Sam Benady
Samuel G. Benady MBE[1] (Gibraltar, 11 September 1937) is a Gibraltarian historian, novelist and retired pediatrician of Sephardic Jewish descent. He is a regular contributor to the Gibraltar Heritage Trust's newsletter and lecturer in the Gibraltar Museum,[2][3] and author of several works related to the History of Gibraltar and also fiction works. According to the Gibraltar Chronicle, Benady is "Gibraltar’s well known and prolific author".[4]
Benady was born in Gibraltar, where his family has lived since the 18th century, and received his Medicine degree in London. He worked as a paediatrician in Bristol, Jerusalem and Gibraltar, where he ran the Child Health service. Benady worked for the Gibraltar Health Authority from 1980 until his retirement in 2002.[5] In 2007 he was awarded a MBE "for services to health care and voluntary work".[1]
Work
In 1990, Benady published the two short stories in Sherlock Holmes in Gibraltar.[6] The pastiches are set in the pre-Watson days. In the first one, The Abandoned Brigantine, Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery of the Mary Celeste while in the second, The Gibraltar Letter, the detective solves the case of the abduction of the Duke of Connaught, while he was posted to Gibraltar.[7] In 1992, after reading La compra de Gibraltar por los conversos andaluces, ("The purchase of Gibraltar by Andalusian conversos"), a monograph by Diego Lamelas about the story of the Cordova conversos who purchased Gibraltar in the 15th century, Benady translated and published it in English as The Sale of Gibraltar in 1474. Then, he approached the history of St. Bernard's Hospital, publishing Civil Hospital and Epidemics in Gibraltar. Diary of an Epidemic (coauthored with Prof. L A Sawchuk) was published in 2003. In 2005, Benady approached the biography genre publishing a work on Sir George Don, Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar from 1814 to 1831.[8][9]The Keys of the City: An Episode in the History of Gibraltar, also published in 2005, is a historical novel based in his former translation of Lamelas' work.[9] His last project is a detective mystery series set in early 19th century Gibraltar featuring the amateur detective Giovanni Bresciano and coauthored with Mary Chiappe.[4][10][11]
Publications
- Sherlock Holmes in Gibraltar (Gibraltar Books) 1990 ISBN 0-948466-15-4
- The Sale of Gibraltar in 1474: To the New Christians of Cordova, translation into English of La compra de Gibraltar por los conversos andaluces by Diego Lamelas (Gibraltar Books) 1992 ISBN 0-948466-20-0
- Civil Hospital and Epidemics in Gibraltar (Gibraltar Books) 1994 ISBN 0-948466-33-2
- Diary of an epidemic: yellow fever in Gibraltar, 1828 (co-author) (Gibraltar Government Heritage Division), 2003 ISBN 1-919658-04-1
- General Sir George Don and the Dawn of Gibraltarian Identity (Gibraltar Books) 2005
- The Keys of the City: An Episode in the History of Gibraltar (Gibraltar Books) 2005.
- The Murder in Whirligig Lane (co-author) (Calpe Press) 2010.[10]
- Fall of a Sparrow (co-author) (Calpe Press) In print.[12]
- The Pearls of Tangier (co-author) In Print.
See also
References
- ^ a b Queen's Birth Honours, Panorama, 16 June 2007.
- ^ Second in Museum 2006 lecture series, Government of Gibraltar, 14 February 2006 (requires subscription).
- ^ 2010 Lecture Series, Gibraltar Museum
- ^ a b Gib based Murder Mistery... introduces Bresciano, Gibraltar Chronicle, 9 August 2010
- ^ GHA press note
- ^ Watt, Peter Ridgeway; Green, Joseph (2003). The Alternative Sherlock Holmes: pastiches, parodies, and copies. Ashgate Publishing. p. 297. ISBN 0-7546-0882-4.
- ^ Other books by Sam Benady, Sam Benady's blog.
- ^ About the author, Sam Benady's blog.
- ^ a b Newsletter no 81, Friends of Gibraltar Heritage Society, October 2007, pp. 6
- ^ a b The Murder in Whirligig Lane's catalogue entry in Calpe Press
- ^ The Murder in Whirligig Lane, Sam Benady's blog.
- ^ Fall of a Sparrow, Sam Benady's blog.
External links
- The Keys of the City: Sam Benady's writing blog
- About Sam Benady in Calpe Press web site.
