Manasseh Meyer

Sir Manasseh Meyer (1846 – 1 July 1930) was an Iraqi-born businessman, philanthropist and activist who was both a leader and benefactor of the Jewish community in Singapore. Born in Baghdad and educated in Calcutta, Manasseh Meyer came to Singapore in 1861 aged 15 and continued his English education in St Joseph's Institution. His maternal uncle Joseph Raphael Joshua had established himself in Singapore and was instrumental in bringing Manasseh and his brothers Rubin and Elias to Singapore. In 1864, he returned to Calcutta to work with his uncle in business as well as to learn literary Hebrew and Arabic. There he became a book keepers apprentice assisting his maternal uncle's business. In 1867 aged 21 he ventured to Burma, then beyond British colonial rule, to establish business of his own. An adventurer, in his early years, Meyer was to travel across Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Europe, India, China and Japan. Meyer returned to Singapore in 1873 and founded his own import-export business known as Meyer Brothers involved in the opium trade. The firm grew to dominate all trade with India, linked by the two then flourishing Baghdadi Jewish communities of Calcutta and Singapore. Raphael Sassoon, a fellow Jewish pioneer born in Aleppo, was his partner in the firm and later also jointly a trustee of Maghain Avoth Synagogue on the island.