Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t14.2

v1.c5.s3.t14.2

Elly Kadoorie came out to Hong Kong at the age of 15. He initially worked for the immensely successful fellow Jewish business family, the Sassoons, and served in Shanghai, Tianjin, Ningbo and other treaty ports. Although he prospered in the service of the Sassoons, he decided to set up on his own, borrowing some money from his brother Ellis who joined him in Hong Kong in 1883. He set up the brokerage firm of Benjamin, Kelly and Potts in Hong Kong. The brothers also developed their business interests in Shanghai. During the period of World War I, they acquired stakes in the China Light Company in Hong Kong and in Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels. In Shanghai, Elly Kadoorie’s residence was the fabulous Marble Hall which he built on what is today’s Yan’an Xi Lu. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and China, Elly Kadoorie was interned first in Hong Kong and then in Shanghai. He died in Shanghai in 1944 just after being released from the Zhabei internment camp on medical grounds.