David Saul Marshall (12 March 1908 – 12 December 1995), born David Saul Mashal, was a Singaporean lawyer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Singapore from 1955 until his resignation in 1956, after his delegation to London regarding the negotiation for complete home rule and eventual independence of Singapore failed. However, Marshall was instrumental in forging the idea as well as in subsequent negotiations that led to the eventual self-governance of Singapore from the United Kingdom. Marshall was a leftist nationalist who aspired self-determination of the former British Crown colony—having founded the Labour Front and the Workers' Party. Marshall would renounce partisan politics and become an independent politician from 1963 onward. Singapore would eventually gain its independence in 1965. In 1978, Marshall became a diplomat and was Singapore's Ambassador to various countries, including France, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. During this time, Marshall defended Singapore's interests abroad, despite his old political opponent and fellow barrister Lee Kuan Yew, under his People's Action Party, concurrently in government. Nevertheless, he publicly maintained constructive criticism of some domestic policies that he had disagreed with. Marshall retired in 1993, and died two years later of lung cancer in 1995, at the age of 87. Early life and education Marshall was born in Singapore on 12 March 1908, to Sephardi Jewish parents Saul Nassim Mashal and Flora Ezekiel Kahn, who had immigrated to Singapore from Baghdad, which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire, where they ran a business. His family name was originally Mashal, which was later anglicised as Marshall in 1920. He had at least six siblings. Marshall received a strict Orthodox Jewish upbringing. Marshall attended Saint Joseph's Institution, Saint Andrew's School and Raffles Institution before graduating from the University of London, where he read law. Legal career and war service Upon graduation, Marshall was called to the Bar from the Middle Temple in 1937 before returning to Singapore to commence a legal career. In 1938, following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Marshall volunteered for military service with a British reserve unit, the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force. He was assigned to "B" Company, 1st Battalion (1SSVF)—a company composed mostly of continental Europe expatriates. He was detained briefly by military police after objecting to the fact that he and other volunteers classified as "Asian" were paid at half the rate received by "European" members of the SSVF. In February 1942, he saw