Sir Sigmund Sternberg (; 2 June 1921 – 18 October 2016) was a Hungarian-British philanthropist, interfaith campaigner, businessman and Labour Party donor.

Early life

Sternberg was born in 1921 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He was Jewish. He emigrated to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1939, and was

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

as a British citizen in 1947.

Career

Sternberg worked in the scrap metal trade. After the war, he founded Sternberg Group of Companies. By 1968 he retired from the scrap metal trade and focused on commercial property investments.

Philanthropy

Sternberg worked to promote dialogue between different faiths. For example, he relocated a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. Moreover, he organised the first papal visit to a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in 1986. Additionally, he negotiated the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

's recognition of the state of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Sternberg established The Sir Sigmund Sternberg Charitable Foundation in 1969 and was one of the co-founders of the Three Faiths Forum. Sternberg was Life President of the

Movement for Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, formally the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005, is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relat ...

. He was chairman of the Sternberg Interfaith Gold Medallion.

Distinctions

In 1976, Sternberg was

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

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, and in 1985 he was made a Papal Knight Commander of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

(KCSG) by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. He was awarded the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest ques ...

for Progress in Religion in 1998 for his interfaith work worldwide. In November 2005, Sternberg was promoted to the highest rank within the

Royal Order of Francis I The Royal Order of Francis I (properly 'The Royal Order of Francis I of the Two Sicilies' ) was an extinct order of merit of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which was annexed in 1861 by the King of Italy (until 1860 King of Piedmont and S ...

to the grade of Knight Grand Cross (GCFO), this in recognition of his contributions to furthering the interfaith activities of the British and Irish Delegation. In 2008, he received the FIRST International Award for Responsible Capitalism, lifetime achievement medal. In 2009 he was made Officer of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite The Order of Ouissam Alaouite () or the Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui is a military decoration of Morocco which is bestowed by the King of Morocco upon those civilians and military officers who have displayed heroism in combat or have contribute ...

by King Mohammed VI.

Politics

Sternberg was a long-term Labour Party supporter and donor, and was one of its top 50 donors in 2001 with a gift of £100,000 to its head office.

Personal life and death

Sternberg married Ruth Schiff in 1949. They had a son, Michael Sternberg, and a daughter, artist Frances Aviva Blane. They divorced in 1969, and he later married Hazel Sternberg, who died in 2014. He died on 18 October 2016.

References

External links

Profile from the Three Faiths Forum
*A portrait of Sir Sigmund (1998) by Valerie Wiffen
Sir Sigmund Sternberg by Valerie Wiffen
oil on canvas, 1998], is in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sternberg, Sigmund 1921 births 2016 deaths Templeton Prize laureates Hungarian Jews British Jews Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Knights of St. Gregory the Great Labour Party (UK) donors British people of Hungarian-Jewish descent