9N1MM, Father Moran

This article was written by Fery YO4PX and is on his blog. I have featured it here and corrected some of the translation errors introduced by google.

Thanks to Fery for such an excellent article.

Denis Marshall Moran (SJ) was born in Chicago in 1906 and died in Delhi, India in 1992. He was an American Jesuit priest, a missionary in India and Nepal, where he founded several schools, including St. Xavier's High School in Patna and Godavari and St. Xavier's School in Kathmandu.

He was active as a radio amateur with the callsign 9N1MM He is considered a pioneer of amateur radio activity in Nepal. The location and his personality became one of the world's most famous amateur operators, who was visited and interviewed by journalists of the  European and American amateur radio magazines .

He joined the  Jesuits  in 1924 and five years later left as a missionary to India. He was ordained as a priest in 1935. He founded the school  of St. Xavier from Patna and young Moran was its first director and founder of the school. Endowed with an excellent memory he knew the names of all students and their parents and had good relations with the State of Bihar. Soon St. Xavier with the His 700 students, 150 of whom lived in boarding-annex, became a model school in India, hosting visitors from the neighboring states of West Bengal, Calcutta and Nepal.

He met Mahatma Gandhi, and worked for Indian independence and worked  to restore peace during confrontations between Hindus and Muslims.  As a member of the Senate of the University of Patna Father Moran regularly visited Kathmandu , capital of Nepal, to oversee Trichandra college exams.  Enchanted from  the first moment he saw the Himalayas, he felt strongly attracted to the mysterious kingdom of Nepal, so 20 years after his arrival in India with his school already operating successfully in Patna , Moran requested a transfer in Nepal. In the early '50s Nepal was a closed society, an almost impenetrable mountainous country. There was no air travel, Moran's journey by train, bus and even carriage rides  through the mountains took many days full of danger to finally reach Nepal.

Once established in Nepal, the authorities asked him to establish a school and home, offering a house and land located about 10 miles from the capital. Godavari School St. Xavier opened in 1951, the first Christian institution of Hindu kingdom and Moran first Jesuit who entered Nepal since 1721.

Father Moran - the name that was known not only in India and Nepal, and the ether - was authorized for the first time in India to sign VU2SX. 

After the establishment of the school in Kathmandu he installed an amateur radio station with the call 9N1MM, becoming the first amateur in Nepal. Before long he had about 90,000 QSO's with operators worldwide. It's not surprising that the ham was involved in several actions in emergency communications, including assistance and rescue efforts during earthquakes and floods, on which occasion he saved the lives of climbers on Everest and in the life of a boy another incident. For his work he was awarded a medal by King Birendra of Nepal and  International Humanitarian Award  from the U.S. amateur radio association  American Radio Relay League  This dDiploma is granted to individuals or groups of amateurs who use their skills and have rendered service to others in times of crisis or disaster.

He was for decades the only amateur in Nepal. A QSO with him was desired by thousands of operators from all over the world. The call sign 9N1MM ("Nine N One Mickey Mouse"), the exotic location, and the kindness of Father Moran made him one of the most famous amateur in the world. When traveling in the West it was insisted that he be a guest of honor at meetings. Although it appears that the Moran originally lacked written governmental authority to operate he probably received verbal and written permission from the King of Nepal to make radio broadcasts, in recognition for his work to rescue climbers on Everest. But Moran was also involved in the crisis in Tibet. Many Tibetans who fled to Kathmandu after the occupation by the Chinese army, He immediately set up a committee to help support them, but his efforts were hampered by the local bureaucracy. Moran directly address the king, who had become a close confident. The local difficulties were solved without delay.

Moran was extremely popular and loved by amateur radio community. The station has had the privilege to be operate many operators who had visited and enjoyed the hospitality of Father Moran.
In April 1983 a team of climbers from Yugoslavia tried to conquer the Manaslu Himalayan peak with a height of 8156 meters. Part of the team were YU2DX and YU2SOF as radio operators. Unfortunately the expedition ended tragically,as two of the climbers were killed by an avalanche on April 24.

 In his spare time Tomislav (Tom) YU2DX, operated the station as Father Moran's guest. He made ​​13,100 QSO's with 114 DXCC entities, of which over 90% in CW. I had the joy of working him on 15 meters  CW and received a QSL card (No. 3), but my first QSO with 9N1MM took place in 1981 on 10 meter SSB, working Father Moran in person.  I remember  now  the courtesy in his manner of working with pileups.  Unfortunately the QSL card received through his manager N7EB (SK) was lost on the road between DXCC and YO, together with another 140 QSL cards, most of the QSO's  on the 10 meter made ​​during a phenomenal opening to all regions of the world.
KE1R, Thomas W. Brooks, remembers his visit to Nepal,

"I met Father Moran 9N1MM, one of the most famous amateur in the world in October 1990 in his school for boys in Godavari, south of Kathmandu. He invited me to come back the next day to operate the station, so the next morning at 6.00 was fixed (See photo) the station consisted of a transceiver and a linear from Drake (According to some sources he used  Heathkit SB200 - my note, YO4PX) He also had a new Yaesu transceiver that he learned to operate  but prefer to use the Drake equipment . He had tubes and spare parts, skilled at repairing almost anything, as there was no workshop near the capital. (In his teenage years he learned the skilled of repairing radios for neighbors, and earned pocket money - my note, YO4PX) He used a TH6 with a roof mount , but the rotor was broken, so he had to move it manually.

I then worked Moran several times from Vermont, once on phone with 100 watts. And every time he remembered me and was happy to welcome us, even in the middle of a pileup, since he was the only active amateur  in Nepal during those years.

   

His schools teache ethics, but not religion. He dedicated his life to educating children, who without him would not have had this opportunity. "
In April 1992 Fr Moran was admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu. Diagnosed with leukemia, was transferred to New Delhi, India, where he died April 14, 1992. His death was mentioned in amateur publications worldwide.

Writer and anthropologist Donald A. Messerschmidt devoted a book in 1997, "Moran of Kathmandu" with the subtitle "Priest, Educator & Ham Radio Voice of the Himalayas". The book was published in several editions,  some of them with the title "Fr. Moran of Kathmandu ". The most recent edition was published in 2012 published by  Orchid Press  in Thailand. In this work his life, and his achievements are remembered, from his youth and during the 40 years he lived in India and Nepal. In a book review published in  The Kathmandu Post  in 1998 K. Pandey wrote:

"Few are those able to create opportunities and to persevere to success in the face of unimaginable obstacles. Even fewer are those who leave behind a lasting legacy for future generations to remember and you'll treasure. There are many that embodied in one person many different situations: priest, educator, radio operator, social worker, practicing sports, etc. Father Moran was blessed with all these qualities and skills, and life dedicated to others is one that is properly remembered and cherished. "

Translated from the Romanian by W2MFT