Sir Henry Strakosch GBE (9 May 1871 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born British banker and businessman. As a Jewish financier, his close ties to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

were exploited by Nazi propaganda during the 1930s and World War II, and by Holocaust deniers in later years.

Early life

His parents were the merchant Edward Strakosch and his wife, Mathilde (née Winters). He was born at Hohenau, Austria, and educated at the Wasa Gymnasium in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and privately in England. Strakosch entered banking in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

in 1891, and then began working for the Anglo-Austrian Bank of South Africa in 1895. Strakosch became a naturalized British citizen in 1907.

Financial career

Strakosch served as a financial adviser to the South African government, and was the author of the 1920 South African Currency and Banking Act. He was chairman of the South African goldminers,

Union Corporation Union Corporation Limited was a South African mining house. It was founded as the A Goerz & Co Ltd in the late 1890's as a gold mining company. After World War One, it was renamed the Union Corporation. In 1980 it was merged into the General Mining ...

from 1924. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance during 1925 and 1926. He later served on the

Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...

between 1930 and 1937, served as a delegate for India at the Imperial Economic Conference in 1932, and acted as adviser to the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

between 1937 and 1942. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1921, and then appointed a

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

in 1924, and promoted GBE in 1927. He was awarded an honorary degree of

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

at Manchester University in 1938. Strakosch was chairman of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' between 1929 and 1943. He supplied Winston Churchill with figures on German arms expenditure during the latter's political campaign for rearmament. Strakosch provided financial support to Churchill in 1938 and 1940, which enabled Churchill to pay off his vast debts and to withdraw his Kent home

Chartwell Chartwell is a country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years it was the home of Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965. In th ...

from sale at a time of severe financial pressures.

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...

exploited this to claim that Churchill was under the control of

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

bankers, an

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

trope also repeated by Holocaust denialists such as David Irving. Strakosch was unmarried until 1941 when he married Mabel Elizabeth Vincent, widow of Joseph Temperley, a shipowner. He died at his home at Walton-on-Thames,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, in 1943 aged 72.

Publications

* ''The South African Currency and Exchange Problem'', Johannesburg, 1920. * ''The South African Currency and Exchange Problem Re-Examined'', Johannesburg, 1922. * ''Monetary Stability and the Gold Standard'', London, 1928. * ''A Financial Plan for the Prevention of War'', London, 1929. * ''The Crisis. A memorandum'', supplement to ''The Economist'', 9 January 1932.

References

* Harold Gilmore Calhoun: ''Les théories de Sir Henry Strakosch en matière de crise et la crise de 1929–1933.'' Loviton, Paris 1933.

External links

*
Interwar Papers and Correspondence
of Roy Harrod {{DEFAULTSORT:Strakosch, Henry 1871 births 1943 deaths Austrian Jews Members of the Council of India Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods British Jews British people of Austrian-Jewish descent British bankers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom