Elias Fürst (Latvia 1873 – Edinburgh 1949) (pictured lower left) was appointed, at the young age of thirty-nine, as
Chairman of Hearts Football Club. He was the first Hearts official to be elected as Chairman of the Scottish Football League.
Elias’ passion for football began when his father Rev. Jacob Fürst, Rabbi to the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, took him to matches on Shabbat (the Sabbath), a sign that Jacob Fürst was keen to ensure his children were accepted into Edinburgh life. By the time Hearts won the Scottish Cup in 1906, Elias was held in sufficient regard by the club to be allowed to display the trophy in the window of his jewellers’ shop at 45 South Bridge. For all his success, it was apparent that Fürst never managed to shed his outsider status.
Courtesy of Heart of Midlothian FC Archive
Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network 