Muhammad Yunus Summary

I have chosen the autobiography of Muhammad Yunus which is named “Banker to the Poor” written by Muhammad Yunus himself and Alan Jolis as the focus my book report which focused on economics and poverty. The book was published by PublicAffairs in 1999 with 288 pages in paperback. Muhammad Yunus is a social entrepreneur, banker, economist and a professor of economics at the University of Chittagong. He is the founder of Grameen Bank and was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for creating a bank that helps the villagers in Bangladesh through microfinancing small businesses to alleviate poverty from the villagers of Bangladesh. I chose to read this book because he is very inspiring and he made a huge impact to the lives of the villagers in Bangladesh. I was moved on how he pursued his idea of microfinancing the small time businesses to payoff their balance from the moneylenders and add more capital to their business to sustain their living and their children’s education.

Muhammad Yunus grew up on Boxirhat road in the heart of Chittagong’s old business district. He lived at Number 20, a small two storey house with his father’s jewelry shop and workshop tucked beneath the ground floor. His father entered the jewelry business and soon became the foremost local manufacturer and seller of jewelry ornaments for Muslim customers. He was a soft hearted person and rarely punished them but strict about their need to study. His father has been a devout Muslim all his life. He made