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{{short description|Indian philanthropist (1877–1952)}}
{{about|the Indian philanthropist|her great-aunt, the Indian-born British journalist|Rachel Beer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rachel Sassoon Ezra
| image = LADY RACHEL EZRA (NÉE SASSOON) (sq cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = photographer and date unknown
| other_names =
| birth_name = Rachel Sassoon
| birth_date = 18 May 1877
| birth_place = Bombay
| death_date = {{death date and age|1952|01|25|1877|05|18|df=y}}
| death_place = Calcutta
| occupation = Philanthropist, community leader
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) = [[David Elias Ezra]]
| parents = [[Solomon David Sassoon]], [[Flora Sassoon]]
| relatives = [[Sassoon family]]
}}

'''Rachel Sassoon Ezra''' (18 May 1877 – 25 January 1952), known as '''Lady Ezra''', was an Indian philanthropist and community leader, a member of the [[Sassoon family]], and wife of banker [[David Elias Ezra]].

== Early life ==
Rachel Sassoon was born in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], the daughter of Sir [[Solomon David Sassoon (1841–1894)|Solomon David Sassoon]] and [[Flora Sassoon|Flora Gubbay Sassoon]]. She was part of the [[Baghdadi Jews|Baghdadi Jewish]] community, a member of the noted Sassoon family; her father was a prominent businessman and philanthropist; her grandfather was [[David Sassoon (treasurer)|David Sassoon]] and her great-grandfather was [[Albert Sassoon]]. Her younger brother was [[David Solomon Sassoon]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Weil|first=Shalva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05mfDwAAQBAJ&q=Rachel+Sassoon+Ezra|title=The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity|date=2019-06-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-53387-7|language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
[[File:Lady Ezra.jpg|thumb|left|c. 1936]]
Rachel Sassoon lived in England as a young woman, and helped her widowed mother run her late father's business in India, from 1894 until 1902. As Lady Ezra, she was president of the Jewish Women's League of Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Las|first=Nelly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmUqAAAAYAAJ&q=Rachel+Sassoon+Ezra|title=Jewish Women in a Changing World: A History of the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW), 1899-1995|date=1996|publisher=Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry|isbn=978-965-90054-1-3|pages=188|language=en}}</ref> She was active with the [[Countess of Dufferin Fund]], the Lady Minto Nursing Association, the All-Bengal Women's Union, the Bombay Women's Work Guild, and the National Council of Women in India. She was commissioner of [[Girl Guides]] for Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kabadi Waman P.|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.523178|title=Indian Who's Who 1937-38|date=1937|pages=235|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1925, she wrote a travel brochure, ''From Damascus to Baghdad: A Trip Across the Syrian Desert''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goldstein-Sabbah|first=S. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KkwwEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Rachel+Ezra%22+Calcutta&pg=PA87|title=Baghdadi Jewish Networks in the Age of Nationalism|date=2021-05-25|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-46056-0|pages=87–88|language=en}}</ref> In 1938, she wrote a greeting to the members of the [[Parliament of the World's Religions]], when the group met in Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1951-08-24|title=Hobart Hebrew Congregation|page=87|work=Australian Jewish News|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article261754780|access-date=2021-11-28|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

During both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], she opened her home to host Jewish servicemen and women while they were based in Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Roland|first1=Joan G.|last2=Gubbay|first2=Tamar Marge|title=Baghdadi Jewish Women in India|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/baghdadi-jewish-women-in-india|access-date=2021-11-28|website=Jewish Women's Archive|language=en}}</ref> The British government awarded her the gold [[Kaisar-i-Hind Medal]] in 1947.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ram|first=Sharmila Ganesan|date=1 November 2020|title=Indian artefacts in NYC Sotheby's Sassoon auction|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/indian-artefacts-in-nyc-sothebys-sassoon-auction/articleshow/78978429.cms|access-date=2021-11-27|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> In 1951, she donated a Sephardic [[Sefer Torah]] to the [[Hobart Synagogue]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=1951-08-17|title=Special Services In Hobart|work=Australian Jewish Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article261422201|access-date=2021-11-28|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1951-08-24|title=Hobart Hebrew Congregation|work=Australian Jewish News|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article261754780|access-date=2021-11-28|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ehrlich|first=Mark Avrum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NoPZu79hqaEC&dq=%22Rachel+Ezra%22+Calcutta&pg=PA527|title=Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture|date=2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-873-6|pages=527|language=en}}</ref> "She was distinguished for her philanthropy and social service, and achieved communal and national recognition in these spheres," summed Percy Sassoon Gourgey in a 1953 memorial tribute.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gourgey|first=Percy Sassoon|date=1953|title=India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23604477|journal=The American Jewish Year Book|volume=54|pages=421|jstor=23604477|issn=0065-8987}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Rachel Sassoon married banker and community leader Sir [[David Elias Ezra]] in 1912. "The marriage of Rachel and David Ezra represented the coming together of India's two most powerful Jewish families," commented historian Elizabeth E. Imber in a 2018 article.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Imber|first=Elizabeth E.|date=2018|title=A Late Imperial Elite Jewish Politics: Baghdadi Jews in British India and the Political Horizons of Empire and Nation|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jewisocistud.23.2.03|journal=Jewish Social Studies|volume=23|issue=2|pages=48–85|doi=10.2979/jewisocistud.23.2.03|jstor=10.2979/jewisocistud.23.2.03|s2cid=158380996|issn=0021-6704|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Her husband died in 1947, and she died in 1952, aged 74 years, in Calcutta. The Rachel and David Ezra Archive is part of the Sassoon Family Archive at the [[National Library of Israel]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fonds 05: Rachel and David Ezra Archive|url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/archives/NNL_ARCHIVE_AL990050546650205171/NLI|access-date=2021-11-28|website=National Library of Israel|language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rachel Sassoon Ezra}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Baghdadi Jews]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sassoon family]]
[[Category:Ezra family (Calcutta)]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from British India]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian Jews]]

Rachel Sassoon Ezra - Revision history

Rolly: put up some data from scratch