Victor Sassoon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 20 December 1881[1] |
| Died | 13 August 1961(1961-08-13) (aged 79) |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Occupations |
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| Family | Sassoon family |
Sir Ellice Victor Sassoon, 3rd BaronetGBE (20 December 1881 – 13 August 1961)[1] was a British businessman and hotelier from the wealthyBaghdadi JewishSassoon merchant and banking family.
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Ellice Victor Elias Sassoon was born 20 (some sources cite 30) December 1881 inNaples,Kingdom of Italy. He was born to theBaghdadi JewishSassoon family, which dealt successfully in commodities including precious metals, silks, gums, spices, wool and wheat. Later, the firm specialised in trading Indian cotton yarn and opium from Bombay to China.[citation needed]
Sassoon lived inShanghai as a "wealthy bon vivant who worked tirelessly to protect Western interests in the Orient"[2] and helped European Jews survive in theShanghai Ghetto. Sir Victor walked with the aid of two sticks as the result of injuries inWorld War I in which he served in theRoyal Flying Corps. He founded the Cathay Hotel (now thePeace Hotel) but left under increasing Japanese pressure in 1941.[2][3]
Sassoon lovedphotography and opened a studio in Shimla first called Hamilton Studios. In 1928 he established his hobby and opened a studio in Bombay State at Ballard Estate by the same name as Hamilton Studios at E.D.Sassoon Building (one of his property), Ballard Estate, and all the negatives from Shimla were brought here, to Bombay, closing down that studio completely. He was also fond ofhorse racing and Chinese ivories (his vast collection was eventually bequeathed to theBritish Museum in 2018).[4]
During the 1950s, Sassoon lived at his home onCable Beach inNassau. He also spent time in the remote town ofHillsboro, New Mexico, located about a three-hour drive north of El Paso, Texas. He built a house there and named it El Refugio. It has since been turned into a bed and breakfast.[5]
Late in life he married his American nurse, Evelyn "Barnsie" Barnes, who remained in Nassau long after Sassoon's death in 1961. Lady Sassoon continued to provide support for the charity founded by her late husband to help Bahamian children, by hosting the black-tie Heart Ball each year over theValentine's Day weekend.[citation needed]
On the death of his father in 1924, Sassoon inherited the trading house "E.D. Sassoon & Co. Limited".[6] "E.D. Sassoon Banking Company Limited", a subsidiary in Hong Kong formed in 1928,[7] was bought by the merchant bank "Wallace Brothers and Company (Holding)" in 1972, which in turn was taken over by theStandard Chartered Bank in 1976. The other parts of the "Sassoon Group" and the "Sir Victor Sassoon Heart Foundation", set up by Lady Sassoon after her husband's death, are run from Nassau, where the family still lives.[8]
A fan ofthoroughbred horse racing, Sassoon owned a highly successful stable of horses that won numerous prestigious races in the United Kingdom. In 1925, he purchased the Bungalow Stud, founded 1851 inCambridgeshire not far from theNewmarket Racecourse. He renamed it Eve Stud Ltd. as he was known to his intimates as 'Eve' - a contraction of his first two names, Ellice Victor.Sir Noel Murless purchased the property from Sassoon's widow in 1970 and gave it the nameWoodditton Stud. Today, it is owned byDarley Stud Management.[9]
Sassoon purchasedBeech House Stud fromMartin H. Benson in 1960 and along with Eve Stud it became part of Sassoon Studs Incorporated managed by Murless. Sassoon's wife sold the Sassoon Studs toLouis Freedman in 1971.[10]
Among Sassoon's stables' significant performances were wins inThe Derby (Pinza,Crepello,Hard Ridden,St. Paddy),Epsom Oaks (Exhibitionnist),1,000 Guineas (Exhibitionnist,Honeylight),2,000 Guineas (Crepello),St. Leger Stakes (St Paddy) andKing George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Pinza).
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On the death of his father, SirEdward Elias Sassoon, in 1924, Victor Sassoon became the 3rd Baronet of Bombay. Late in life, in 1959, he married his American nurse, Evelyn Barnes ("Barnsie"). He had no issue and the baronetcy became extinct.
He was related by marriage to theMocatta family and he himself was aSephardic Jew. One of his former employees,Lawrence Kadoorie (laterthe Lord Kadoorie), later founded theHong Kong-based utility companyChina Light and Power. One of his right-hand men in Shanghai was Gordon Currie who was put into a concentration camp by the Japanese and remained there for several years.
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| Preceded by | Baronet (of Bombay) 1924–1961 | Extinct |
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