Frederick Cecil Smollan (20 August 1908 – 8 February 1998,
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
) was a
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
international
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player.
Career history
Fred Smollan was born in
Uitenhage
Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...
, South Africa in 1908 to David Smollan and Mathilda Goldwater, the second of four brothers.
Educated at
Muir College
Muir College is a semi-private English medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Vanes Estate in Kariega (Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Muir caters for pupils from Grade ...
and later
Grey High School
Grey High School is a State school, semi-private English-medium high school (grades 8 to 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the coun ...
, Smollan was only the second Jew to represent in rugby union, after
Morris Zimerman
Morris Zimerman (8 June 1911 – 10 January 1992) was a South African rugby union player.[Profile]
o ...
. Smollan played club rugby for
Wanderers RFC
Wanderer, Wanderers, or The Wanderer may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theater
* The Wanderer (1913 film), ''The Wanderer'' (1913 film), a silent film
* The Wanderer (1925 film), ''The Wanderer'' (1925 film), a silen ...
, regional rugby for
Eastern Province and
Transvaal
Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
and played three times for South Africa in 1933.
[
His three internationals were all against ]Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on the team's 1933 tour of South Africa. Although he would receive no further caps, he faced international opponents again, facing the 1938 British Lions as part of the Transvaal team. Transvaal defeated the Lions 16–9, with Smollan scoring one of the tries.
In 1931 he set up a business Smollan Holdings, initially as a sales agency. With the outbreak of World War II he served in North Africa. He married Molly Amelia Raphaely in Johannesburg in 1943 and after the war returned to run his business which he built into a public company.
See also
* List of select Jewish rugby union players
References
External links
*
Smollan Group
The Glory of the Game
about the Ten Jewish Springboks.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smollan, Fred
1908 births
1998 deaths
Jewish rugby union players
Jewish South African sportspeople
Rugby union players from Uitenhage
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union players from Johannesburg
South Africa international rugby union players
South African rugby union players
Eastern Province Elephants seasons
Golden Lions players
Alumni of Grey High School