Editing J. R. D. Tata (section)

== Early life ==
{{See also|Tata family}}
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata was born on 29 July 1904 to an Indian [[Parsi]] family in [[Paris]], France. He was the second child of businessman [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]] and his French wife, [[Suzanne Brière|Suzanne "Sooni" Brière]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tatacentralarchives.com/history/biographies/15%20jrdtata.htm |title=J. R. D. TATA |publisher=Tata Central Archives |access-date=7 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202535/http://www.tatacentralarchives.com/history/biographies/15%20jrdtata.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013 }}</ref> His father was the first cousin of [[Jamsetji Tata]], a pioneer industrialist in India. He had one elder sister Sylla, a younger sister Rodabeh and two younger brothers Darab and Jamshed (called Jimmy) Tata. His sister, Sylla, was married to [[Petit baronets#Petit Baronets, of Petit Hall (1890)|Dinshaw Maneckji Petit]], the third baronet of Petits.  

As his mother was [[French people|French]], he spent much of his childhood in France and as a result, [[French language|French]] was his first language. He attended the Janson De Sailly School in Paris.{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=3}} One of the teachers at that school mistaken him for being Egyptian and used to call him ''L'Egyptien''. Tata's family also purchased a house on the beach in [[Neufchâtel-Hardelot]] where the family would sometimes live until 1917. Tata was also neighbors with [[Louis Blériot|Louis Bleriot]].{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=7}}

Tata attended the [[Cathedral and John Connon School]], [[Mumbai|Bombay]]. In 1917 he and his family moved to [[Yokohama]], [[Japan]] and lived there for two years while he attended an American school.{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=6}} When his father joined the [[Tata Group|Tata]] company he moved the whole family to [[London]]. During this time, J. R. D.'s mother died at the age of 43 while his father was in India and his family was in France.

After his mother's death, [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]] decided to move his family to India and sent J. R. D. back to England for higher studies in October 1923. He attended a [[grammar school]], and later enrolled at [[Cambridge University]] and was interested in studying Engineering. 

However, as a citizen of France J. R. D. had to enlist in the [[French Army|French army]] for at least a year. In between grammar school and his time in the army, he spent a brief spell at home in Bombay. After joining the French Army he was posted into a regiment of [[spahis]].{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=9}} Upon discovering Tata could not only read and write French and English,<ref>R.M. Lala: Beyond the Last Blue Mountains, Life of J. R. D. Tata</ref> but could type as well, a colonel had him assigned as a secretary in his office. After his time in the French Army, Tata planned to return to Cambridge and complete his studies, but his father decided to bring him back to India and he joined the Tata Company.

In 1929, Tata renounced his [[French nationality law|French citizenship]] and became an [[Indian nationality law|Indian citizen]]. In 1930 Tata married Thelma Vicaji, the niece of Jack Vicaji, a colourful lawyer whom he hired to defend him on a charge of driving his [[Bugatti]] too fast along Bombay's main promenade, [[Marine Drive, Mumbai|Marine Drive]]. Previously he had been engaged to Dinbai Mehta, the future mother of ''[[The Economist]]'' editor [[Shapur Kharegat]].

While he was born to a Parsi father, and his French mother converted to [[Zoroastrianism]], J. R. D. was [[agnostic]]. He found some Parsi religious customs like their funeral rites and their exclusiveness irksome. He adhered to the three basic tenets of Zoroastrianism, which were good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, but he did not profess belief or disbelief in God.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Biswas |first1=Ashit |title=For J.R.D, service was religion – Industry icon died 10 years ago, but legacy lives on |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/for-jrd-service-was-religion-industry-icon-died-10-years-ago-but-legacy-lives-on/cid/789637 |website=The Telegraph |date=23 November 2003 |access-date=24 November 2020 |archive-date=28 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428041020/https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/for-jrd-service-was-religion-industry-icon-died-10-years-ago-but-legacy-lives-on/cid/789637 |url-status=live }}</ref>