ALEXANDER, BERNARD

ALEXANDER, BERNARD (1872–1935), South African lawyer and communal worker. Born in the province of Poznan (Poland), Alexander went to South Africa as a child. In 1903 he helped to establish the Jewish Board of Deputies of the Transvaal and Natal; he was its president when, in 1912, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies was founded, with the Transvaal Board as one of its constituents. He became vice president and from 1916 to 1927 was president of the South African Board. Alexander took a leading part in congregational activities and Jewish institutions in Johannesburg. During his chairmanship of the Jewish War Victims' Fund (1915–25), it raised more than £500,000 for Jewish war relief. Alexander was a member of the Johannesburg City Council and served on civic and educational bodies. As solicitor to the Paramount Chief of Swaziland, he headed (1929) a mission to the British government on behalf of its people. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Saron and L. Hotz, Jews in South Africa (1955), index; The South African Jewish Year Book (1929), 295. (Louis Hotz)