Born in Hamburg in 1846, Jaffe was a linen merchant and philanthropist who lived and traded in Belfast for over fifty years.

Jaffe was the city’s first and only Jewish Lord Mayor. His father, Daniel Joseph, settled in Belfast in 1851, after visiting the city on many occasions as a buyer of linen for the family company. Otto Jaffe entered the firm of Jaffe Brothers, based on Bedford Street, and gained a global reputation in the linen and yarn trade.

In 1892, Jaffe was elected a representative of St Anne’s Ward for the Belfast Corporation (now Belfast City Council), and later served as alderman for Windsor. In 1900, Jaffe was knighted and the following year was selected as High Sheriff.

Jaffe contributed generously to local charities and acted as life governor to many of Belfast’s hospitals. Both Jaffe and his wife, Lady Paula, had a particular interest in education and were pioneers of technical education and the advancement of primary education. Jaffe built a national school on Regent Street at his own expense and was a founder and major contributor to a fund for better equipment at the Queen’s College (now Queen’s University Belfast).

He was life president of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation and contributed the majority of the funds required to build a new synagogue at Annesley Street.

Sir Otto Jaffe died aged eighty-two at his residence in West London.