Flora Sassoon
| Flora Sassoon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Flora (Farha) Sassoon 18 November 1859 Bombay, India |
| Died | January 14, 1936 (aged 76) London |
| Resting place | Mount of Olives Cemetery, Jerusalem |
| Residence | Bombay, India England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Hebraist businesswoman Philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | Solomon David Sassoon |
| Children | David Solomon Sassoon Rachel Sassoon Mozelle Sassoon |
| Parent(s) | Ezekiel Gubbay Aziza Sassoon |
Flora Sassoon (18 November 1859 – 14 January 1936) was an Baghdadi Jewish businesswoman, scholar, Hebraist and philanthropist.
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.
She took over her husband's trading business in India, David Sassoon & Company, shortly after his death.
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.
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