Maurice Wohl
Maurice Wohl (4 January 1917 – 28 June 2007) was a Zionist British businessman and philanthropist.
Biography
Maurice Wohl was born in the East End of London to Eastern European parents. At a young age, Wohl became a property developer creating 'United Real Property Trust' in 1948.[1] He rose to success by innovation in raising modern office buildings in the damaged post-World War II London and his business also later spread to Australia. By the mid-1970s, he had retired to Switzerland. Wohl was made Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1992.[2]
Wohl died on 28 June 2007. He was buried in the Sanhedria Cemetery in Jerusalem the next day, eulogised by former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yisrael Meir Lau. Vivienne, his wife who had also been very active, died on 24 April 2005.[3][4] The couple had been childless.
Biograhical entry:
- WOHL, MAURICE (4 January 1917–28 June 2007), property developer and philanthropist. London-born, he was educated at the City of London School. In 1948 he established his own company, United Real Property Trust, and proceeded to acquire prime City and West End office buildings such as Reed House in Piccadilly and State House in High Holborn. Retiring as Company Chairman in 1974, he went on to finance a variety of medical, educational, and cultural causes both personally and through the Charitable Foundation bearing his name. The recipients ranged from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh to the British Museum, and he established the Wohl Virion Centre at UCL. Appointed CBE in 1992, he had homes in London, Geneva, and Tel Aviv, was President of Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue, and was a generous benefactor of Bar-Ilan University as well as of medical facilities in Israel.[5]
Civic and philanthropic activities
Wohl was president of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue in Israel. In honour of his many contributions in Jerusalem, Wohl was given the title "Trustee of Jerusalem" (Ne-eman Yerushalayim) by Ehud Olmert when he was mayor of the city. Wohl also received an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University in 2001.
Wohl created the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation and The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation
See also
- Top 300 Foundations ranked by giving in the UK - 2019
- Top 300 Foundations ranked by giving in the UK - 2021
Resources
Notes
- ↑ Maurice Wohl, Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2007 • 12:01am
- ↑ "Maurice Wohl" Sunday Times 'Rich List' 2004
- ↑ "In Memoriam, Vivienne Wohl" Jerusalem Foundation 25-Dec-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20071108094830/http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/english/article.php?id=701 8 November 2007
- ↑ "British Friends of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz" www.steinsaltz.org (Winter Hanukkah 2005)
- ↑ William D. Rubinstein, Michael A. Jolles & Hilary L. Rubinstein The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, Palgrave, 2011: 1032.