Algernon Charles Holland (10 February 1919 – 2001) was a British businessman, and the founder of

Amplifon Amplifon SpA is an Italian company, based in Milan, and the world's largest hearing aid retailer. History Amplifon was founded in 1950 in Milan by Algernon Charles Holland, a former official of the British special forces, involved in the Italia ...

Early life

Holland was born on 10 February 1919 in

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex. His father, Algernon Holland, a Captain in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, died in the First World War, on 21 September 1918, before he was born. His father was serving with 249 Squadron, Seaplane Station, Dundee, when their Curtiss-H16 "Large America" flying boat "struck a ship's mast on the river Tay, crashed and burst into flames". He is buried at the Dundee Eastern Necropolis. He was the son of Arthur and Amy Holland of Horsham, Sussex. His mother, Helen Ruth Menzies, was Scottish, born in Argentina, of Quinta Rannock, San Ferriemdo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in 1921, they moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, and he was educated there at the English College.

Second World War

In the Second World War, Holland served with

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

. He was a Major in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

, and was awarded an MBE, and a Military Cross in 1945. The MBE was awarded in 1943 for his services in Greece. In 1948, the US awarded him the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

Career

Holland founded

in Milan, Italy in 1950, in part because of his experience with servicemen suffering hearing loss in the war, and because of the invention of the

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...

in the late 1940s. In 1971, he founded the independent not-for-profit

Centre for Research and Studies Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

(CRS) in Milan, to co-ordinate research into audiology and related areas.

Personal life

In 1950, Holland married Anna Maria Formiggini, who has been a director of Amplifon since 1980, chair since 1990, and honorary chair since 2011. Their daughter

Susan Carol Holland Susan Carol Holland (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian-British billionaire businesswoman, and the chairman of Amplifon, an Italian hearing aid retailer founded by in Milan in 1950 by her father Algernon Charles Holland. Early life Holland earned a ...

has been chair of Amplifon since 2011. She owns 44.9% of Amplifon through her family's holding company. He died in 2001.

Legacy

The Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons was established in his honour, with Falklands war veteran

Simon Weston Simon Weston (born 8 August 1961) is a Welsh veteran of the British Army who is known for his charity work and recovery from severe burn injuries suffered during the Falklands War. Early life Weston was born at Caerphilly District Miners Hos ...

as head of the judging panel.

References

1919 births British Army personnel of World War II Special Operations Executive personnel 2001 deaths British company founders Members of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub