Sam Mussabini

Scipio Africanus "Sam" Mussabini (6 August 1867 – 12 March 1927)

Early life and career Mussabini was born in Blackheath, London to a family of Syrian, Italian and French descent. Mussabini's father, Neocles Gaspard Mussabini (1827–1915), was born in Turkey to a Syrian father and Italian mother. Mussabini's mother, Aline Farcat (1839–1914), was French. The Mussabini family was Christian and originally from Damascus, Syria. Mussabini's great-grandfather was a Syrian merchant who had altered his original surname, Mussa, to the Italian-sounding Mussabini. Mussabini's great-uncle, Antonio Mussabini, was the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of İzmir from 1838 to 1861. Mussabini was educated in France, and later followed his father into journalism. Mussabini coached further gold medal winners at the 1912 Olympic Games, including Willie Applegarth.

English Heritage installed a blue plaque at 84 Burbage Road, Herne Hill, on 11 July 2012. The house was Mussabini's home from 1911 until about 1916 and backs on to the Herne Hill Stadium, where he worked as a cycling and athletics coach from the 1890s until his death and trained several medal-winning Olympic athletes, including the young Harold Abrahams. The plaque was unveiled by Lord Terence Higgins, who competed in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, and Ben Cross, who played Abrahams in the film Chariots of Fire.

Mussabini was quoted as saying, "Only think of two things – the gun and the tape. When you hear the one, just run like hell until you break the other."

Archives Sam Mussabini's papers are held at the Cadbury Research Library (University of Birmingham), along with the papers of his father, Neocles. This collection includes material related to Neocles Mussabini's journalistic career at the Pall Mall Gazette, during the era that its editor W. T. Stead was involved with the Eliza Armstrong scandal.