Albert Abdullah David Sassoon - Biography

Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, 1st Baronet, KCB, CSI, (25 July 1818 - 24 October 1896), a British Indian philanthropist and merchant, was born a Jew in Baghdad, a member of a family that had lived there since the beginning of the 16th century, having been expelled from Spain in the 1490s. He was named Abdullah at birth, but changed his name to Albert later in life.

His father, David Sassoon, was a leading Baghdad merchant and a treasurer under Ahmet Pasha, the governor of Baghdad. However, he fled after he was implicated in a corruption scandal, moving from Baghdad to Bushire, in Iran, and in 1832 settling in Bombay, where he founded a large banking and mercantile business. David Sassoon's business acumen soon made him one of the richest men in Bombay.

Albert Sassoon was educated in India and became head of the firm on his father's passing. Sasoon was a major benefactor to the city of Bombay; among his gifts were the Sassoon Dock, completed in 1875, and a handsome proportion of the cost of Elphinstone High School.

In 1867 Sasoon was made a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI) and in 1872 a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KCB). In 1873 he visited England and received the freedom of the city of London. Shortly afterwards he settled in England, and was created Baronet Sasoon in 1890.

He died in Brighton in 1896, aged 78. He built and was buried in the Sassoon Mausoleum; in 1933 his body was removed and reburied in the Willesden Jewish Cemetery in London.

See also

• Sassoon family

External links

• Sir Albert Sasoon profile in the Jewish Encyclopedia