Edward Isaac Ezra
Encyclopedia
Edward Isaac Ezra was a wealthy Jewish businessman, who was the first Chinese-born member of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and who was at one time "one of the wealthiest foreigners in Shanghai". According to one report, Ezra amassed a vast fortune estimated at from twenty to thirty million dollars primarily through the importation of opium, and successful real estate
investment and management in early twentieth century Shanghai. Ezra was the largest stockholder and the managing director of Shanghai Hotels Ltd., and its major financier
, and controlled such hotels as the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai
.
) on the southern corner of Nanjing Road
and the Bund
. From 1900 Ezra had diversified his economic activities, adding large-scale real estate
investment
s, construction, and management. Ezra was considered one of Shanghai's major landowners. Ezra "erected - on the land bounded by Nanking, Kiujiang, Szechwan and Kiangse Roads - 1,000,000 tael
s worth of residences that enjoyed modern amenities. The family interests included hotels," including the Astor House Hotel
. By 1915 Ezra had generated enough wealth to be able to sell a choice property in the most desirable part of the Hongkou District
on the northern bank of the Suzhou Creek
directly across Huangpu Road from the Astor House Hotel, to the United States for their consulate. By 1920 the Astor House Hotel was making a handsome profit under his leadership.
Ezra was the managing director of Shanghai Hotels Limited from 1907, chairman of the Far Eastern Insurance Company, chairman of the Shanghai Gas Company, chairman of the China Motors Ltd. Additionally, he held large proprietary interests in, and was president and chairman of, the China Press and the Evening Star newspapers.
In 1913 Ezra was elected the first president of the Shanghai Opium Combine. At the same time Ezra was leading the legal cartel
, he was also organising an illegal underground opium smuggling and distribution network, involving his younger brothers, twins Isaac Isaac Ezra and Judah Isaac Ezra, and some Chinese associates. When it was exposed, Ezra was granted immunity from prosecution by testifying against Paul Yip, his Chinese partner, who received an 18-month prison sentence.
In 1917 Ezra purchased The China Press newspaper from its founder, American journalist Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard
.
by marriage, and his immense wealth allowed him both social standing and political position. His own home on Joffre Road (now Huaihai Lu) in the French concession was an indicator of his wealth. According to Paul French, "Ezra was extremely rich and lived in considerable style in the Ezra mansion" with "Louis XV furniture throughout, a ballroom for 150 dancers, a music room to seat an audience of 80 in comfort, and elegantly designed French windows
giving out on to 25 acre (10 ha) of gardens."
In 1900, Ezra also helped organise and fund the Society for the Rescue of the Chinese Jews, which aimed at restoring Kaifeng Jews
to orthodox Judaism
. Ezra was the president of the Shanghai Zionist Association from its founding in 1903. Ezra was the vice-president of the Jewish Communal organisation of China, and vice-president of the Synagogue
.
Ezra was an active member and past Master of the Lodge Saltoun, and attained the highest degrees in freemasonry
. Ezra was a member of the Shanghai Club; the Shanghai Race Club; the Masonic Club; and the Cercle Sportif Francais.
From 1912 to 1918, Ezra was one of the nine-member Shanghai Municipal Council that administered the International Settlement. Despite an obvious conflict of interest in relation to his opium business, Ezra refused to resign from the Council. In 1919 Ezra resigned from public life because of a gambling scandal involving his brother, Judah, who had paid the favourite team to lose in a baseball tournament in 1918.
after a service conducted by Rabbi Hirsch.
Ezra's premature death accelerated the decline of the family's prestige and wealth. According to Douglas Valentine, "Left to their own devices, the degenerate Ezra brothers squandered the family fortune and by the mid-1920s had decided to trafficking in illicit drugs." After 1925 Judah and Isaac both moved to San Francisco, where they were among the very first to import narcotics from Asia to the United States. The Ezra brothers formed a connection with Italian Mafiosi Antone "Black Tony" Parmiagni, Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello
, Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky
, and with Ye Ching Ho (Pinyin: Ye Qinghe), also known as Paul Yip (or Paul Yi), an agent of Chiang Kai-Shek
's Kuomintang
and with the approval of Chiang's Nationalist government, "which relied on opium profits for its survival". In May 1933 the Ezra brothers were arrested in California for distributing narcotics on the West Coast of the United States. Despite their guilty pleas and co-operation with authorities in testifying against their confederates, they were fined $12,000 each and were imprisoned for twelve years, thus "bringing their family's fortunes to an abrupt and dramatic conclusion." After their release from prison, the Ezra brothers were deported.
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
investment and management in early twentieth century Shanghai. Ezra was the largest stockholder and the managing director of Shanghai Hotels Ltd., and its major financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, and controlled such hotels as the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai
Astor House, Shanghai
The Astor House Hotel , known as the Pujiang Hotel in Chinese since 1959, which has been described as once "one of the famous hotels of the world", "the pride of Shanghai", "a landmark of modern Shanghai", and perhaps hyperbolically as "once the most luxurious hotel in the world", was the first...
.
Family background
Edward Isaac Ezra was born in Shanghai, China on 3 January 1882, the oldest of the nine children of Isaac "Ned" Ezra (died 1892), one of the first Jewish merchants in Shanghai (and had Ezra Road named after him) and his wife, Flora Abraham (died 1899). He was the older brother of Rachel Ezra Levy (born 1884 in Shanghai; married Nissim Simon Levy; died 2 January 1968 in Hong Kong); Ellis Isaac Ezra (born ca. 1885); and twins Isaac Isaac Ezra (born 8 February 1892) and Judah Isaac Ezra (born 8 February 1892); and four other sisters. In 1907 Ezra married Mozelle Robinson Sopher (born 1890 in Shanghai; died August 1979 in Hong Kong), and they had two children, Cecil (born 1908) and Denzil (born 1914).Business activities
In 1896 The Central Stores Company, which was largely financed by Ezra, took over the Central Hotel (later the Peace HotelPeace Hotel
The Peace Hotel is a hotel on The Bund in Shanghai, China which overlooks the Huangpu River. The hotel today operates as two separate businesses. The North Building, built as Sassoon House, originally housed the Cathay Hotel and is today the Fairmont Peace Hotel run by Fairmont Hotel and Resorts...
) on the southern corner of Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road is the name of more than one road:* Nanjing Road * Nanjing Road * Nanjing Road...
and the Bund
The Bund
The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District...
. From 1900 Ezra had diversified his economic activities, adding large-scale real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
s, construction, and management. Ezra was considered one of Shanghai's major landowners. Ezra "erected - on the land bounded by Nanking, Kiujiang, Szechwan and Kiangse Roads - 1,000,000 tael
Tael
Tael can refer to any one of several weight measures of the Far East. Most commonly, it refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency....
s worth of residences that enjoyed modern amenities. The family interests included hotels," including the Astor House Hotel
Astor House, Shanghai
The Astor House Hotel , known as the Pujiang Hotel in Chinese since 1959, which has been described as once "one of the famous hotels of the world", "the pride of Shanghai", "a landmark of modern Shanghai", and perhaps hyperbolically as "once the most luxurious hotel in the world", was the first...
. By 1915 Ezra had generated enough wealth to be able to sell a choice property in the most desirable part of the Hongkou District
Hongkou District
Hongkou District is a northern district of Shanghai proper, People's Republic of China. It has a land area of and population of 799,700 as of 2001.It is the location of the Astor House Hotel, Broadway Mansions, Lu Xun Park and the Lu Xun memorial....
on the northern bank of the Suzhou Creek
Suzhou Creek
Suzhou Creek is a river in China that passes through the Shanghai city centre. It is named after Suzhou, a city in neighbouring Jiangsu province which was the predominant city in this area prior to the rise of Shanghai as a metropolis.One of the principal outlets of Lake Tai, Suzhou Creek has a...
directly across Huangpu Road from the Astor House Hotel, to the United States for their consulate. By 1920 the Astor House Hotel was making a handsome profit under his leadership.
Ezra was the managing director of Shanghai Hotels Limited from 1907, chairman of the Far Eastern Insurance Company, chairman of the Shanghai Gas Company, chairman of the China Motors Ltd. Additionally, he held large proprietary interests in, and was president and chairman of, the China Press and the Evening Star newspapers.
In 1913 Ezra was elected the first president of the Shanghai Opium Combine. At the same time Ezra was leading the legal cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
, he was also organising an illegal underground opium smuggling and distribution network, involving his younger brothers, twins Isaac Isaac Ezra and Judah Isaac Ezra, and some Chinese associates. When it was exposed, Ezra was granted immunity from prosecution by testifying against Paul Yip, his Chinese partner, who received an 18-month prison sentence.
In 1917 Ezra purchased The China Press newspaper from its founder, American journalist Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard
Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard
Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard was an American journalist, newspaper editor, founder of the China Weekly Review, author of seven influential books on the Far East and first American political adviser to the Chinese Republic, serving for over fifteen years...
.
Social activities
Ezra's relationship to the Sassoon familySassoon family
The Sassoon family was an Indian family of Iraqi Jewish descent and international renown, based in Bombay, India. It was descended from the famous Ibn Shoshans, one of the richest families of medieval Spain...
by marriage, and his immense wealth allowed him both social standing and political position. His own home on Joffre Road (now Huaihai Lu) in the French concession was an indicator of his wealth. According to Paul French, "Ezra was extremely rich and lived in considerable style in the Ezra mansion" with "Louis XV furniture throughout, a ballroom for 150 dancers, a music room to seat an audience of 80 in comfort, and elegantly designed French windows
French Windows
-Personnel:*Sonny Condell – guitar, vocals*Neil MacColl – electric & acoustic guitars*Simon Edwards – bass*Graham Henderson – synthesizer, organ, accordion, mandola, backing vocals*Roy Dodds – drums & percussion*Helen Boulding – backing vocalsProduction...
giving out on to 25 acre (10 ha) of gardens."
In 1900, Ezra also helped organise and fund the Society for the Rescue of the Chinese Jews, which aimed at restoring Kaifeng Jews
Kaifeng Jews
The Kaifeng Jews are members of a small Jewish community that has existed in Kaifeng, in the Henan province of China, for hundreds of years. Jews in modern China have traditionally called themselves Youtai in Mandarin Chinese which is also the predominant contemporary Chinese language term for...
to orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
. Ezra was the president of the Shanghai Zionist Association from its founding in 1903. Ezra was the vice-president of the Jewish Communal organisation of China, and vice-president of the Synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
.
Ezra was an active member and past Master of the Lodge Saltoun, and attained the highest degrees in freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
. Ezra was a member of the Shanghai Club; the Shanghai Race Club; the Masonic Club; and the Cercle Sportif Francais.
From 1912 to 1918, Ezra was one of the nine-member Shanghai Municipal Council that administered the International Settlement. Despite an obvious conflict of interest in relation to his opium business, Ezra refused to resign from the Council. In 1919 Ezra resigned from public life because of a gambling scandal involving his brother, Judah, who had paid the favourite team to lose in a baseball tournament in 1918.
Death
Ezra died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the Shanghai Nursing Home after collapsing in his office at Kiukiang Road about noon on Thursday, 15 December 1921, aged only 39, in abject poverty and isolation, abandoned by his former colleagues. Ezra was buried at the Baikal Road Jewish Cemetery in the Yangpu DistrictYangpu District
Yangpu District , meaning "Poplar Bank", is one of the 19 districts in Shanghai. It is located in the northeast of Shanghai, bordering the Huangpu River on the east and south, Hongkou District on the west and Baoshan District in the north. The southern part of Yangpu District is only away from the...
after a service conducted by Rabbi Hirsch.
Ezra's premature death accelerated the decline of the family's prestige and wealth. According to Douglas Valentine, "Left to their own devices, the degenerate Ezra brothers squandered the family fortune and by the mid-1920s had decided to trafficking in illicit drugs." After 1925 Judah and Isaac both moved to San Francisco, where they were among the very first to import narcotics from Asia to the United States. The Ezra brothers formed a connection with Italian Mafiosi Antone "Black Tony" Parmiagni, Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
, Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
, and with Ye Ching Ho (Pinyin: Ye Qinghe), also known as Paul Yip (or Paul Yi), an agent of Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
and with the approval of Chiang's Nationalist government, "which relied on opium profits for its survival". In May 1933 the Ezra brothers were arrested in California for distributing narcotics on the West Coast of the United States. Despite their guilty pleas and co-operation with authorities in testifying against their confederates, they were fined $12,000 each and were imprisoned for twelve years, thus "bringing their family's fortunes to an abrupt and dramatic conclusion." After their release from prison, the Ezra brothers were deported.