Alexander Malcolm Jacob (1849 in Izmir, Turkey – 1921) was a diamond and gemstone trader in Simla, India.
The Pioneer found him 'endowed by nature with a wonderful handsome face and form' and there was about him a 'compelling magnetism, a power and mystery which led to his being sought for conversation and advice by Viceroy and princes'.
His last years were spent in a modest room at Watson's Annexe, a property facing the Bombay Yacht Club.
[2] He died in 1921 and his obituary notice in The Times of 21 January 1921 states Jacob "claimed to be a Turk ... born near Constantinople".
A biography by John Zubrzycki, The Mysterious Mr Jacob: diamond merchant, magician and spy [ISBN 9780995359437], was published in 2017.