Adolphe Abrahams

Abrahams was born in Cape Town on 6 February 1883, as the son of Isaac and Esther Abrahams.^[1] He was educated at Bedford Modern School between 1891 and 1899,^[1][3][4][5] at Bedford School, and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.^[1][6][4][7]

Abrahams is considered the founder of British sports science.^[2] He was the medical officer in charge of the British Olympic teams from 1912 until 1948.^[1] He was also the President of the British Association of Sports and Medicine, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.^[8]

Abrahams was knighted in 1939.^[1]

Abrahams married Adrienne Walsh in 1922; they had a son and a daughter.^[1] He was the elder brother of the athletes Harold Abrahams CBE and Sir Sidney Abrahams KC. He died on 11 December 1967.^[1]

In the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, about his brother Harold Abrahams played by Ben Cross, Harold shows his friend a picture of his brother, a doctor, who was Adolphe Abrahams.