Saul Solomon

Who is Saul Solomon?

Saul Solomon was born on Saint Helena into a merchant family and went on to become one of the most influential printers, newspaper proprietors, and liberal politicians in 19th-century Cape Colony (present-day South Africa). Moving to Cape Town as a young man, he built Saul Solomon & Co. into the colony's dominant printing and publishing house, and acquired the Cape Argus newspaper, using it to campaign for liberal, non-racial political principles at a time when such views were unusual among colonial elites. Despite being of very short stature due to a childhood illness, he became a formidable orator and was elected repeatedly to the Cape Parliament, where he served for over two decades and was widely regarded as the effective leader of the colony's liberal faction, advocating for a qualified, non-racial franchise. He twice declined the post of Prime Minister of the Cape Colony despite being the obvious candidate, preferring to exercise influence from the backbenches. His legacy is remembered in South Africa as an early and persistent voice for civil rights within the colonial political system.

Sources: Mona Meyer, Saul Solomon: The Member for Cape Town (1997) · Dictionary of South African Biography, vol. II