FEROZA
BHABHA
Feroza grew
up in Johannesburg and Springs, the eldest of four children whose father
ran a medical practice in Bakerton. Although her family lived in modest,
rented accommodation, her father wanted to give
his children the best
possible opportunities.
Feroza
and her siblings were enrolled in ballet, swimming and piano lessons
with special arrangements being made
for them,in some cases, to attend classes with children of other races.
Her parents came from a mixed back- ground with Scottish, Italian and Indian
ancestry.
When Feroza was almost ten years old, her family emigrated to Canada as
a result of the political situation in their home land. Feroza vividly
remembers her first days of school in their newly-adopted country. It
was the first time that she had been to a racially integrated school and
it took her some time to become used to her new situation. What she
missed most of all, when she first arrived, was her large extended family
back in South Africa.
After
attending Havergal College, Feroza spent a year at Neuchatel Junior
College in Switzerland before registering for an honours Bachelor
of Arts degree at Aix-en-Provence in France.
She
followed this education with a further Honours BA at the University
of Toronto. A year
later, Feroza obtained another BA degree – this time from the
School of Interpreters and Translators at the University of Ottawa – languages
being one of her passions (she speaks fluent French, some German and
a smattering of Afrikaans and Gujerati).
Not content with her superior academic performance to that time, she then took
a Bachelor of Law degree, also at the University of Ottawa. This has led
to Feroza’s career in the legal field which she has pursued since 1987
when she was called to the Ontario Bar.
Within only four years since leaving University, Feroza has climbed the career
ladder at a giddying rate. She currently holds the senior position of Crown
Counsel (Crown Law Office) at the Criminal Ministry of the Attorney General for
Ontario. She was one of the first visible minority counsels to join the
office.
She is also the divisional coordinator for Federated Health (an umbrella charity within the Public Service which raises funds for various health charities).
Her ties with South Africa have remained strong and she was the founding director and member of the interim board of Canadian Friends of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, instrumental in organizing the recent Mandela and the Children event at the Sky Dome.
When she does find some spare time, Feroza loves to scuba dive, play tennis and travel as much as possible.