Menahem Saleh Daniel

Menahem Saleh Daniel was an Iraqi Jewish businessman, landowner, philanthropist and politician who served as Senate in the Kingdom of Iraq and Deputy for Baghdad to the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies. He was born in 1846 in Baghdad, to a wealthy family of Georgian origin. He studied in the schools of Baghdad before moving to Europe to study science. He was elected on behalf of Baghdad as a representative in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies in 1877. He became famous in commercial and economic circles and was known for his commercial relations with the country’s notables. Daniel was appointed as a member of the first board of directors of the Baghdad Brigade, which was founded by the governor, Medhat Pasha. After the establishment of the monarchy in Iraq, he became a member of the Senate of Iraq in 1925, representing the Jewish community in Iraq. ¹ His son Ezra Saleh Daniel (1874-1952) succeeded him on the Senate. His father Saleh Daniel, was famous for his charitable projects and had a palace located in Al-Sinak area. Menahem Daniel was known as Man with the White Hand as he founded and built the first orphanage for Muslim orphans and spent on it from his own money to help Muslim orphans and those from different sects. He also donated to Jewish charities and built a Jewish primary school in 1910.