C. P. Krishnan Nair

Captain Chittarath Poovakkatt Krishnan Nair (9 February 1922 – 17 May 2014) was an Indian businessman who founded The Leela Group. He was a 2010 recipient of the Padma Bhushan, given by Government of India. He was sometimes popularly known as Captain Nair due to his service in the Indian Army.

Early life and military career Nair was born in a village in Kannur district in northern Kerala on 9 February 1922. At the time the village was located in the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency of the British Raj. Nair was one of eight children. His father, Appu Nair, worked as a government bill collector earning a monthly income of . During a visit by the Maharaja of Chirakkal to his school, Nair wrote and recited a poem in the Maharaja's honour. The poem impressed the Maharaja and he awarded Nair a lifetime scholarship. During his teenage years Nair met Communist leaders such as P. Krishna Pillai and A.K. Gopalan.

Nair joined the Indian independence movement at the age of 13. He traveled to Bangalore in 1942 to join the Indian Army, and was posted as wireless officer in Abbottabad (in present-day Pakistan). He rose to the rank of Captain in the Maratha Light Infantry. With the Sahar International Airport opening in 1981, Nair realized that there were no good hotels in Andheri, the Mumbai suburb where the airport is located.

Awards The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS) conferred him a Lifetime Achievement Award and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) awarded him the Global 500 Roll of Honour award in 1999. Eventually he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, by Government of India in 2010. He was also awarded the "Hotelier of The Century" Award by International Hotels and Restaurant Association, based in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2009. He stepped down as the chairman of Hotel Leela on 7 February 2013 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Vivek Nair.

Death Krishnan Nair died at 3:30 AM IST on 17 May 2014 at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, following a brief illness.

Personal life Nair married Leela (after whom he named his hotel group), the daughter of industrialist A. K. Nair, in 1950. They had two sons, Vivek Nair and Dinesh Nair. Vivek is the current chairman and managing director of the Leela Group, while Dinesh is the co-chairman of Leela group. Nair is a relative of V. P. Menon, an Indian civil servant who was the Constitutional Adviser and Political Reforms Commissioner to the last three Viceroys during British rule in India. Leela Krishnan Nair died on 16 May 2021, a day before her husband's seventh death anniversary.