Katie Samuel: Shaw’s Flameless ‘Old Flame'

The London-born Katherine Samuel (1858-1930), known throughout her life as Katie, was the daughter of Reverend Isaac Samuel, the First Reader at Bayswater Synagogue in London. In 1887 she wed Rabbi (Aaron David) Meldola de Sola (1853-1918), then spiritual leader of Montreal's Shearith Israel Synagogue (the city's Spanish and Portuguese congregation) and the son of Rabbi Abraham de Sola. Prior to her marriage, Katie Samuel met and later corresponded with playwright George Bernard Shaw. Their letters are reprinted by the author in this article. In Montreal, Katie Samuel was President of the Montreal section of Canada's National Council of Jewish Women and Vice President/Treasurer of the Montreal branch of the National Council of Women in Canada. She was also a vice-president of a committee for a fund-raising fair for Notre Dame Hospital. The author describes her as: "Headstrong and strongwilled, she involved herself in politics, in social agitations, and as one of the first women to espouse the Zionist cause in a public address."

Shaw: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies

Vol. 15

3-19

1995

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