Saul Goldsmith

Abraham Saul Goldsmith (17 February 1911 – 4 November 1988) was an importer and merchant from Wellington, New Zealand. He was a foundation member of the National Party and was active at a local level. Goldsmith was also a noted chess player.

Early life Goldsmith was born in 1911 in Auckland. His parents were Joseph Isaac Goldsmith and Deborah Goldsmith (née Cohen). Goldsmith received his education at Brooklyn School He was also the cousin of Auckland Mayor Dove-Myer Robinson.

In the 1920s he started work as a messenger-clerk before leaving to start his own business. In 1930, he founded the General Agencies Company and was its managing director; the company concerned itself with importing goods. In the 1962 Wellington City mayoral election, Goldsmith was one of three mayoral candidates, and came a distant last. Goldsmith stood out as a proponent of the retention of the Wellington tramway system. Later, he was the president of the Wellington Municipal Electors Association. As Goldsmith had gone directly against the decision of the party's dominion executive, party president George Chapman recommended the suspension of his membership. After discussions with the Canterbury-Westland division of the party it was felt that it was no longer necessary to suspend Goldsmith and that public announcements that he was neither an official candidate nor party endorsed had made the party's stance clear to the public. Political historian Barry Gustafson described him as "a colourful character and an entertaining platform speaker". His mother had received the same honour in the 1947 New Year Honours, for her services in connection with patriotic and social welfare movements during and after World War II.

Other interests Goldsmith's parents were "chess enthusiasts". Goldsmith himself also played chess and joined the committee of the Wellington Chess League at age 23; his father was the inaugural president of the club. Goldsmith contested chess championships in both New Zealand and Australia. and in 1939 in Wellington. When Goldsmith's brother Lionel was killed in Europe during World War II, his parents donated the Goldsmith Chess Trophy in his memory. On 7 November, he was buried in the Jewish section of Karori Cemetery next to his mother.