DAVID SASSON MAUSOLEUM, 
Poona/Pune

Born in 1792 into a prominent Jewish family in Baghdad, David S. Sassoon became one of the foremost merchants of British India and a great philanthropist who contributed substantially to the cities of Bombay (Mumbai) and Pune.

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David settled in India in the 1832, which was ripe with opportunity for entrepreneurs. By the 1850s, David Sassoon had acquired vast real estate holdings in Bombay and Poona.

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Poona, was his summer home, where he financed many important institutions such as the David S. Sassoon Hospital, Infirmary, and nearby Leper Home. It was for the Jews of Poona that David Sassoon built the Ohel David (Tent of David) Synagogue in 1863. That structure became a Pune landmark with its tall steeple that long dominated the cityscape; it came to be known locally as the Lal Deval (Red Temple).

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David Sassoon passed away in his country house in Poona in 1864. His resting place is located within the Ohel David Synagogue compound.