Sir Sidney Solomon Abrahams (11 February 1885 – 14 May 1957), nicknamed Solly, was a British Olympic athlete and 26th

Chief Justice of Ceylon The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

(

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

). He was the older brother of famed Olympian

Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Biography Early life ...

Early life

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, Abrahams was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the six ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican m ...

. He competed at athletics for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1904 to 1906. At the unofficial Olympiad, the 1906 '

Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

' held in Athens, he finished fifth in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

with 6.21 metres. At the 1912

Stockholm Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, bet ...

he finished in eleventh place in the same event with 6.72 metres. At the 1913 Amateur Athletic Association Championships in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, he won the long jump with 6.86 metre
British Athletics Championships 1876-1914
He studied law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

and was called to the bar in 1909.

Career

He joined the Colonial Service and was Advocate General in Baghdad in 1920 and President of the Civil Courts in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

in 1921. After serving as Attorney General of Zanzibar (1922), Uganda (1925) and Gold Coast (1928), Abrahams was appointed

Chief Justice of Uganda The Supreme Court of Uganda is the highest judicial organ in Uganda. It derives its powers from Article 130 of the 1995 Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court with original jurisdiction in only one type of case: a presidential electi ...

in 1933 and Chief Justice of Tanganyika in 1934. He then served as

from 1936 to 1939 and was knighted in 1936. The most celebrated case he presided over was that of the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

Mark Anthony Bracegirdle :''This article refers to the political activist. For the Rear Admiral see Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle. For the fictional family of Hobbits see Bracegirdle.'' Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (10 September 1912 – 22 June 1999) was a British-born ...

, whom the

Governor of British Ceylon The governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was th ...

Sir

Reginald Stubbs Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs (; 13 October 1876 – 7 December 1947) was a British colonial governor, who was once the Governor of Hong Kong. He caused controversy while Governor of Ceylon over the Bracegirdle Incident. Early life and educati ...

was attempting to have

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

; the court ruled against the Governor. He was founder-president of the Medico-Legal Society of Ceylon. He was succeeded by John Curtois Howard, after the acting Francis Soertsz. He retired from the bench in 1939. Sidney Abrahams chaired a Committee on the Administration of Justice in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He was later Senior Legal Assistant to the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

, and played a major role in the suspension of the People's Progressive Party Government of

Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 199 ...

in British Guiana (Guyana) in 1953. He was elected president of the

London Athletic Club London Athletic Club (LAC) is a track and field club based in London, England. It is the oldest independent track and field club in the world and celebrated its first 150 years in 2013.Barker, Philip (2013)"London Athletic club still going strong at ...

. Abrahams was the first

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

to hold the post. Abrahams was married to Ruth Bowman and they had two children, Valerie and Anthony Abrahams.

References

External links

T. Perera, 'The Bracegirdle Saga: 60 Years After', ''What Next'', No 5 1997''Abrahams, Sidney 'Solly, Jews in Sport Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahams, Sidney 1885 births 1957 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands People educated at Bedford Modern School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple English male long jumpers Jewish male athletes (track and field) Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics English Jews Chief Justices of British Ceylon Chief justices of Tanzania People of British Ceylon 19th-century British people Knights Bachelor Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Uganda Protectorate judges Gold Coast (British colony) people Tanganyika (territory) judges Attorneys General of the Gold Coast (British colony) Attorneys General of the Uganda Protectorate Attorneys-General of the Sultanate of Zanzibar Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Welsh descent Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links