Victor Mishcon, Baron Mishcon, QC, DL (14 August 1915 – 27 January 2006) was a leading British solicitor and a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. His firm acted for Diana, Princess of Wales in her divorce. The Mishcon Lectures were established at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

, London in 1990 in honour of Lord Mishcon to mark his 75th birthday and in recognition of his achievements and service in the fields of law, education, religion, government and politics, both central and local.

Early life

Mishcon was born in Brixton, south London, the son of Arnold Mishcon, a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

who emigrated from

Russian Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

, and his wife Queenie. He was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

. He studied law and founded the firm of solicitors Victor Mishcon & Co in Brixton in 1937.

Labour Party

An active member of the Labour Party, Mishcon served as a Councillor on

Lambeth Borough Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall ...

from 1945–48, and represented Brixton on

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

from 1946–64. He was chairman of London County Council in 1954—then aged 39, the youngest chair that century. He was elected to the successor Greater London Council for Lambeth 1964–67. He stood without success as a Labour party candidate in four parliamentary elections, in Leeds North-West in 1950; in Bath in 1951; and in Gravesend in 1955 and 1959. He was made a life peer on 10 May 1978 as Baron Mishcon, of Lambeth in Greater London on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, James Callaghan. Lord Mishcon was Labour home affairs spokesman in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

from 1983 to 1990 and served as shadow

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

from 1990 to 1992.

Legal career

Victor Mishcon was one of 15 men and women who sat on the 1954–1957 British Government appointed

Wolfenden Committee The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...

which considered the law and practice of homosexual offences and treatment of persons convicted of such offences in British courts, and to review prostitution offences. His firm acted for Ruth Ellis in her divorce but not in her later murder trial, and for

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

in his libel suit against the '' Daily Star'', which had claimed that Archer had had sex with a prostitute. Archer won damages of £500,000, but was later convicted of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

and repaid over £1,500,000. In 1988, Victor Mishcon & Co merged with part of Bartletts de Reya, forming the law firm

Mishcon de Reya Mishcon de Reya LLP is a British law firm with offices in London and Singapore. Founded in 1937, it employs more than 1200 people with over 600 lawyers. It is regarded as forming part of the " Silver Circle" of leading UK law firms. In March 2 ...

. Mishcon played a prominent role in The Princess of Wales's divorce from

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

. In 1992, he retired as senior partner of Mishcon de Reya, but remained a consultant. In the same year, he became the first practising solicitor to be made an honorary

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

, on the recommendation of the

Lord Mackay of Clashfern James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, (born 2 July 1927) is a British advocate. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He is a former active member of the House of Lo ...

. In 1994 he was made an Honorary Member of the Law Society for life "in recognition of his distinguished career as a solicitor and his considerable contribution to many areas of public life particularly in local government in London and in parliament".

Other activities

Mishcon was a board member of the Royal National Theatre 1965–90 and the

South Bank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

1966–67. He served as Vice-President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews 1967–73 and Vice-Chair of the Council of Christians and Jews 1976–77. He was chairman of the

Institute of Jewish Studies An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

, London, and the honorary president of the British Technion Society. He was a governor of Technion,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, president of the Association of Jewish Youth and of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

and the

Shaare Zedek Hospital The Shaare Zedek Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי שערי צדק, ''Merkaz Refu'i Sha'arei Tzedek'') (lit. "Gates of Justice") is a large teaching hospital in Jerusalem established in 1902, It affiliated with Hebrew University of Jerusa ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. He was awarded the Star of Ethiopia in 1954 and the Star of Jordan in 1995 for his work in the Middle East peace process. Between 1984 and 1990 he had acted as a secret intermediary in negotiations between

King Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

and the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres, offering the use of his country house.

Family

Lord Mishcon was married four times. His second marriage, to Beryl Honor Posnansky, produced two sons, Peter and Russell and a daughter, Jane. He married his fourth wife, Joan Estelle Conrad, in 1976; the marriage was dissolved in 2001. In 2006, he died at his home in Bayswater, London.

Arms

References

External links

Biography at Mishcon de ReyaObituary
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', 30 January 2006
Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 30 January 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mishcon, Victor 1915 births 2006 deaths Academics of University College London British Army personnel of World War II Councillors in Greater London Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London English Jews English solicitors Jewish British politicians Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of London County Council Members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Members of the Greater London Council People educated at the City of London School People from Brixton Honorary King's Counsel 20th-century English lawyers Life peers created by Elizabeth II