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Shlomo MoussaieffIsraeli multimillionaire with Bukharan Jewish roots
Country:
 Israel |
Content:
- Founder of 'Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd'
- Early Life and Family
- Early Struggles
- Discovery of Ancient Coins and Run-in with Authorities
- Imprisonment and Education
- Joining the Armed Forces
- Post-War Pursuits
- Jordanian Imprisonment
- Smuggling and Antique Dealing
- Theft Allegations
- Move to London and Business Success
- Celebrity Clientele
- Retirement and Legacy
- Allegations of Forgery
- Legal Battle with Iraq
- Family and Personal Life
- Shlomo Moussaieff died on July 1, 2015, at the age of ninety-one.
Founder of 'Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd'
Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd was founded by Shlomo Moussaieff, an Israeli multi-millionaire with Bukharan Jewish ancestry. In the Sunday Times Rich List of 2011, he and his wife ranked 315th with a fortune of £220 million ($352.6 million).
Early Life and Family
Shlomo Moussaieff was born in 1925, the second of twelve children of Rehavia Moussaieff, a jewelry merchant. He was named after his grandfather, a wealthy Bukharan businessman. Rehavia, who later became a dealer in precious stones in Paris, first introduced his son to the jewelry trade. Shlomo's younger brother Alon also became a jewelry dealer in Jerusalem, while some of Shlomo and Alon's sisters managed a chain of jewelry stores.
Early Struggles
A stern disciplinarian, Rehavia threw 12-year-old Shlomo out of the house because he refused to apply himself to his father's trade. Shlomo, who claimed he suffered from dyslexia and could not read, found shelter in a synagogue, buses, and even slept in the streets. He briefly worked as a carpenter.
Discovery of Ancient Coins and Run-in with Authorities
One day, Moussaieff wandered around an ancient Second Temple-era tomb in a park for hours. Inside the cave, then open to visitors, he found ancient coins which he managed to sell. He also broke open lead coffins and sold the lead in the Armenian Quarter. Moussaieff was later caught and beaten by Arab policemen.
Imprisonment and Education
Taken before an Arab judge, the tomb robber was sentenced to nine months in a reformatory in Tulkarm. Moussaieff asked to be allowed to study at the Medreseh. There, he effortlessly memorized the Quran and immersed himself in Arab culture.
Joining the Armed Forces
In 1940, Shlomo joined the underground Etzel (Irgun) movement, which opposed British rule in Palestine. Heeding the call of the Irgun's leader, Moussaieff enlisted in the British Army at the age of 17 to fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
Post-War Pursuits
While stationed in the Egyptian desert and Livorno, Italy, the future multi-millionaire used his spare time to search for genizahs (hiding places), buying up old Kabbalah manuscripts and marriage contracts written by renowned rabbis. In 1947, he returned to the Etzel to fight the Arab Legion in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Jordanian Imprisonment
When Jerusalem was occupied by the Jordanians in 1948, Shlomo was taken prisoner and spent a year in a prison in Transjordan. Just two weeks before his capture, Moussaieff had married Austria-born Alice.
Smuggling and Antique Dealing
Upon his release, he worked in his family's jewelry shop. In time, he opened his own antique shop in downtown Jerusalem. During the 1950s, Moussaieff illegally smuggled "gold and antiquities from Jordan into Israel." In this endeavor, he established connections with Moshe Dayan, another smuggler who provided trucks for the transportation of the contraband.
Theft Allegations
In 1954, Shlomo was arrested on suspicion of stealing a thousand coins and other antiquities from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Moussaieff claimed that he had "paid full value" for them, but refused to name the seller. He was eventually released after his wife returned the items to the Jerusalem police.
Move to London and Business Success
Moussaieff moved to London in 1963. His jewelry sales flourished in 1967, as wealthy Arabs from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf began to shop in London. Shlomo and Alice worked as partners. In addition to diamonds, colored gemstones, and natural pearls, Moussaieff used other precious objects he had acquired at auction to create one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. His wife, meanwhile, handled the sales. Today, Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd has two stores in London and a workshop in the Hotel Kempinski Geneve in Switzerland.
Celebrity Clientele
Moussaieff's clients included heads of state such as Imelda Marcos, Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, and Princess Shams Pahlavi, and celebrities including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Cummings, and Frank Sinatra. During the 1990s, Moussaieff developed a successful business with wealthy Israelis.
Retirement and Legacy
Shlomo retired from the business in 2004, but his wife continued to oversee sales, manufacturing, and the company's growth and expansion.
Moussaieff was said to have owned one of the world's finest private collections of antiquities related to the Bible and the ancient Near East, numbering some 6,000 artifacts. He was known to pay top dollar for antiquities that supported the historical authenticity of the Bible, leading experts to speculate that forgeries may have found their way into the collection.
Allegations of Forgery
In 2004, Shlomo was involved in a legal case as a victim in a forgery trial involving the "James Ossuary" and the "Jehoash Inscription." Moussaieff had purchased two ostraca (inscribed shards) from Oded Golan, who was among the defendants in the trial. These purchases were also deemed to be forgeries. In March 2012, the defendants in the forgery trial were acquitted.
Legal Battle with Iraq
The Republic of Iraq accused Moussaieff of looting artifacts from ancient Nineveh after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The legal battle dragged on for seven years. The defendant maintained that he had purchased the antiquities legally from a Swiss dealer. Eventually, Shlomo returned the antiquities to the Iraqi government to avoid further publicity.
Family and Personal Life
Shlomo and Alice had three daughters: Dorrit, Tamar, and Sharon. The second daughter, Tamar, works in the family business. Dorrit is the First Lady of Iceland, married to Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
