Published 12:15 IST, November 8th 2020
Who' who in Kamala Harris' diverse Indian-Jamaican-American family? Read details
Born to immigrants from two different nations, the newly elected Vice President Kamala Harris boasts of a rather complex family
Kamala Devi Harris has made history by becoming the first woman as well as the first person of color to be elected as the Vice President of the United States of America. Born to immigrants from two different nations, the newly elected leader boasts of a rather complex family. Here’s a brief look at her Indian-American-Jamaican mix of what she calls her family.
Kamala was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. Her Jamaican father Donald Harris had immigrated to America in 1961 where he met Shyamala Gopalan, who had emigrated from India a year before. Soon they got married. However, the dream of a perfect family broke after they got divorced when Kamala was only 7 years old. Her mother later became a breast cancer scientist and they moved to Montreal in Quebec, Canada. Shyamala Gopalan had a research position and taught at a hospital till she died from colon cancer in 2009.
‘Kamala and Maya’s Big Ideas’
The former senator has one sibling. Her 53-year-old sister Maya, is a former MSNBS political analyst who served as the campaign chairwoman for Kamal’s Presidential bid. Maya is married to Tony West, a general counsel at Uber Inc. Maya has a daughter Meena Ashley Harris. 35-year-old Meena is a lawyer and children’s book author who wrote the bestseller ‘Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea’, based on the real-life stories of her mother and aunt. Meena is married to Nikolas Ajagu, and they have two daughters, including Amara Ajagu, 2, who is sometimes seen in photos with Kamala.
‘Momala’
Harris has been married to New York-born Douglas Emhoff, 55, for six years. He is an entertainment lawyer and partner at the DLA Piper law firm and has taken a temporary leave through the election season. Emhoff has two adult children, Cole and Ella, from a previous marriage. The children are named after jazz legends John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald. They call Harris by the nickname "Momala." She also has a pet pooch who is usually visible in her Facebook posts.
Kamala was also close to her grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, who had served in the Indian government and died in 1998, according to an Aug. 16 article in the New York Times. Both the sisters have reported being visiting their native village in Chennai very frequently.
Image: NMenonRao/Twitter
Updated 12:15 IST, November 8th 2020