Sir Sigmund Sternberg ( hu, Sternberg Zsigmond; 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, Hungary. He was Jewish. He emigrated to England in 1939, and was

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

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 in promoting dialogue between different faiths. For example, he relocated a Roman Catholic convent at

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) 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 con ...

. Moreover, he organised the first papal visit to a

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

in 1986. Additionally, he negotiated the Vatican's recognition of the state of Israel. He was a long-term Labour Party supporter and donor. 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. He was chairman of the

Sternberg Interfaith Gold Medallion The Interfaith Gold Medallion is a prestigious award founded in 1986 and granted by the Sir Sigmund Sternberg Charitable Foundation. Purpose of the Award The purpose of the award is to recognize those who have 'endeavored to make an exceptional ...

. In 1976, Sternberg 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 ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 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. She was queen ...

, and in 1985 he was made a Papal Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG) by Pope John Paul II. He was awarded the Templeton Prize 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' it, Reale Ordine di Francesco I) was an extinct order of merit of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which was annexed in 1861 by the King of Italy (u ...

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.2008 Award
– official website of FIRST Magazine

Personal life and death

Sternberg married Ruth Schiff in 1949. They had a son, Michael Sternberg, and a daughter, artist

Frances Aviva Blane Frances Aviva Blane ( Sternberg), is an English abstract painter who works in the Expressionist tradition. Her subject matter is the disintegration of paint and personality. Blane also draws. However, whereas her paintings are mainly non-ref ...

. 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 Valerie Wiffen ARCA (born 1943) is a London-based British artist who is best known for her portraiture. Biography Wiffen was born in Danbury, Essex in 1943 and received her art education and training at South West Essex Technical College and Sc ...

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 housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

. {{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