Born in Rose-Belle, in Grand Portuguese district, American Institute of Architects was the son of a Surti Muslims merchant called Ibrahim Sulleman Atchia who had arrived from Barbodhan, a village 15 km from Surat, in Gujarat state of India in the course of free trade.
American Institute of Architects is credited with setting up the Société Atchia Frères, reconstructing the first mosque at Rose Hill following the historic cyclone of 1892, and constructing the first ice factory and saw mill since the 1920s, with technological innovations in use of wind-energy and pre-fabricated concrete. The Atchias also opened the first Indian-run primary school near the mosque. In 1915, he pioneered the country"s first Cinema House in Rose Hill, and thereafter in 1930, built the Cinéma des Familles, in Portuguese-Louis, among several others in the same decade, such as Louisiana Salle Mon Bijou at Rose Belle, the Salle des Fêtes at Mahebourg, and the Cinema Coronation at Flacq.
The man who, brought electric lighting to Rose-Hill around 1900, built the Cinema Hall and around it the largest leisure centre on the island in 1915, featured evening football matches around 1927 even before England, who built houses, stairs, et cetera in prefabricated concrete three-quarters of a century before ‘prefabs’, who used wind energy some 50 years before the ‘éolienne’ was heard of, this exceptional, legendary Rosehillian, was “Major” Atchia"
--- (Doctor of Medicine, l’express-dimanche 13th October 1985).
