Clarence Isaac de Sola (August 15, 1858 – May 10, 1920) was a Canadian businessman, author and Zionist leader based in Montreal.
De Sola was born in Montreal to a distinguished Jewish family, the son of Abraham de Sola (1825–1882) and his wife Esther Joseph (1823–1898), daughter of Henry Joseph (1773–1832). In 1887, De Sola became the Canadian agent for the Comptoir Belgo-Canadien, a syndicate of Belgian steel manufacturers and bridge and railway contractors. It was De Sola's connection to Belgium, which led him to be became the Belgian consul in Montreal in 1905.[1] Aside from his business ventures, De Sola was deeply involved in the Canadian Zionist cause. In 1898, he was elected the secretary of the newly established Agudath Zion of Montreal. The following year, in 1899, he was elected as president of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, and soon after became a major spokesperson for the Zionist cause in Canada.[2][3] Although Zionism was his main interest, De Sola additionally wrote articles for The Jewish Encyclopedia, and he was a member of the American Jewish Historical Society as well as the Montreal Board of Trade. He became ill while on a visit to Boston and died there in 1920. His daughter Esther de Sola, married Sir John Ellerman, 2nd Baronet.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "Biography – DE SOLA, CLARENCE ISAAC – Volume XIV (1911-1920) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ Phillips, N. Taylor (1922). "Clarence I. De Sola". Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society (28): 269–272. ISSN 0146-5511.
- ^ "Zionist Organization of Canada (ZOC) | Ontario Jewish Archives". ontariojewisharchives.org. Retrieved 2023-11-08.