Background
Nissim Ezekiel was born on December 16, 1924, (some sources say December 24) in Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India). He was the son of Moses and Diana Ezekiel. His father was a professor of botany and zoology at Wilson College, a secondary school affiliated with the University of Bombay. His mother was also an educator; she founded a school in the city and served as its principal. His father worked in English, while his mother’s school used the local Marathi language. Descended from a unique community of Jewish people from Galilee who established a settlement in India after they were shipwrecked there in 150 B.C.E., Ezekiel grew up speaking English and the native Marathi tongue.