Teddy Smouha

Edward Ralph "Teddy" Smouha, OBE (December 17, 1908 – April 1, 1992) was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres.

Edward Smouha was one of the seven children of Rosa Ades and Joseph Smouha, an Iraqi Jew who emigrated to Manchester, England, and later drained swampland outside Alexandria, Egypt to create a new suburb - Smouha City.

He competed for Great Britain in the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam, Netherlands in the 4 x 100 metre relay where he won the bronze medal with his team mates Cyril Gill, Walter Rangeley and Jack London.

He studied at Cambridge University from 1926 to 1929, and later served as Wing Commander in the British Royal Air Force in 216 Group in the 1940s.

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1970s.

In numerous media sources, he has been attributed the name Ellis, causing confusion. Ellis Smouha was in fact his older brother.

The athletics gene was a dominant one in Smouha's family. His son Brian sprinted for Great Britain in the early 1960s, and his grandson James Espir competed for Britain in middle distance events in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With a time of 3 minutes 56.7 seconds, Espir is reckoned to be the fastest Jewish miler of all time.