Elias David Sassoon (27 March 1820 – 21 March 1880) was an Indian Baghdadi Jewish

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

. He was the son of David Sassoon and a member of the

Sassoon family The Sassoon family were a wealthy Baghdadi Jews, Baghdadi Jews, Jewish family dynasty, associated with finance, banking, capital markets, the exploration of oil and gas, Judaism, British Conservative Party, Conservative politics, opium trade wit ...

. Sassoon earned an immense fortune alongside his family and he was the founder of E. D. Sassoon & Co., a trading company he founded in 1867.

Early life and background

Born in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

into a Baghdadi Jewish family, Sassoon was the second son of David Sassoon and a member of the

. His father, David, was an Iraqi Baghdadi Jewish merchant and trader who fled with his family from Baghdad to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, India, in 1832, and later began trading in

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

. Sassoon was one of 14 siblings.

Career

In 1832, Sassoon's father, David, founded David Sassoon and Sons, which later became David Sassoon & Co., a trading company. After the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

, which ended in 1842, Sassoon, at the age of 24, was sent by his father, David, to China to seek new opportunities for their family’s trading business. In 1844, Sassoon arrived in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, known then as Canton, and in 1845, he moved to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

after recognizing that the best business opportunities were in Shanghai. Sassoon was instumental in his family businesses' growth in China. In the 1850s, Sassoon and his older brother, Albert, became partners in David Sassoon & Co., with their father. Sassoon expanded the Sassoon family's businesses in China and eventually, the family's trading fleet carried around one-fifth of the total opium imported into China. The Sassoon businesses would sell opium and British textiles in China in exchange for

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

, tea and silver. In 1867, Sassoon separated from his family company and established his own company, named E. D. Sassoon & Co., as a result of a feud with his brother Albert. The feud arose from resentment over Albert's appointment as head of the family and being placed in charge of the family businesses after the death of their father, David, in 1864. Sassoon also made it a business policy that his company, E. D. Sassoon & Co., would directly compete with David Sassoon & Co. in every area and tradable product. After establishing E. D. Sassoon & Co., he would import cloth from Britain and sell it to luxury stores in Shanghai that catered to wealthy European settlers in the city.

Personal life and death

Sassoon was married to Leah Gubbay. They were parents to 6 children, including Jacob, Edward, Joseph, and Hannah. In 1878, Sassoon established the Jewish Cemetery, Chinchpokli in memory of his son Joseph, who had died in

in 1868. His daughter Hannah married Sassoon David. He died in 1880 in

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

. Sassoon's sons built the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Mumbai, which was completed in 1884, in memory of Sassoon. After his death, E. D. Sassoon & Co. was led by his son, Jacob Sassoon. In 1909, his son, Jacob, became the 1st Baronet of Bombay in the

Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sassoon, Elias David 1820 births 1880 deaths Elias David Indian people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Jewish Chinese history Businesspeople from Baghdad Businesspeople from Mumbai 19th-century Indian philanthropists Businesspeople from the Ottoman Empire

Early life and background

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References