Vaiben Solomon

Vaiben Louis Solomon (13 May 1853 – 20 October 1908) was a Premier of South Australia and a member of the first Australian commonwealth parliament.

Born in Adelaide, South Australia to Judah Moss Solomon, a member of the South Australian Legislative Council and Lord Mayor of Adelaide from 1869 – 70, Solomon was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne before moving to the Northern Territory in 1873. There he became editor of the Northern Territory Times as wells as holding successful mining and mercantile holdings. He mixed these interests in his 1894 book Guide to Western Australia and its goldfields.

Solomon was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly in 1890 as a member for the Northern Territory (then still a part of South Australia). He served as Government Whip before becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1899 when he had the Charles Kingston government dissolve over Kingston’s proposal to extend suffrage to all householders and their wives. Solomon then became Premier and Treasurer of South Australia for one week; 1 December – 8 December 1899 before further machinations led to new Opposition Leader Frederick Holder gaining the Premiership.

Solomon was a member of the Australian Federation Convention in 1897 and the Convention that framed the Commonwealth Constitution in 1897 – 98 before his election to the inaugural Australian federal parliament in 1901 as a Free Trade Member for South Australia. Solomon unsuccessfully stood for the Division of Boothby in 1903 before returning to the South Australian House of Assembly in 1905.

Twice married, Solomon holds the dual distinctions of being South Australia’s sole Jewish and shortest serving Premier.