Ezra Dangoor


Ezra Reuben Dangoor was the Chief Rabbi of Baghdad from 1923 to 1926, and the founder of the first publishing company in Baghdad.

Early life

Ezra Sasson ben Reuven Dangoor was born in 1848 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was educated in Baghdad, where he studied under Rabbi Abdallah Somekh.

Career

Dangoor worked as a ritual slaughterer and ritual circumciser, before from 1880 to 1886 working as the scribe in charge of writing documents issued by the Baghdad's Bet Din.
Dangoor was the Chief Rabbi of Rangoon, Burma from 1893 or 1894, but had to return to Baghdad in 1895 due to ill health.
In 1904, Dangoor opened the first printing press in Baghdad, which printed Arabic textbooks as well as books in Hebrew. Dangoor was the author of several books and commentaries on the Torah.
From 1923 to 1926, Dangoor was Chief Rabbi of Baghdad.

Personal life

Dangoor had five children: Sion, Abdulla Joseph, Farha, Eliahou and Moshe.

Death and legacy

Dangoor died in 1930. He was the grandfather of Sir Naim Eliahou Dangoor and the great-grandfather of the philanthropist David Dangoor.