Born Dublin, March 19, 1935. Died Dublin, January 28, 2009, aged 73.
February 26, 2009 12:18Diplomat Raphael Siev served the Irish Republic in a legal capacity for more than 30 years and was instrumental in developing the Irish Jewish Museum.
Born to Edith née Aronovitch of Limerick and Albert Siev, formerly of Liverpool, he was educated at Zion Schools in Bloomfield Avenue and the High School, Dublin. He took a gap year at Gateshead Yeshivah before studying legal science, biblical Hebrew and Oriental studies at Trinity College, Dublin, and was called to the Bar in 1960.
In 1968 he became legal assistant in the Land Registry. Two years later he was appointed to one of three vacancies in the Department of Foreign Affairs and began work on the legal documents for Ireland’s membership of the Common Market, which was achieved in 1973.
In 1972 he was appointed to various legal committees as an Irish delegate to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
This resulted in his going to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, to Montreal for civil aviation law, to Vienna for diplomatic law, to Washington to negotiate diplomatic privilege, and to Brussels and Jamaica for meetings of the International Seabed Authority.
As deputy head of mission in the Irish Embassy in Copenhagen, he was accredited to Denmark, Norway and Iceland. At Strasbourg he represented Ireland before the Board of Human Rights and spoke from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly hall in New York.
In 1996, in his final appointment as deputy legal adviser to the Department for Foreign Affairs, he continued his active interest in the Irish Jewish Museum, where he had been honorary curator since its opening in 1985 by Israel’s sixth president, Irish-born Chaim Herzog. In retirement he became full-time curator, with ambitious plans for the museum’s expansion.
Raphael Siev was a scholar whose broad knowledge ranged across law, politics and Irish history to talmudic commentary.
He was a pillar of the Machzikei Hadath shul, often leading services, especially on High Holy Days. As a Cohen, he took great pride in giving the priestly blessing. He was also a former member of the Jewish Representative Council.
Two days before his sudden death, he gave a reading at the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration at the Mansion House, Dublin. He always regretted Ireland’s policy in the Second World War of not admitting Jewish refugees, both on humanitarian grounds and because of the missed opportunity to import “the best brains in Europe”.
He is survived by his brother, Stanley, and his family.