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Morris Alexander

Morris Alexander (1877 - 1946) was a lawyer and Cape parliamentarian. Alexander came from a German-Jewish family and studied at St. John’s College, Cambridge. He settled in Cape Town and founded the Jewish Board of Deputies for the Cape Colony in 1904, and in June 1907 he married Ruth Schechter, daughter of the Hebraist scholar Solomon Schechter. They had a son and two daughters but divorced in 1935. He remarried that same year to Enid Asenath Baumberg of Sydney. Alexander was a member of the Cape Parliament from 1908 until 1910, and the Union Parliament from 1910 until 1946. He was known as a Jewish community leader and campaigner for deprived groups of all races, although in time he became a follower of Jan Smuts and in 1931 he joined the South African Party. He was instrumental in lobbying for the recognition of Yiddish as a European language in 1906, which prevented South African authorities from stopping Jewish immigration to South Africa. Alexander was “an inveterate letter-writer, fifty letters a day being his minimum quota; the number sometimes swelled to one hundred letters, all written by hand” (Alexander 1968: 11).

For further information see:
Enid Alexander (1953) Morris Alexander: A Biography Cape Town: Juta
Israel Abrahams (1968) ‘Alexander, Morris’ in (ed) W.J. de Kock Dictionary of South African Biography  Vol I Pretoria: National Council for Social Research, pp. 10 - 11

 Recipient Of
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 Mentioned In

 British Library, London: The British Library, London, is one of the world leading locations for archival papers across many periods of time, countries... Show/Hide Collection Letters

 Mary Gladstone (Mrs Drew) Add. 46244, ff.177-179:De Aar, April 4th 1911, Dear Mrs Drew, I have just learnt from my niece Lyndall Schreiner that you were in South Africa. I sh...

 National English Literary Museum, Grahamstown: The National English Literary Museum is the leading location for collections pertaining to the imaginative and creative writi... Show/Hide Collection Letters

 Olive Schreiner: Mimmie Murray 2001.24/40:De Aar, July 23rd 1911, Dear Mrs Murray, I am sending you Ruth Alexander's speech at Kimberley. Please when you've read it se...

 National Library of South Africa, Cape Town: Special Collections at the NLSA provide one of the leading locations for archival papers across many periods, organisations a... Show/Hide Collection Letters

 Olive Schreiner: Jessie Rose Innes MSC 26/2.6.6:Rocklands, (Private Hotel), Sea Point, Jan 26th 1910, Dear Jessie, I've found such delightful quarters. On Sunday I was very ...

 University of Cape Town, Historical Manuscripts: Manuscripts & Archives at the University of Cape Town is a leading location for accessing archival papers across many per... Show/Hide Collection Letters

 Olive Schreiner BC16/Box4/Fold1/1908/55:Dear Lucy, Thank you so much. I shall like to come, the 30th will be the best because Anna Purcell & Mrs Brown & Mrs ...

 Olive Schreiner BC16/Box5/Fold1/1912/29:De Aar, June 20th 1912, Dear Bettie & Alice, I wish so much you would go to see my friend Mrs Alexander. She she is at Ki...

 Olive Schreiner BC16/Box6/Fold1/July-Dec1915/1:Telephone: 3675 Kensington., Telegrams: Apartment, London., Kensington Palace Mansions & Hotel, De Vere Gardens, W., Mond...

 Olive Schreiner BC16/Box7/Fold4/Mar-Dec1920/25:Birzana, Plumstead, Oct 2nd 1920, Darling Betty, I wonder how the world is going with you & if you have gone to France wi...

 Olive Schreiner BC16/Box7/Fold4/Mar-Dec1920/44:My darling darling Betty, I do so hope there will be a letter from you tomorrow. Sometime I feels it will be the last I shall...