Richard Madron Seligman (10 November 1918 – 9 July 2002) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He spent most of his career in industry, where he came to understand and support the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

and was latterly a

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP), winning the Sussex West seat in 1979 by a record margin of 95,484 votes, which earned him a place in the

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. He held the seat until he retired in 1994.

Background, early life and education

Seligman was born in

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

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. ...

. His ancestors were German Jewish bankers who dispersed to Britain and the United States in the 19th century. His father, Richard, founded an industrial machinery business and his mother,

Hilda Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. Th ...

, was a sculptor, author, activist, and philanthropist. He had an older sister, Audrey Babette Seligman (1907–1990), and three older brothers:

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

(1909–2003), a Royal Navy Commander; Peter; and Oliver (who was killed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

). Seligman was educated at Rokeby and at Harrow, where he played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for the school. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and became President of the Union. He was an excellent sportsman, especially at cricket, rugby and tennis, and represented the university at

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

. He would later represent Britain in the sport at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

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Wartime service

During

, Seligman served with the 6th Armoured Divisional

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, rising to the rank of major. He fought in the

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and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

campaigns, including at the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

Career

After the war, Seligman joined the industrial machinery business founded by his father. The A.P.V. Company, based in Crawley, produced a wide range of industrial equipment, mainly for food and drink processing. Seligman rose to be managing director. Seligman became a

(MEP), winning the Sussex West seat in 1979 by a record margin of 95,484 votes, which earned him a place in the

. He held the seat until he retired in 1994. He was appointed

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1994.

Personal life

He married Nancy-Joan Marks, in 1947, and they had three sons and a daughter.

Friendship with Edward Heath

Seligman was well known as the oldest friend of the former prime minister

Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

whom he met at

, in 1937. Heath was godfather to his eldest son,

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

, and frequently holidayed with Seligman's family. In 1939, in the days before the outbreak of war, he was on a hiking holiday with Heath in Germany and Poland, an especially risky endeavour for Seligman, who was half Jewish. In Warsaw, they were warned by the British embassy to get out of Poland as fast as possible. They avoided being picked up by taking crowded trains and

hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

. While they were in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

on 26 August, the news of the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

was announced and they only just got to France before hostilities broke out.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Seligman, Madron 1918 births Conservative Party (UK) MEPs People from Leatherhead 2002 deaths MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for England 1984–1989 MEPs for England 1989–1994 English people of German-Jewish descent People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Presidents of the Oxford Union Royal Corps of Signals officers British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Politicians of the Pro-Euro Conservative Party 20th-century English businesspeople