Michael Moses Sacher

FRPSL The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

(17 October 1917 – 29 July 1986) was an executive with British retailers

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

including holding the positions of joint managing director and joint vice-chairman. He was closely associated with Jewish causes throughout his life and in his spare time was a noted postal historian of Palestine and a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.

Early life and family

Michael Sacher was born in Manchester on 17 October 1917, the eldest son of the prominent British Zionist

Harry Sacher Harry Sacher (3 September 1881 – 10 May 1971) was a British businessman, journalist, and Zionism, Zionist leader. He was appointed director of Marks & Spencer in 1932. Early life and education Sacher was born in Shoreditch, Middlesex, the ...

and his wife Miriam."Sacher, Michael Moses"
'' Who Was Who'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 6 June 2019. He was educated in Palestine from the age of four when his family moved there and at St Paul's School, London, from 1930 from where he went up to New College, University of Oxford, graduating with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics."Michael M. Sacher M.A., F.R.S.A., F.R.P.S.L." by "J.S." in ''Foreign Post Offices in the Holy Land 1362-1917 The Michael Sacher Collection''. Christie's-Robson Lowe, London, 1989. p. 6. He married Audrey Doreen Glucksman, born Johannesburg, South Africa, in Paddington in 1938. They had three sons and two daughters. Audrey died in 1984 and Sacher married Janice Puddephatt in 1986.

Career

Foreign Post Offices in the Holy Land 1362-1917 The Michael Sacher Collection

Sacher worked for Marks & Spencer from 1938 to 1939 before joining the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

where he saw action during the Second World War in the western desert. He graduated from the Haifa staff college in 1943 with the rank of major. He was a liaison officer to General Leclerc and served with the Free French in north Africa and with the Allies in Italy. After the war he returned to Marks & Spencer where he held various positions including joint managing director 1971 to 1983, vice-chairman from 1972 to 1982, and joint vice-chairman from 1982 to 1984. He was a trustee of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

from 1982, and a governor of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Philately

Sacher specialised in the

postal history of Palestine The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges from its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East. Mail, Postal services in the region were first established in the Br ...

and the surrounding areas, writing or co-writing several books on the subject. He was a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London but did not enter his collection in competition. It was sold after his death by Christie's-Robson Lowe in Zurich in 1989 in over 400 lots.

Death and legacy

Sacher died in London on 29 July 1986. An anthology of his philatelic writings was published posthumous by the Royal Philatelic Society London in 1995.Schneider, Jeffrey. (Ed.) (1995) ''The Postal Markings of Mandate Palestine 1917–48; Edited and revised from the collected works of Michael Sacher''. London: Royal Philatelic Society.

Selected publications

* ''Army and Field Post Offices of Egypt and the EEF, 1914-20'', Supplement to ''The London Philatelist'', London, 1970. * ''Government 'Certified Official' & Post Office cachets of British Mandate of Palestine''. British Association of Palestine-Israel Philatelists, 1981. * ''The Postmarks and other Markings of Mandate Jerusalem (1917–1948)''. Zeʹev Galibov, London, 1982. (With E. Glassman) * Schneider, Jeffrey. (Ed.) ''The Postal Markings of Mandate Palestine 1917–48; Edited and revised from the collected works of Michael Sacher''. Royal Philatelic Society, London, 1995.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacher, Michael 1917 births 1986 deaths Marks-Sacher family Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London Marks & Spencer people People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of New College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Businesspeople from Manchester British philatelists Philately of Palestine (region) English Jews Philatelic authors Philately of Israel Royal Army Service Corps officers 20th-century English businesspeople