๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ
A man who was once dubbed the bagel king of Leeds died on October 22 from heart failure, just two days short of his 103rd birthday.Eddie Malkinโs son Peter said: โHe was a very outgoing, strong character and very dynamic.
โEven when he was 100, he was still full of beans.โ
Eddie was born in Busfield Street in the Leylands area of Leeds on October 24, 1917.
His father, Moshe, originally lived near Mogilev in what is now Belarus, but fled conscription into the Russian army in 1905.
His mother, Rivka, made the same journey, but separately, to join her husband in Liverpool via Odessa, while pregnant, along with two daughters Marie and Sarah, Eddieโs older sisters.
Rivka brought with her all the making and baking skills necessary for living off the land, so when her husband was asked to come to Leeds as a religious teacher, she set up the first Malkinโs bakery.
Eddieโs other siblings were Jack, Michael, Henry, Rachel, Solomon and Wolfe. They later moved the bakery to Preston Place, off Roundhay Road, in 1933.
Eddie became interested in science and education after he saw the total eclipse of the sun in 1926.
But after serving in the army, he became passionate about the theatre and met his wife Esther Annenberg at Leeds Unity Theatre, which was established by Joan Littlewood, of Oh What a Lovely War fame.
Eddie directed many plays at Unity Theatre that are still recalled today โ King of the Schnorers (Israel Zangwill), Professor Mamlock (Friedrich Wolf), They Came to a City (JB Priestley), Meet Buster (Ted Willis) โ and he directed Clifford Odetโs play Awake and Sing for the Proscenium Players.
At one time he had an offer to become a theatre director in London, but he chose to stay in Leeds.
He formed the first Childrenโs Theatre in the city with Esther.
This became part of a social group with director and writer Alec Baron, who saw Unity Theatre close and encouraged many members to help him form the Proscenium Players in 1948.
After the Malkin family bakery was demolished by the local council and a brief spell at Rakusens in Leeds, Eddie revived Brayโs Bakery in Hunslet and rebuilt it in nearby Scott Hall Road.
By using computerised systems and rational flow design, he made Brayโs into a company with a multimillion pound turnover in little more than 10 years, prior to his retirement in the 1970s.
Eddie was a founder member of the New Rovers Cricket Club and was reputed to be the oldest golfer over 90 to have scored a hole in one on two consecutive days at the same hole.
Eddieโs younger son, Peter, a professor at Newcastle University, developed technology for hybrid-electric zero-carbon aircraft.
I remember as a child Malkins bakery. His bagels were the best. It a well known fact that Leeds bagels were the best in the country
I too remember Malkins bakery with fondness. There is a famous story that on a Friday morning when all the Challas were ready for the oven, he used to dip his beard into the beaten eggs and run down the line. The best tasting challas in England
My Dad remembers Malkins bakery, because he worked there with his dad and uncles.
I am Jim Malkin and my dad is Tony, son of Jack ๐
One of my earliest memories is of seeing Malkin’s hand pushed cart coming down our stret in Harehills, Leeds in the late 40s and 50s. I was born in 1943. I could not wait to buy some of his Bagels. They were the best I have ever tasted. The special thing about them was that they had a very tough exterior to the bite but were deliciously soft on the inside. I have searched and searched for similar ones today with no luck so I treasure the memories.
It was there also that I learned to love Matzos which I still eat most days even now.
I consider my life was enriched by living in a street which was nearly half Jewish. My next door neighbour, surnamed Brookes, was a baker I believe at Rakusons and used to go to work every evening and work overnight. Wonderful memories of those times.