Sassoon David Sassoon (August 1832 – 24 June 1867) was a

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

businessman, banker, and philanthropist.

Biography

Early life

Sassoon was born in August 1832 in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India.William D. Rubinstein, ''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 86

/ref>Jewish Encyclopedia
/ref> He was a member of the

Sassoon family The Sassoon family, known as "Rothschilds of the East" due to the immense wealth they accumulated in finance and trade, are a family of Baghdadi Jewish descent. Originally based in Baghdad, Iraq, they later moved to Bombay, India, and then emig ...

. His father was David Sassoon (1792–1864), a leading trader of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

who served as the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829, and his mother was Farha Hayim of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. He suffered from poor health from infancy but travelled widely. He was educated in biblical and

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

lore in Baghdad. He also spoke several

Oriental languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turk ...

with great fluency.

Business career

He proceeded to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, where he conducted the mercantile operations of the Chinese branch of the firm of David Sassoon, Sons & Co. He went to London in 1858, where he opened a bank on

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

. The business grew exponentially during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, as they suddenly became the main suppliers of cotton to British spinning mills and the British market.

Philanthropy

He served as President of a committee which had for its object the organization of an expedition to the

Jews in China Jews and Judaism in China are predominantly composed of Sephardi Jews and their descendants. Other Jewish ethnic divisions are also represented, including Ashkenazi Jews, Mizrahi Jews and a number of converts. The Jewish Chinese community manif ...

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

, and the East. He was also a member of the council of

Jews' College The London School of Jewish Studies (commonly known as LSJS, originally founded as Jews' College) is a London-based organisation providing adult educational courses and training to the wider Jewish community. Since 2012 LSJS also offers rabbinic ...

and of the committee of the

Jews' Free School JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlot ...

, which two institutions he munificently endowed. He was also a warden of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. For several years, he acted as examiner in Hebrew to the Jews' Free School.

Personal life

At the age of 18, he married a cousin Fahra Reuben (1838–1919) of Mumbai, daughter of Solomon Reuben Sassoon of Baghdad. She later changed her name to Flora in England. They had four children giving rise to his grandchildren as follows: *Joseph Sassoon Sassoon (1855–1918; married Louise de Gunzburg, a daughter of

Horace Günzburg Horace Günzburg (Goratsii Evzelevich Gintsburg, Гораций Евзелевич Гинцбург, (''Naftali-Gerts Evzelevich Gintsburg'') 8 February 1833 in Zvenigorodka, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire – 2 March 1909 in Saint Petersburg), ...

**Sassoon Joseph Sassoon (1885-1922), army officer **Arthur Meyer Sassoon, army officer **Frederick Sassoon, army officer **4 other grandchildren * Rachel Sassoon (later Beer), editor, (1858–1927; married Frederick Arthur Beer, son of

Julius Beer Julius Beer (1836–1880) was a German-born English businessman, banker and newspaper baron. He owned ''The Observer'' from 1870 to 1880. Biography Early life Julius Beer was born in 1836 in Frankfurt, Germany. Career Beer made his fortun ...

). *Alfred Ezra Sassoon (1861–1895; married

Theresa Thornycroft Theresa Thornycroft (1853 – July 1947) was an English sculptor and painter. Biography Born Theresa Georgina Thornycroft, she was a member of the inventive and artistic branch of the Thornycroft family. Her father was sculptor and engineer ...

**Michael Thorneycroft Sassoon (1884-1969) **

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

**Hamo Watts Sassoon, army officer, (1887 - killed 1 Nov 1915) *Frederick Meyer Sassoon (1862–1889) **two granddaughters They lived at

Ashley Park Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, ...

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and equally at 17 Cumberland Terrace next to Regent's Park in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

. He died in 1867 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, leaving an estate of £120,000 (). Later, Flora moved to 37

Adelaide Crescent Adelaide Crescent is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. Conceived as an ambitious attempt to rival the large, high-class Kemp Town estate east of Brighton, the c ...

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

.National Anglo-Jewish Heritage Trail: Brighton & Hove
/ref>

Biography

Early life

Business career

Philanthropy

Personal life

References

Further reading