Joseph Callil Sayegh (7 March 1884 – 29 March 1946) was a New Zealand politician and businessman.

Biography

Early life and career

Sayegh was of Assyrian origin, born in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

11 kilometres from

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

on 7 March 1884. Sayegh's father Callil emigrated with his family from Lebanon to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia in 1888. The Sayegh family later moved to New Zealand in 1894 arriving in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

before finally settling in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Callil Sayegh set up business as owner operator of a restaurant which Joe was to take over on his father's retirement. Situated on Auckland's Queen Street, opposite to the Civic Theatre, Sayegh's establishment specialized in serving tea and confectionery. He later became the President of the Auckland Retail Confectioners' Association.

Political career

Sayegh was a member of the Labour Party and successfully stood for the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

. He later stood as the Labour Party's candidate for

Mayor of Auckland The mayor of Auckland is the elected head of local government in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island; one of 67 Mayors in New Zealand, mayors in the country. The principle city of the region (and its namesake) is Auckland. The may ...

in 1935, 1938 and 1941. In 1935 Sayegh was subject of a selection controversy when selected over prominent local lawyer and MP

Rex Mason Henry Greathead Rex Mason (3 June 1885 – 2 April 1975) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, and Minister of Native Affairs, and had a significant influence on the directio ...

with the blessing of Auckland Labour Representation Committee executive Fred Young. Sayegh was viewed a respectable individual and competent city councillor, but most gave him little chance of beating

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

candidate

Ernest Davis Ernest Davis may refer to: * Ernie Davis (1939–1963), American football running back * Sir Ernest Davis (brewer) (1872–1962), New Zealand brewer and mayor of Auckland * Ernest D. Davis, mayor of Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a ci ...

. As Young had been employed by Davis for many years, John A. Lee and several Labour MPs alleged that Young had been bribed by Davis to ensure the selection of a weak Labour candidate for the Mayoralty which caused a rift in the Auckland Labour Party. Sayegh's campaign was not helped due to continued interference by Lee who tried to discredit him, calling him a "dumb wop fellow who could not even speak English". Regardless, Sayegh polled extremely well in the election, losing to Davis by only 363 votes. Despite losing the Mayoralty Sayegh was easily re-elected to the council, topping the poll with more votes than any other candidate. Three years later Sayegh's share of the vote fell when he was again defeated by Davis. Sayegh stood for the Mayoralty a third time in 1941 but was beaten by

Citizens & Ratepayers Communities and Residents (C&R) is a right-leaning local body ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed in 1938 as Citizens & Ratepayers, with a view to controlling the Auckland City Council and preventing left-leaning Labour Party contr ...

nominee

John Allum Sir John Andrew Charles Allum (27 January 1889 – 16 September 1972) was a New Zealand businessman and engineer, and was Mayor of Auckland City from 1941 to 1953. Biography Early life and career Allum was born in London and educated at Golds ...

. Sayegh was himself President of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee by 1940 and played a part in the expulsion of Lee from the Labour Party in 1940. Later that year, he stood for the Labour nomination at the Auckland West by-election following the death of Prime Minister

Michael Joseph Savage Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was an Australian-born New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government of New Zealand, First Labour Government from 1935 ...

, but lost to Peter Carr. Following this he was selected by the Labour Party to contest the electorate against Lee in the scheduled 1941 general election. However, the 1941 election was postponed until 1943 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Sayegh ultimately did not stand in the election.

Later life and death

By 1944 Sayegh had largely retired from public life. He had closed his Queen Street store and had taken up a position as the Chairman of Directors at the Robinson Ice Cream Company. He declined to stand for Mayor a fourth time and also retired from the Auckland City Council, Transport Board and Harbour Board, standing only for the Hospital Board and Power Board. He became chairman of Labour's branch. Sayegh died whilst staying in a

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

hotel on 29 March 1946. He had been in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

to attend a conference of justices of the peace and was on his way back to Auckland when he died. He was buried at Hillsborough Cemetery, Auckland. At the time of his death he had been nominated as a candidate for the Auckland Electric Power Board by the Labour Party for a by-election.

Personal life

Sayegh never married. His sister, Josephine Catherine Sayegh, married rugby league player Wilf Hassan on 9 July 1935 at St. Benedict's Church.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Sayegh's grave at Hillsborough Cemetery (photo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayegh, Joe 1884 births 1946 deaths Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire Immigrants to Australia Australian emigrants to New Zealand Auckland City Councillors Auckland Harbour Board members New Zealand Labour Party politicians Burials at Hillsborough Cemetery, Auckland