Sir Nicholas Thomas "Miki" Sekers (born Miklós Szekeres, 12 December 1910 – 23 June 1972) was a British-based industrialist who, with his cousin, founded Sekers Fabrics. He was also a patron of the arts.

Early life

He was born Miklós Szekeres on 12 December 1910 in Sopron, Hungary. He trained in textile technology in Krefeld, Germany.

Career

At the invitation of John Adams (later Lord Adams) who was charged with overcoming the 50% unemployment from which West Cumberland was suffering at the time, Sekers, who was Jewish, arrived in Britain from Hungary in 1937 with his cousin, Tomi de Gara, to establish West Cumberland Silk Mills at Richmond Hill, Hensingham, West Cumberland, in 1938. During World War II West Cumberland Silk Mills was required to make parachute silk. When supplies of silk ran low, and the new experimental product nylon was introduced as a replacement, Sekers began experimenting with the new synthetic fabric, seeing its potential for dressmaking. An introduction to

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

led to Sekers producing fabrics for him and many others in the field of Dior's ready-to-wear. In the 1960s, Sekers began to design and produce furnishing fabrics. In 1962 he was awarded the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for Elegant Design (now known as the Prince Philip Designers Prize).

Patron of the Arts

He sat on the boards of Glyndeborne, the Royal Opera House,

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

, the London Mozart Players and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, and was an early supporter of the painter Percy Kelly. He was an early patron of the portrait painter

Judy Cassab Judy Cassab (15 August 19203 November 2015), born Judit Kaszab, was an Australian painter. Early years Judy Cassab was born in Vienna, on 15 August 1920 to Jewish Hungarian parents. She began painting at twelve years old and began studying at ...

and commissioned work by Oliver Messel, Graham Sutherland, John Piper and Suzanne Balkanyi. Sekers established and endowed a trust to convert a barn at his home at Rosehill, Whitehaven, into the

Rosehill Theatre Rosehill may refer to: Places Australia * Rosehill, New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia Canada * Rosehill, Ontario, a neighborhood in Caledon, Ontario * Rosehill, Toronto, a neighborhood in the Toronto-St. Paul electoral district Irelan ...

Personal life

He was married to Agota Anna Balkanyi. In 2008, an "extremely rare costume by Christian Dior", entitled ''Zemire'', and the centrepiece of the Dior 1954 autumn/winter collection was spotted in a Paris auction. It was discovered to have been commissioned by Agota Sekers. They had three children: Christine, born 1942, who married Jean Baudrand, the son of a textile manufacturer in Lyons;

David Sekers David Nicholas Oliver Sekers OBE (born 29 September 1943) is a British historian. Early life He was born in 1943, the son of the Hungarian industrialist, Sir Nicholas Sekers, and his wife, Agota. He attended Eton College, where he was a pupil ...

born 1943, who married Simone Caplat, daughter of

Moran Caplat Moran Victor Hingston Caplat, CBE (1 October 1916 - 19 June 2003) was an English opera manager, associated throughout his career with Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Life and career Early years Caplat was born in Herne Bay, Kent, the only child of Ar ...

, the general manager of Glyndebourne; and Alan, born 1947, who worked in film production. He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme '' Desert Island Discs'' on 22 April 1968. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the

1955 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1955 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1955 to celebrat ...

for services to the fashion industry, and was knighted in the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

for services to the arts. Sekers died on 23 June 1972, in Yugoslavia, following a heart attack while on holiday there.

Legacy

His portrait, a 1969 photograph by Godfrey Argent is in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekers, Nicholas 1910 births Place of birth missing 1972 deaths Place of death missing Hungarian Jews People from Sopron British industrialists British company founders British Jews Members of the Order of the British Empire Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom