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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-m ...
, 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. His father was
David Sassoon David Sassoon may refer to: *David Sassoon (designer) (born 1932), British fashion designer * David Sassoon (treasurer) (1792–1864), Iraqi-Jewish treasurer *David Solomon Sassoon (1880–1942), Iraqi bibliophile See also *Sassoon family * Albert ...
(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 pe ...
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, whic ...
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 Ctesip ...
. 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 center ...
lore in Baghdad. He also spoke several Oriental languages 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 flowin ...
, 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. 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 ...
, 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,
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, 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 **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). *Alfred Ezra Sassoon (1861–1895; married Theresa Thornycroft **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, be ...
in
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 r ...
,
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 h ...
. He died in 1867 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 ...
, leaving an estate of £120,000 (). Later, Flora moved to 37 Adelaide Crescent in
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 Ea ...
.National Anglo-Jewish Heritage Trail: Brighton & Hove
/ref>


References


Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sassoon, Sassoon David 1832 births 1867 deaths British Jews British people of Indian-Jewish descent British people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Businesspeople from Mumbai People from Surrey Sassoon family Indian people of Iraqi-Jewish descent 19th-century British businesspeople