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. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 2 million people in the UK, making them the single largest Ethnic groups in the United Kingdo ...

Iraqi businessman, banker, and philanthropist. Sassoon was the first 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 ...

to expand the family's business interests into England.

Biography

Early life

Sassoon was born in August 1832 in

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.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

. His father was David Sassoon (treasurer), David Sassoon (1792–1864), a leading trader of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, 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 ...

and

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

who served as the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829, and his mother was Farha Hayim of

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 ...

. He suffered from poor health from infancy but travelled widely. He was educated in biblical and

Talmudic The Talmud (; ) 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 centerpiece of Jewi ...

lore in Baghdad. He also spoke several

Oriental languages Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, ...

with great fluency.

Business career

He proceeded 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 ...

, where he conducted the mercantile operations of the Chinese branch of the firm of David Sassoon, Sons & Co. He went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1858, where he opened a bank on

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

. Sassoon was the first member of his family to expand the family's business to England. The business grew exponentially during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, as they suddenly became the main suppliers of cotton to British spinning mills and the British market. Sassoon was later joined by his brother,

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

, in the family's British business operations.

Philanthropy

He served as president of a committee which had for its object the organization of an expedition to the Jews in China,

Abyssinia Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...

, and the East. He was also a member of the council of Jews' College 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. Sassoon also acted as examiner in Hebrew to the Jews' Free School in London.

Personal life

At the age of 18, he married a cousin Farha 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 **four other grandchildren * Rachel Sassoon (later Beer) (1858–1927), newspaper editor; married Frederick Arthur Beer, son of

Julius Beer Julius Beer (1836–1880) was a German-born English businessman, banker and newspaper baron. He owned '' The Observer'' from 1870 to 1880. Biography Early life Julius Beer was born in 1836 in Frankfurt, Germany. Career Beer made his fort ...

*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 (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...

(1886–1967), war poet, writer and soldier **Hamo Watts Sassoon (1887–1915), army officer *Frederick Meyer Sassoon (1862–1889) **two granddaughters They lived at Ashley Park in

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, known locally as Walton, is a market town on the bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, Thames in northwest Surrey, England. It is in the Borough of Elmbridge, about southwest of central London. Walton forms part ...

, Surrey 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 Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the are ...

. He died in 1867 in London, leaving an estate of £120,000 (). Later, Flora moved to 37 Adelaide Crescent in

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

, East Sussex.National Anglo-Jewish Heritage Trail: Brighton & Hove
/ref>

Biography

Early life

Business career

Philanthropy

Personal life

References

Further reading