Samuel G. Benady (born 11 September 1937 in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

) is a Gibraltarian historian, novelist and retired paediatrician of Sephardic Jewish descent. He has been a regular contributor to the Gibraltar Heritage Trust's Journal, and lecturer in the Gibraltar Museum, and author of several works related to the history of Gibraltar and also works of fiction. According to the '' Gibraltar Chronicle'', Benady is "Gibraltar’s well known and prolific author". Benady was born in Gibraltar, where his family has lived since the 18th century, and received his Medicine degree in London. He worked as a paediatrician in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

, where he ran the Child Health service. Benady worked for the Gibraltar Health Authority from 1980 until his retirement in 2002. In 2007 he was appointed a MBE "for services to health care and voluntary work".Queen's Birth Honours
'' Panorama'', 16 June 2007.

Work

In 1990, Benady published two short stories in '' Sherlock Holmes in Gibraltar''. These pastiches are set in the pre- Watson days. In the first one, ''The Abandoned Brigantine'',

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

reveals the solution to the mystery of the Mary Celeste, while in the second, ''The Gibraltar Letter'', the detective solves the case of the abduction of the Duke of Connaught while he was posted to Gibraltar. In 1992, after reading ''La compra de Gibraltar por los conversos andaluces'', ("The purchase of Gibraltar by Andalusian ''conversos''"), a monograph by Diego Lamelas about the story of the Cordova ''

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...

s'' who purchased Gibraltar in the 15th century, Benady translated and published it in English as ''The Sale of Gibraltar in 1474''. Then, he approached the history of St. Bernard's Hospital, publishing ''Civil Hospital and Epidemics in Gibraltar''. ''Diary of an Epidemic'' and ''Passing through the Fever'' (both co-authored with Prof. L A Sawchuk) were published in 2003 and 2005. In 2005, Benady approached the biography

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

, publishing a work on Sir George Don, Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar from 1814 to 1831.Newsletter no 81
Friends of Gibraltar Heritage Society, October 2007, pp. 6 ''The Keys of the City: An Episode in the History of Gibraltar'', also published in 2005, is a historical novel based in his former translation of Lamelas' work. A Spanish translation by Cayetano Ramirez has been published in 2015 by Nagrela Editores of Madrid, with the title ''Las llaves de Gibraltar''. Next came a detective mystery series of seven novels set in 18th and 19th century Gibraltar featuring the amateur detective Giovanni Bresciano, co-authored with Mary Chiappe.Gib based Murder Mystery... introduces Bresciano
, '' Gibraltar Chronicle'', 9 August 2010The Murder in Whirligig Lane
Sam Benady's blog. His latest project is 'A Pictorial History of Gibraltar' with Sarah Devincenzi (illustrator), published in 2019.

Publications

*''Sherlock Holmes in Gibraltar'' ( Gibraltar Books) 1990 *''The Sale of Gibraltar in 1474: To the New Christians of Cordova'', translation into English of ''La compra de Gibraltar por los conversos andaluces'' by Diego Lamelas (Gibraltar Books) 1992 *''Civil Hospital and Epidemics in Gibraltar'' (Gibraltar Books) 1994 *''Diary of an epidemic: Yellow Fever in Gibraltar, 1828'' (co-author) (Gibraltar Government Heritage Division), 2003 * ''Passing Through the Fever ''(co-author) (Diva Media, Toronto) 2005 *''General Sir George Don and the Dawn of Gibraltarian Identity'' (Gibraltar Books) 2005 *''The Keys of the City: An Episode in the History of Gibraltar'' (Gibraltar Books) 2005. *''The Murder in Whirligig Lane'' (co-author) (Calpe Press) 2010.''The Murder in Whirligig Lane'''s catalogue entry in Calpe Press
/ref> *''Fall of a Sparrow.'' (HKB Press) (co-author) 2010.
Sam Benady's blog. *''The Pearls of Tangier'' (Rock Scorpion Books) (co-author) 2011. * ''The Prince's Lady ''(Two Pillars Press) (co-author) 2012. * ''The Devil's Tongue'' (Two Pillars Press) (co-author) 2013. * ''Death in Paradise Ramp'' (Two Pillars Press) (co-author) 2014. * ''The Dead can't Paint'' (Two Pillars Press) (co-author) 2015. * ''A Pictorial History of Gibraltar'' (Two Pillars Press) (co-author) 2019.

References

External links

The Keys of the City: Sam Benady's writing blog
*http://brescianogibraltarmysteries.blogspot.com/

in Calpe Press web site. {{DEFAULTSORT:Benady, Sam British short story writers Gibraltarian historians Gibraltarian Sephardi Jews Jewish historians British paediatricians Living people Gibraltarian male writers 1937 births Gibraltarian novelists Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire

Work

Publications

See also

References

External links