Laurie Shaffi

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(15 August 1912 – 6 February 2005) was a British–Indian barrister, diplomat and tennis player. Shaffi, born in London and half-Indian, was an old boy of

Emanuel School Emanuel School is an independent, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ra ...

. Active on the tennis tour in the 1930s, Shaffi's career titles included the

East of England Championships The East of England Championships also called the East of England Lawn Tennis Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1885 as the Felixstowe Open Lawn Tennis Tournament. In 1889 the event had by this time beco ...

and

Essex Championships The Essex Championships was a combined men's and women's grass court tennis tournament last held at Frinton Lawn Tennis Club, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, Great Britain from 1881 to 1973. History The ''Essex Championships'' were established in 1881 a ...

. In 1939 he earned a call-up to the

Great Britain Davis Cup team The Great Britain Davis Cup team has represented the United Kingdom internationally since 1900 in the Davis Cup. Organised by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), it is one of the 50 members of International Tennis Federation's European associatio ...

, on the back of recent wins over Donald MacPhail and Ronald Shayes, both rivals for a berth in the lineup. Unranked in Britain at the time, he was considered a surprise selection and featured in ties against both France and Germany. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Shaffi fought with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. He became Adjutant to Field Marshall

Claude Auchinleck Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commande ...

. A law graduate, Shaffi served as Pakistan's Consul General in New York and San Francisco. He married an American and was a long-time resident of

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffi, Laurie 1912 births 2005 deaths British male tennis players British people of Indian descent Pakistani diplomats British emigrants to the United States Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People educated at Emanuel School Tennis people from Greater London Officers of the Order of the British Empire

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