Emanuel Raphael Belilios
| Emanuel Raphael Belilios CMG, JP | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong | |
| In office 8 August 1881 – 5 September 1882 | |
| Appointed by | Sir John Pope Hennessy |
| Preceded by | J. M. Price |
| Succeeded by | J. M. Price |
| In office 25 February 1892 – 5 April 1900 | |
| Appointed by | Sir William Robinson Sir Wilsone Black |
| Preceded by | Phineas Ryrie |
| Succeeded by | R. M. Gray |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 November 1837 Calcutta, British India |
| Died | 11 November 1905 (aged 67) London, United Kingdom |
Emanuel Raphael Belilios, CMG, JP (14 November 1837 – 11 November 1905) was a Hong Kong Jewish opium dealer and businessman.
Belilios was born in Calcutta, India, on 14 November 1837. His father was Raphael Emanuel Belilios, member of a Jewish Venetian family. Belilios married Simha Ezra in 1855, and in 1862 he settled in Hong Kong and engaged in trade.
In the 1870s, Belilios was chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited.[1]
He tried to establish relations with the then British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli by proposing a marble and bronze statue of Disraeli, in which the latter declined the offer.[2]
He became Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Chairman form 1876 to 1882, appointed to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1881 and as the Council's Senior Unofficial Member from 1892 to 1900.
Belilios gained his reputation as a philanthropist. In August 1889, Belilios donated $25,000 to set up a girls' government school. The Belilios Public School was renamed from Central School for Girls in honour of Belilios.[3]
Belilios died in London on 11 November 1905.
Family
His son, Raphael Emanuel Belilios (or "Billy"), was a barrister in England. He was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1900 and called to the Bar in 1903. He occupied chambers at Middle Temple from 1904 to 1922.
References
- ↑ "History 1871–1880", Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited
- ↑ McCabe, Ina Baghdiantz; Harlaftis, Gelina; Minoglou, Ioanna Pepelasis (2005). Diaspora Entrepreneurial Networks: Four Centuries of History. Berg. p. 260.
- ↑ Endacott, G. B. (1973). A History of Hong Kong. Oxford University Press. p. 238.