who is zohran mamdani's father

Zohran Mamdani’s father is Mahmood Mamdani , a prominent Ugandan‑Indian academic and political scholar.

Who is Mahmood Mamdani?

Mahmood Mamdani is a professor of government and anthropology at Columbia University , known for his work on settler colonialism, postcolonial theory, and African politics. He has written several influential books and is often cited in debates about human rights, Marxism, and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Family background

• Zohran Mamdani was born in 1991 in Kampala, Uganda , to Mahmood Mamdani and Indian‑American filmmaker Mira Nair.

• The family lived in Uganda and South Africa before moving to New York City in 1999 , when Mahmood joined Columbia’s faculty.

Public profile and influence

Mahmood is also known for his pro‑Palestinian stance and has been involved in high‑profile political debates, which Zohran has echoed in his own platform as a progressive politician. In 2025, Mahmood publicly supported his son’s mayoral campaign, framing Zohran’s rise as part of a broader story of diasporic, transnational identity and political change.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.