Elias David Sassoon

Elias David Sassoon (27 March 1820 – 21 March 1880) was an Indian Baghdadi Jewish merchant.

Early life and background Born in Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq, into a Baghdadi Jewish family, Sassoon was the second son of David Sassoon and a member of the Sassoon family. His father, David, was an Iraqi Baghdadi Jewish merchant and trader who fled with his family from Baghdad to Bombay, India, in 1832, and later began trading in textiles. Sassoon was one of 14 siblings. After the First Opium War, which ended in 1842, Sassoon, at the age of 24, was sent by his father, David, to China to seek new opportunities for their family’s trading business. The feud arose from resentment over Albert's appointment as head of the family and being placed in charge of the family businesses after the death of their father, David, in 1864. They were parents to 6 children, including Jacob, Edward, Joseph, and Hannah. His daughter Hannah married Sassoon David. He died in 1880 in British Ceylon. Sassoon's sons built the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Mumbai, which was completed in 1884, in memory of Sassoon. After his death, E. D. Sassoon & Co. was led by his son, Jacob Sassoon. Jacob funded the Jacob Sasson Hospital for Europeans at Poona which opened in 1909.