Samuel Alexander (6 January 1859 – 13 September 1938) was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college. Early life Alexander was born at 436 George Street, in what is now the commercial heart of Sydney, Australia. He was the third son of Samuel Alexander, a prosperous saddler, and Eliza née Sloman. Both parents were Jewish. His father died just before he was born, and Eliza moved to the adjacent colony of Victoria in 1863 or 1864. They went to live at St Kilda, and Alexander was placed at a private school kept by a Mr Atkinson. In 1871, he was sent to Wesley College, Melbourne, then under the headmastership of Martin Howy Irving, and was always grateful for the efficiency and comprehensiveness of his schooling. He matriculated at the University of Melbourne on 22 March 1875 to do arts. He was placed in the first class in both his first and second years, was awarded the classical and mathematical exhibitions (top of year) in his first year. In his second year, he won the exhibitions in Greek; Latin and English; mathematics and natural philosophy; and natural science. England In May 1877, Alexander left for England in an attempt to win a scholarship, arriving at the end of August. He was initially undecided whether to go to Oxford or Cambridge, but he chose Oxford and sat for a scholarship at Balliol College. Among the competition were George Curzon and J. W. Mackail. Though his tutor thought little of his chances, Alexander achieved second place after Mackail and gained a scholarship. At Oxford, he obtained a first class in classical and mathematical moderations, a rare achievement, and a first class in literae humaniores, his final examination for the degree of BA, in 1881. Two of his tutors were the philosopher T. H. Green and the Latinist Henry Nettleship, who exercised a great influence on his early work. Work and publications After taking his degree, Alexander was made a fellow of Lincoln College, where he remained as philosophy tutor from 1882 to 1893. It was during this period that he developed his interest in psychology, then a neglected subject. In 1887, he won the Green moral philosophy prize with an essay on the subject "In what direction does Moral Philosophy seem to you to admit or require advance?" This was the basis of his volume Moral