| Celebration of Life Muriel, The Lady Kadoorie 1915 - 2011 |
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Muriel, The Lady Kadoorie, was a woman of great charm and devotion. Born Muriel Gubbay in Hong Kong in 1915 to the famous Gubbay family, she was the only daughter of David Sassoon Gubbay who was a distinguished Hebrew scholar and an authority on comparative religions.
Muriel met Lawrence Kadoorie through her grandmother who befriended Lawrence’s mother, Lady Laura Kadoorie when she first arrived in Hong Kong in the late 1800s. After an endearing courtship, Muriel and Lawrence married in November 1938. A short honeymoon was spent in Indo-China and the couple soon returned to build their family in Hong Kong. They had two children, Rita and Michael. When World War 11 broke out, Rita was 18 months old and Michael 6 months. The family was first interned in Stanley Internment Camp in Hong Kong, then Cha Pei Civilian Camp in Shanghai. The war years were hard, and Muriel had at heart her beloved children. She later reflected: “your first thought was to look after your babies, to do everything you possibly could and try and live as normally as possible.” Please login or register to see the full article
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A prominent member of the Jewish Community, David Gubbay led the Ohel Leah Synagogue’s voluntary choir and sang at the opening of the Synagogue in 1902. His love for music had a great influence on young Muriel who would become an accomplished pianist.