Leonard Wolfson, Baron Wolfson

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Leonard Gordon Wolfson, Baron Wolfson FRS (born November 11, 1927 in London , † May 20, 2010 ibid ) was a British businessman , philanthropist and politician ( Conservative Party ).

life and career

Leonard Gordon Wolfson was born in London in 1927 to Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet and his wife Edith. Isaac Wolfson, son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant who settled in Glasgow and made a living there as a cabinet maker, joined his father's furniture business as a young man and later became a millionaire. Leonard Wolfson attended King's School in Worcester .

Wolfson worked for Great Universal Stores plc (GUS plc), initially as a director from 1952. In 1962 he became Managing Director of the GUS plc and was chairman of the board from 1981 to 1996, initially together with his father. Since his father was increasingly suffering from Alzheimer's disease , Leonard Wolfson was de facto sole responsible. Isaac Wolfson died in 1991. At the time, the company had an estimated goodwill of £ 3 billion. Leonard Wolfson inherited from his father the title Baronet , of St Marylebone in the County of London, awarded in 1962 in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom . He retired in 1996, handing the office of chairman over to his cousin David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale .

Wolfson and his parents were founder trustees of the Wolfson Foundation , a charity organization , in 1955 . With £ 6 million worth of CIS shares in the endowment , she has been committed to advancing health , education , science , the arts and the humanities . Wolfson was President of the Wolfson Foundation from 1972. His major accomplishments included the growing success of Wolfson College , Cambridge and Wolfson College , Oxford , which were generously sponsored by the Wolfson Foundation. The Wolfson Foundation also supports the hospice movement , which Wolfson was a supporter. It also awards the Wolfson History Prize . Wolfson was very interested in history throughout his life . He appointed historians such as Alan Bullock and John H. Plumb to the Board of Trustees of the Wolfson Foundation, and established the Wolfson History Prize in 1972 for books that combined scholarly research and broad readability for the general reading audience. He was an Honorary Fellow at both colleges . He was also a member of the Wolfson Foundation Board of Trustees.

In 1977 he was knighted ( Knight Bachelor ). From 1978 to 1996 he was chief executive at Burberry Ltd . He was active in the Jewish community. He was President of Jewish Welfare from 1972 to 1982 , but did not share his father's Orthodox attitudes . From 1988 to 1994 he was a member of the Trustee of the Imperial War Museum .

Since 2006 he has been President of the London charity organization that supported the Israeli Shaare Zedek Hospital , and Honorary President of the British Technion Society , which raises money for Technion University in Haifa .

He was also a Fellow of Birkbeck College and an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine's College at the University of Oxford , Worcester College, Oxford and the Royal Academy of Music . In 1976 he was patron ( saint ) of the Royal College of Surgeons . Since 1988 he has been an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. In 2005 he received the President's Award from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem . In the same year he became a Fellow of the Royal Society .

In 1990 he supported Michael Heseltine in his candidacy to chair the Conservative Party . In later years he advocated membership of Great Britain in the European Monetary Union . Wolfson was also an art collector with a valuable private collection.

Wolfson died on May 20, 2010 at the age of 82. Since he left no sons, his baronet title expired on his death.

Membership in the House of Lords

On June 13, 1985, he was promoted to life peer as Baron Wolfson , of Marylebone in the City of Westminster. He gave his inaugural address on November 13, 1985. He counted health care among his political interests .

He had been on permanent leave since October 10, 2008 due to a leave of absence granted by the House of Lords .

Honors

In 1989 Wolfson was honored with the Winston Churchill Award from the British Technion Society . Wolfson became a Fellow of the Israel Museum in 2001 and the Royal Albert Hall in 2003 . He was also a Fellow of Somerville College at the University of Oxford , University College London , London School of Hygiene and Medicine since 1985, Queen Mary and Westfield College since 1985, University of Westminster since 1991, Imperial College London as well with the London School of Economics since 1991 and 1999 . In 2001 he became a Fellow of the University of London's Institute of Education and the Israel Museum . In 2008 he became a Fellow of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford .

In 1972 Wolfson was awarded an honorary doctorate of Civil Law from the University of Oxford . In the same year he was honored with an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Strathclyde . He also received this title in 1979 from the University of Dundee and in 1982 from the University of Cambridge , and also in 1982 from the University of London . He received honorary doctorates from the University of Hull in 1977, the University of Wales in 1984, the University of East Anglia in 1986, the University of Sheffield in 2005, the University of Cape Town in 2008 and Imperial College London .

Wolfson received honorary doctorates ( Hon DUniv ) from the following universities: 1990 University of Surrey , 1997 University of Glasgow and 2003 Loughborough University . In 1992 he received an Honorary Doctor of Medicine ( Hon MD ) from the University of Birmingham . He has been an honorary doctor of philosophy from Tel Aviv University since 1971, Hebrew University since 1978, and Bar Illan University in 1983 and the Weizmann Institute of Science since 1988. He was made an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 1996 and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institution in 2002 .

In 1977 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 1986 he became an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy . In 1997 he became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering . In 2006 he became Companion of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, where he has been an honorary member since 1997.

family

Wolfson had four daughters, all of whom are married and have children. He also had a stepdaughter and a stepson. His first marriage was from 1949 to Ruth Sterling. Wolfson married Estelle Feldman in 1991, the widow of an auditor.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Register of Lords' Interests Homepage of the House of Lords
  2. ^ House of Lords Journal 241 (Session 2007-08). Minutes of the House of Lords meeting of October 10, 2008
  3. ^ The Rt Hon the Lord Wolfson, FRS, FBA. Biography at Debretts (available online)
personal data
SURNAME Wolfson, Leonard, Baron Wolfson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolfson, Leonard Gordon Wolfson Baron; Sir Leonard Wolfson, 2nd Baronet; Sir Leonard Wolfson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British businessman and politician (Conservative Party)
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 2010
Place of death London