John Tusa

Tusa, 2010.

Sir John Tusa (born March 2, 1936 ) is a British radio and television journalist and art manager . From 1980 to 1986 he was one of the main hosts on BBC Two's Newsnight program . From 1995 to 2007 he was Managing Director of the Barbican Arts Center in the City of London and from 1986 to 1993 of the BBC World Service .

life and career

Tusa was born in March 1936 in what was then Czechoslovakia and moved to England with his family in 1939. His father, who was also called John Tusa - originally Jan Tůša - was the managing director of the British Bata Shoes , a Czech shoe company that also established a partnership around their factory in East Tilbury , Essex when doing business with international patterns . On March 15, 1939, two days before the start of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Germany , John Tusa sr. from Czechoslovakia in a company plane from Bata via Poland , Yugoslavia and France . He then became general manager of the Bata Factory in East Tilbury, where his son grew up.

John Tusa Jr. attended St Faith's School in Cambridge , Gresham's School in Holt and Trinity College in Cambridge, where he graduated with a First Class Honors Degree in History.

In 1960 he started working for the BBC as a trainee. After presenting Newsnight from its start in 1979 (1980? -1986) and also 24 Hours , he became Managing Director of BBC World Service from 1986 to 1993.

Tusa served as President of Wolfson College from January to October 1993 . In the mid-1990s he was a newscaster for the BBC's One O'Clock News for two years (1993-1995). On June 30, 1997, he moderated the BBC's coverage of the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China . From 1995 to 2007 he was Managing Director of the Barbican Center in the City of London .

Since 1998 he has been Chairman ( Chairman of the Supervisory Board () Board ) of the Wigmore Hall in London and in 2007 was elected chairman of the University of the Arts London appointed. On June 18, 2007, it was announced that he had accepted the position of Chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum , but he resigned a month later, realizing a conflict of interest with his position at the University of the Arts London .

Tusa is also active as an author. His works include two books that he wrote with his wife, the historian Ann Tusa : The Nuremberg Trial (1983) and The Berlin Blockade (1988). His books on art include Art Matters , On Creativity, and The Janus Aspect: Artists in the C20 . His book, Engaged with the Arts: Writings from the Frontline , explores ways in which art, threatened by constant underfunding in a cultural and political climate, can still be created.

After leaving his position with the BBC World Service , Tusa was critical of certain positions of the BBC. He described the focus and management style of former General Manager John Birt, Baron Birt, as obsolete.

In January 2009, Tusa became Chair of the Clore Leadership Program . From October 2009 through the end of the year, he presented a 91-part series on BBC Radio 4 : Day By Day used original archive news recordings to depict events on a daily basis from 1989 onwards, including the fall of the Berlin Wall . In February 2010, he became Honorary Chairman of theartsdesk.com .

Other offices

From 1982 to 1984 he hosted Timewatch on BBC 2 . Tusa was Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Government Art Collection until 2003 . Since 1995 he has been Vice-Chairman of the London Institute String Quartet Competition . He was a member of several boards of directors at the English National Opera from 1996 to 2003 and from 1998 to 2000 at the Design Museum . Tusa was a member of the National Portrait Gallery's Trustee from 1988 to 2000, from 2000 to 2009 at the British Museum - where he was Deputy Chairman from 2004 to 2009 - from 2004 to 2006 at Somerset House and since 2006 at the Turquoise Mountain Trust , and in 2009 at New Deal of the Mind . He also held this position at the Thomson Foundation .

Honors

In 1984 Tusa became RTS Journalist of the Year , and in the same year he received the BAFTA Richard Dimbleby Award . Tusa was honored with the Harvey Lee Award from the BPG Radio Awards in 1991. In 1995 he was RTS Presenter of the Year .

In 1997 he became a Freeman of the City of London. He has been an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama since 1999.

Tusa has received several honorary doctorates. In 1993 he received his Doctorate in Law ( Hon LLD ) from the University of London . In 1994 he received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University and in 2006 from the University of Essex . The City University of London awarded him an honorary doctorate of Letters ( Hon DLitt ) in 1997 .

The Kingston University honored him in 2007 with an honorary doctorate from the University, as well as 2008, the University of Kent . In 2001 he received the Imperial Service Medal of the Imperial Service Order and became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects . Tusa was awarded the Knight First Class of the Finnish Order of the White Rose in 1997 .

In June 2003 Tusa was knighted under the Queen's Birthday Honors List as a Knight Bachelor .

Publications

• The Nuremberg Trial , Macmillan, 1983/1984, ISBN 978-0-333-27463-7 (with Ann Tusa )
• The Berlin Blockade , Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1988, ISBN 978-0-340-41607-5 (with Ann Tusa)
• Conversations with the World , BBC Books, 1990/1991, ISBN 978-0-563-36006-3
• A World in Your Ear , Broadcast Books, 1992, ISBN 978-1-874092-01-8
• Art Matters: Reflecting on Culture , Methuen, 1999/2000, ISBN 978-0-413-73890-5
• On Creativity - Interviews Exploring the Process , Methuen Publishing, 2003, ISBN 978-0-413-77299-2
• The Janus Aspect: Artists in the Twenty-First Century , Methuen Publishing Ltd, 2005, ISBN 978-0-413-77472-9
• Engaged with the Arts @ Writings from the Frontline , Tauris IB, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84511-424-4

Web links

• Sir John Tusa - biography at Debretts

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Tusa biography on BBC News January 29, 2004
2. ^ IB Tauris, London & New York, February 2007. ISBN 978-1-84511-424-4