Residence Bombay, IndiaEngland Died 1936 Name Flora Sassoon | Religion Jewish Nationality Indian-British | |
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Born 1859 Bombay, India Occupation HebraistbusinesswomanPhilanthropist Children David Solomon SassoonRachel SassoonMozelle Sassoon Parents Aziza Sassoon, Ezekiel Gubbay | ||
Flora Sassoon (18 November 1859 – 14 January 1936) was an Baghdadi Jewish businesswoman, scholar, Hebraist and philanthropist.
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Early life
Flora Gubbay was born in 1859 in Bombay, India. Her father was Ezekiel Abraham Gubbay (1824–1896), a trader and businessman who had come to India from Baghdad, Iraq, and her mother, Aziza Sassoon (1839–1897). Her maternal grandfather was Albert Abdullah David Sassoon (1818–1896). As a result, her maternal great-grandfather was David Sassoon (1792–1864), a leading trader of cotton and opium who served as the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829, and her maternal great-grandmother was his first wife, Hannah Joseph (1792–1826). She had five siblings.
She went to Catholic school and was also tutored privately from rabbis from Baghdad. By the age of seventeen, she spoke Hebrew, Aramaic, Hindustani, English, French and German. The Cairns Post described her once as one of the world's most learned women, making reference to her secular knowledge.
Business
She took over her husband's trading business in India, David Sassoon & Company, shortly after his death.
Judaism
An observant Orthodox Jew, she always travelled with her own prayer quorum of ten Jewish male adults and was a strong supporter of the Balfour Declaration and a staunch zionist. She also studied the Torah and wrote articles about Rashi, who were published in The Jewish Forum. In 1924, she presided over the Annual Speech Day at the Jews' College, stressing the importance of a Jewish education. Moreover, she often hosted famed Middle Eastern/Indian luncheons and dinners with Jewish cuisine, meticulously prepared following the kashrut standards; in order to guarantee that, she always travelled with her personal ritual slaughterer.
Philanthropy
Whilst living in India, she was an avid supporter of Waldemar Haffkine (1860–1930), who invented a vaccine against cholera, and encouraged reluctant Hindus and Muslims to take it. Once she moved to England, she often donated to Jews around the world who appealed to her for money in their hours of need.
Personal life
She married Solomon David Sassoon (1841–1894), the great-granddaughter of David Sassoon (1792–1864) by his second wife, Farha Hyeem (1814–1886); they were thus distant cousins. They had three children:
They lived in Bombay. After her husband's death, she moved to England. She and her children visited Baghdad for the Jewish High Holidays in 1910, which constituted the event of the year in the city and she was introduced from all the important persons in the city, from the wali of Baghdad Hussain Nadim Pasha, and the Chief Rabbi Ezra Dangoor, to the kabbalist Ben Ish Chai. She died in 1936, at her mansion in Bruton Street, in London.