|11|23|1927|02|02|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Farnworth]], [[Greater Manchester]], England
| occupation = Businesswoman
| known_for = Co-founder of [[Patak’s]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Laxmishanker Pathak|1945}}
| children = 6
}}

'''Shanta Gaury Pathak''' (neé '''Pandit'''; 2 February 1927 – 23 November 2010) was a British businesswoman and the co-founder (with her husband Laxmishanker Pathak) of the [[Patak's]] brand of Indian-style curry pastes, sauces and spices.

==Early life==
She was born Shanta Gaury Pathak Pandit in [[Zanzibar]], [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]], on 2 February 1927, and was of Gujarati descent. <ref name="ONDB">{{cite web|last1=Pimlott Baker |first1=Anne |title=Shanta Gaury Pathak [née Pandit] (1927–2010) |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/65904/103129 |website=ONDB |publisher=OUP |accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref>

In 1945, she married [[Laxmishanker Pathak]], who in 1938 had emigrated from [[Gujarat]] in British India to [[Mombasa]], Kenya, where his eldest brother had a small business making sweets and samosas to the city's burgeoning Indian population.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/8222809/Shanta-Pathak.html|title=Shanta Pathak|date=23 December 2010|publisher=|accessdate=25 November 2017|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> After the Mau Mau insurgency, they left for England in 1956, reaching London with just £5.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

==Career==
[[file:Patak's pappadums paste pot and pappadums.jpg|thumb|Patak's [[papadum]]s, paste pot and [[Curry paste]] in 2018]]
She was unhappy about her husband's job cleaning the drains for [[Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras|St Pancras Council]], and decided that they should start a similar business to what they had in Kenya, run from the kitchen of their [[Queen's Crescent Market|Queen's Crescent]] flat in [[Kentish Town]].<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/dec/31/shanta-pathak-obituary|title=Shanta Pathak obituary|first=Martin|last=Wainwright|date=31 December 2010|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=25 November 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> Progress was slow, and it was not until the late 1950s that they had enough money to buy a small shop close to [[Euston Station]], followed by another in 1961, in [[Bayswater]].<ref name="guardian"/>

In 1962, their neighbours complained about the noise and smell, and the Council gave them three months to find alternative premises.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> They found a converted mill in [[Brackley]], Northamptonshire, and left London.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> Later, they relocated to Lancashire.<ref name="Scotsman">{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituary-shanta-gaury-pathak-quot-curry-queen-quot-of-patak-s-foods-1-1523368|title=Obituary: Shanta Gaury Pathak, "Curry Queen" of Patak's foods|website=www.scotsman.com|accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref>

Over time, the business grew to have an annual turnover of £55 million, when in 2007, it was taken over by [[Associated British Foods]] for a reported £105 million.<ref name="guardian"/>

==Personal life==
In 1945, she married Laxmishanker Gopalji Pathak.<ref name="ONDB"/> They had four sons and two daughters.<ref name="ONDB"/>

Her husband died in 1997, but the will he left was unclear, and there were long-running family disputes and various acrimonious court cases.<ref name="Scotsman"/>

==Later life==
Pathak died of heart failure on 23 November 2010, at the [[Royal Bolton Hospital]], [[Farnworth]], Bolton, and was survived by her six children.<ref name="ONDB"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathak, Shanta Gaury}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:British women business executives]]
[[Category:British businesspeople of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Zanzibari people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:British company founders]]
[[Category:People from Greater Manchester]]

Shanta Pathak - Revision history

CleanupBot: /* Early life */clean up

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