Silas Aaron Hardoon
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| Silas Aaron Hardoon | |
| Born | 1851 Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq |
|---|---|
| Died | 1931 Shanghai, China |
| Occupation | Businessman,
Member Shanghai Municpal Council, Member Conseil municipale of the French Concession |
Silas Aaron Hardoon (1851 – 1931) was a wealthy businessman and well-known public figure in the city of Shanghai in the early 20th century.
[edit] Biography
Hardoon was born Silah Harun (his name was later anglicized to Silas Hardoon) into a poor Jewish family in Baghdad.[1] His family left Baghdad for Bombay where he was educated at a charitable school funded by David Sassoon.
Hardoon traveled to the city of Shanghai in 1868 where he entered the employ of David Sassoon, Sons & Company as a rent collector and watchman. He rose quickly through the ranks of that company, displaying a talent for real estate. After leaving that company he expanded his interests into cotton and the opium trade, becoming a partner in E. D. Sassoon's and Company. Shrewd investments, particularly in properties on Shanghai's "Fifth Avenue," Nanking Road, eventually made him one of that city's wealthiest inhabitants.
Hardoon was a student of Buddhism, establishing a school for monks at Ai-li Park, his twenty-six-acre estate, and personally financing the printing of Buddhist writings. When he died in 1931, his personal fortune was estimated to be worth $150,000,000.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Betta, Chiara (2002). Silas Aaron Hardoon (1851-1931): Business, Politics and Philanthropy in Republican Shanghai, 1911-1931 (html). The Scribe. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Dong, Stella [2000]. Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 58-59. ISBN 0-688-15798-X.
