Harry Frederick Oppenheimer

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Harry Oppenheimer (left) in Amsterdam, 1945

Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (born October 28, 1908 in Kimberley , † August 19, 2000 in Johannesburg ) was a South African businessman and one of the wealthiest people in the world.

Life

Oppenheimer is the son of mining magnate Ernest Oppenheimer , who originally came from Germany and settled with his family in the South African Kimberley. The city was then the center of diamond mining. He lived in Johannesburg for most of his life. After Oppenheimer graduated from elementary school in Johannesburg, he went to England and attended Charterhouse School before enrolling as a student at Christ Church in Oxford . He graduated from Oxford University in 1931 in philosophy , politics and economics . When he married his wife Bridget McCall, he decided to join the Anglican Church .

He later organized deliveries of diamonds to Israel , thus helping the diamond factories there. Oppenheimer was very involved in the diamond trade and had ventures around the world through his Diamond Trading Company and Diamond Producers Association.

In 1993 he founded the “Oppenheimer Fund” at Oxford University . This fund promotes the link between the universities of Oxford and South Africa. It enables student exchanges between these two universities.

Harry Oppenheimer was chairman of the Anglo American mining company for over a quarter of a century until 1982 . He also served as chairman of De Beers Consolidated Mines for 27 years until he retired in 1984. His son, Nicky Oppenheimer , became vice chairman of Anglo American in 1983 and became chairman of De Beers in 1998.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he financed the liberal, against the apartheid standing Progressive Federal Party , which in the Democratic Alliance came up. Oppenheimer later became a confidante of Nelson Mandela .

Diamond Museum

Diamond Museum in Ramat Gan

In Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv there is the Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Museum, a museum about the history and processing of diamonds in Israel, as well as a small exhibition of jewelry.

Honors

  • In 1999 Oppenheimer received the Gold Order for Meritorious Service .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harry F. Oppenheimer in the Munzinger archive , accessed on November 20, 2000 ( beginning of article freely accessible)
  2. ↑ Oppenheimer Fund scholarships , University of Oxford's (English)
  3. ↑ מוזיאון היהלומים על שם הארי אופנהיימר רמת גן. In: http://www.diamond-museum.co.il . Retrieved November 23, 2017 (Hebrew).
  4. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 1999 (English), accessed on August 25, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Oppenheimer, Harry Frederick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African businessman
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Kimberley (South Africa)
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 2000
Place of death Johannesburg