Last modified on Tue 27 Apr 2021 13.02 EDT My grandfather Sidney Denbin, who has died aged 100, had a life that took him from “humble beginnings” (as he would say) to playing his cello in the world’s greatest concert halls with revered orchestras and renowned conductors. He knew London when travel was largely by horse and cart, and yet by the time he was 60 he had crossed the world on 747 jets. Born in Bow, east London, Sidney was the son of immigrant, Yiddish-speaking parents, Sarah (nee Freedman) and Morris Dembinsky. He survived TB at an early age and lived the typical Jewish immigrant experience; poor housing, communal bathing, discrimination – and a close-knit community.