Mr Burjor Avari, MBE, passed away on 29th March 2019 from kidney cancer. Throughout his illness, he remained positive, calm and always eager to read, write and discuss everything with friends, family and colleagues. He was a gentle soul who was passionate about learning and cared deeply for the rights of others.

Burjor came to Britain in 1955. He was the first Parsi Zoroastrian student from Mombasa, Kenya to receive a scholarship to study in the UK. He spent seven years pursuing higher education at Manchester and Oxford Universities. He taught history in secondary schools and at the Manchester Metropolitan University over a period of 46 years between 1966 and 2012. He loved university life. He published university grade text books on Indian history. He was a pioneer in the teaching of multicultural education, race relations training and the encouragement of diversity in history teaching. For these efforts, he was awarded an MBE by HM The Queen in 1988.

During the last 25 years, he introduced a variety of extra-mural education projects as part of the university's outreach programme enabling access to non-academic members from different communities and backgrounds. These lectures were well attended and appreciated by many people. In 2003, he was given the position of an Honorary Research Fellow. Burjor was a true Mancunian and always loyal to the city.

It was at his Celebration of Life, on April 12th 2019, that his friends and colleagues thought of the idea to set up an annual memorial lecture in honour of Burjor, to be held at the Manchester Metropolitan University. This would continue to promote Burjor’s passion for multiculturalism and his continual drive for diversity and equality.

The funds will go towards the expenditure of the speakers’ travel, accommodation, fees and other associated costs.