ITANAGAR, Sep 8: Prof (Fr) Alphonsus D’Souza (78), senior fellow at the North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC), Guwahati, Assam, passed away on 6 September.
Fr D’Souza founded the sociology department at St Aloysius College in Mangalore (Karnataka) in 1972 and taught there till 1995. That year, he shifted to St Joseph’s College in Jakhama, Nagaland, to found the first sociology department in that state. He is considered the ‘father of sociology’ in Nagaland.
He taught there till 2008, and then shifted to Guwahati as a senior fellow at the NESRC. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in June this year, and died peacefully at 7:05 am on 6 September.
His funeral was held at the Jesuit Novitiate in Mawshohroh, Meghalaya, on 8 September.
Fr D’Souza was a Jesuit priest and an eminent sociologist who has written much, particularly on Nagaland.
