A Life of Service
June 21
Placido was born in 1933 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to Benedict (aka Leopoldo Goncalo) and Nascimenta D’Souza. When Placido was 8 years old, the family returned to India and settled in Pune where Placido attended St. Vincent’s School and later Nowrosjee Wadia College where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
In 1957 after graduating from university, he joined the Indian Foreign Service where he served as a career diplomat for 34 years before retiring in 1991. He relished the opportunity to work alongside Jawaharlal Nehru and other architects of India’s independence. “I was proud to be part of an establishment that was steering an independent course,” he said. “To be able to work for someone like Nehru was to have one of my wildest dreams come true.”
In 1962, he married Sushila Lalvani and they had four children – Jacinta, Lucia, Francisco, and Maria.
During his career, he was accredited as India’s envoy and presented credentials in 16 countries, five territories, and two UN organizations. Early his career, he held posts at the Embassies of India in Berne, Jakarta, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa.
In 1973, he achieved the rank of Ambassador and established the Indian Embassy in Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. He went on to serve as Ambassador of India to Zaire (now the DRC), Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea. Shortly thereafter he was appointed Indian Consul General in New York and later served as High Commissioner of India to Trinidad and Tobago (where his jurisdiction included ten other Caribbean nations and territories), Commissioner of India to Hong Kong and Consul General to Macau. He returned to Kenya in 1989 serving as High Commissioner of India for three years until his retirement.
During his career, he returned periodically to New Delhi to serve in various positions in the Ministry of External Affairs. He also served as a member of the Indian delegation to two of the seven sessions of the UN Security Council that have been held outside New York – in Panama and Addis Ababa.
In addition to Placido’s distinguished service as a diplomat, he was a prolific journalist and artist. He wrote hundreds of articles, for at least five dailies in countries where he served, and innumerable articles for other newspapers and magazines. He created and edited three journals while in service, all of which were widely praised: Revista India, Darshan, and New India Digest, the last of which ran for 15 years under his stewardship as he continued to publish it after his retirement.
Placido’s first love was art. He expressed that love by drawing portraits of the world leaders and other prolific individuals that he met during his career. Each portrait is unique in that the individual subject of the sketch has signed it. Many of these sketches were compiled and published into a book, Portraits of Power. He was invited to exhibit these portraits at the United Nations headquarters in 2009 where he also presented the then UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, with a portrait. Placido’s portraits have been exhibited in Belgium, California, and other places around the world.
In addition to Portraits of Power, Placido authored four other books: Beacons for Mankind, The Indian Foreign Office: It’s Properties and Art Objects, National Leather Development Program: a learning experience, and a coffee table book, entitled A History of the Indian Leather Industry.
Placido is survived by his children, Jacinta, Lucia, Francisco, and Maria, grandchildren, Thierry and Michelle Sequeira, Nicholas and Gabriela D’Souza, great-grandchildren Mila and Bjorn Sequeira, and his sister Thomasinha Gomes. He was predeceased by his wife Sushila D’Souza, his brother Joseph D’Souza, and his parents Nascimenta and Benedict D’Souza.
In 1957 after graduating from university, he joined the Indian Foreign Service where he served as a career diplomat for 34 years before retiring in 1991. He relished the opportunity to work alongside Jawaharlal Nehru and other architects of India’s independence. “I was proud to be part of an establishment that was steering an independent course,” he said. “To be able to work for someone like Nehru was to have one of my wildest dreams come true.”
In 1962, he married Sushila Lalvani and they had four children – Jacinta, Lucia, Francisco, and Maria.
During his career, he was accredited as India’s envoy and presented credentials in 16 countries, five territories, and two UN organizations. Early his career, he held posts at the Embassies of India in Berne, Jakarta, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa.
In 1973, he achieved the rank of Ambassador and established the Indian Embassy in Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. He went on to serve as Ambassador of India to Zaire (now the DRC), Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea. Shortly thereafter he was appointed Indian Consul General in New York and later served as High Commissioner of India to Trinidad and Tobago (where his jurisdiction included ten other Caribbean nations and territories), Commissioner of India to Hong Kong and Consul General to Macau. He returned to Kenya in 1989 serving as High Commissioner of India for three years until his retirement.
During his career, he returned periodically to New Delhi to serve in various positions in the Ministry of External Affairs. He also served as a member of the Indian delegation to two of the seven sessions of the UN Security Council that have been held outside New York – in Panama and Addis Ababa.
In addition to Placido’s distinguished service as a diplomat, he was a prolific journalist and artist. He wrote hundreds of articles, for at least five dailies in countries where he served, and innumerable articles for other newspapers and magazines. He created and edited three journals while in service, all of which were widely praised: Revista India, Darshan, and New India Digest, the last of which ran for 15 years under his stewardship as he continued to publish it after his retirement.
Placido’s first love was art. He expressed that love by drawing portraits of the world leaders and other prolific individuals that he met during his career. Each portrait is unique in that the individual subject of the sketch has signed it. Many of these sketches were compiled and published into a book, Portraits of Power. He was invited to exhibit these portraits at the United Nations headquarters in 2009 where he also presented the then UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, with a portrait. Placido’s portraits have been exhibited in Belgium, California, and other places around the world.
In addition to Portraits of Power, Placido authored four other books: Beacons for Mankind, The Indian Foreign Office: It’s Properties and Art Objects, National Leather Development Program: a learning experience, and a coffee table book, entitled A History of the Indian Leather Industry.
Placido is survived by his children, Jacinta, Lucia, Francisco, and Maria, grandchildren, Thierry and Michelle Sequeira, Nicholas and Gabriela D’Souza, great-grandchildren Mila and Bjorn Sequeira, and his sister Thomasinha Gomes. He was predeceased by his wife Sushila D’Souza, his brother Joseph D’Souza, and his parents Nascimenta and Benedict D’Souza.