During his first visit to India in 2013, US President-elect Joe Biden mentioned that he has distant relatives living in Mumbai. In 2015 in Washington, he reiterated that after he became a senator in 1972, he had received a letter from one of the Bidens in India and learned that his “great, great, great, great, great grandfather” George Biden was a captain in the East India Trading Company and after retiring he decided to settle in India and married an Indian woman.
Now that 77-year-old Democratic leader Biden will be sworn in as the 46th US president in January 2021 alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who is the first South Asian woman to become US Vice President. Everyone is interested to know about Biden’s distant relatives in India.
The letter Biden had received in 1972 was written by Nagpur-based Leslie Biden, whose grandchildren are staying in Nagpur, and claim that his family has been living there since 1873. Leslie Biden was based in Nagpur and was the manager of Bharat Lodge and Hostel and Bharat Cafe in Nagpur, before his death in 1983. While reading the weekly issue ‘Illustrated Weekly of India’ from March 28 to April 4, 1981, Leslie came across an article about then-US Senator Joe Biden and decided to write a letter to the senator.
“Leslie contacted Joe Biden through a letter sent on April 15, 1981. Joe Biden responded to Leslie through a letter dated May 30, 1981, saying he was pleased after receiving the letter from India and also spoke about the genealogy of the Bidens. ”Leslie’s granddaughter, Sonia Biden Francis, a Nagpur psychologist, told PTI.
He added that Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election has made “Bidens in Nagpur and everywhere else” euphoric. Leslie Biden’s descendants live in Nagpur, Mumbai, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
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Sonia Biden’s older brother, Ian Biden, a former merchant marine who is also staying in Nagpur, said Leslie and Joe Biden shared information about a common ancestor, John Biden, and his wife Anne Beaumont.
“Leslie and Joe Biden thanked each other for reciprocating and committed to continuing to reciprocate with each other. However, Leslie Biden’s health deteriorated and he died in 1983 in Nagpur. Leslie’s wife couldn’t keep up with the family tree, ”said Rowena, Leslie’s granddaughter, who also lives in Nagpur.
The Biden family displayed the letters that they claimed were part of the correspondence between Leslie and Joe Biden. When asked if the ‘other Biden’ would attend Joe Biden’s inauguration in January, family members said they are extending their best wishes to President-elect Joe Biden.
So it’s not just Tamil Nadu’s daughter Kamala Harris, with her love of dosas, who has Indian roots. President-elect Joe Biden also has roots in India, in the ‘orange city’.
(with contributions from the agency)
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