Fred Smollan

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Fred Smollan
BornFrederick Cecil Smollan
(1908-08-20)20 August 1908
Uitenhage, Cape Colony
Died8 February 1998(1998-02-08) (aged 89)
Johannesburg, South Africa
School Grey High School, Muir College
Occupationbusinessman
Rugby union career
Position Flanker
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1930–38 Wanderers RFC
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1929–30 Eastern Province
1930–39 Transvaal
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1933 South Africa 3 (0)
Official website
www.smollan.co.za

Frederick Cecil Smollan (20 August 1908 – 8 February 1998, Johannesburg) was a South Africa international rugby union player. [1]

Contents

Career history

Fred Smollan was born in Uitenhage, South Africa in 1908 to David Smollan and Mathilda Goldwater, the second of four brothers. [2] Educated at Muir College and later Grey High School, Smollan was only the second Jew to represent South Africa in rugby union, after Morris Zimerman. [3] Smollan played club rugby for Wanderers RFC, regional rugby for Eastern Province and Transvaal and played three times for South Africa in 1933. [1] [4]

His three internationals were all against Australia on the team's 1933 tour of South Africa. Although he would receive no further caps, he faced international opponents again, facing the 1938 British Lions as part of the Transvaal team. Transvaal defeated the Lions 16–9, with Smollan scoring one of the tries. [5]

In 1931 he set up a business Smollan Holdings, initially as a sales agency. With the outbreak of World War II he served in North Africa. He married Molly Amelia Raphaely in Johannesburg in 1943 and after the war returned to run his business which he built into a public company. [6] Smollan and Molly had two children, Doug (b. 1945) and Katherine (b. 1948). [7] Smollan Holdings expanded to become the Smollan Group, a multinational company which now employs 34,000 people and outsources marketing services across the world. [8] Smollan remained as its chairman until shortly before his death. [7]

Honours

In 2024, at the South African Jewish Board of Deputies' 120th anniversary gala dinner, he was honoured among 100 remarkable Jewish South Africans who have contributed to South Africa. [9] The ceremony included speeches from Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, and Smollan was honoured among other rugby union players such as Joel Stransky, Cecil Moss and Alan Menter. [9] [10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Fred Smollan: Profile". ESPNscrum. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  2. ↑ Wiseman, Donald. "Kehilat Middlesbrough Newsletter and Archives". kmbro.org. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Shneider, Moria (10 July 2009). "Jewish rugby players of yore reminisce about 'The Game'" (PDF). South African Jewish Report. p. 14. Retrieved 8 August 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Brief History of Wanderers Rugby Football Club" (PDF). thewanderersclub.co.za. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Transvaal 16 v 9 British & Irish Lions". lionsrugby.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "A Global Fieldmarketing Leader – Smollan". Archived from the original on 15 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  7. 1 2 Wiseman, Donald. "Kehilat Middlesbrough Newsletter and Archives". kmbro.org. Retrieved 8 August 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ "Smollan Group "About Us"". smollan.co.za. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  9. 1 2 (28 November 2024) 100 Jews who have contributed to South Africa SABJD. Retrieved on 1 February 2026.
  10. ↑ Story of tenacity: Board honours great South Africans South African Jewish Report. Retrieved on 1 February 2026.
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