Sir Basil Charles Engholm (2 August 1912 – 12 June 1990) was a senior British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

at the Ministry of Agriculture. On retirement he was heavily involved in raising money for the arts and was Chairman of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Career

Engholm was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, the only son of Charles Engholm and his wife Ethel Nora Bowie. His father was of Swedish descent, and worked for the Anglo-American Metal Company in various parts of the world. Engholm returned to England and then went out to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

at the age of 8, where he learnt to ride on his father’s ranch. He was educated at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

, at the Sorbonne in Paris and

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

, where he took a Law Tripos and gained a double first. He became a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, and followed his father into the Anglo-American Metal Company in New York from 1933 to 1934. He did not like working for the company, and entered the British Civil Service in 1935. He was posted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. He rose in the Ministry of Agriculture where he stayed throughout his career until he reached the top job. He became Under Secretary 1954 and Deputy Secretary in 1964 when he was made CB. During his time at the Ministry he acquired a reputation as the right man to deal with difficult problems. He picked up the pieces in the Crichel Down affair and was heavily involved in the Icelandic

Cod War The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...

. His diplomacy in these and other matters led to his appointment as

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

in 1968 in succession to Sir John Winnifrith, and he was knighted (KCB) that year. While still a civil servant he and his wife found time to develop a great enthusiasm for the arts, including painting, theatre, ballet, film and opera.

Retirement

Engholm retired from the Civil Service in 1973 and became a company director for Comfin Ltd until 1985. He had free time on his hands and put his energy into raising money for the arts. He was Chairman of

from 1978 to 1981 and quickly recognised the need for commercial sponsorship of the arts. During his time as Chairman, the idea of the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Am ...

was generated. His greatest love was Sadler's Wells Theatre. He was a director of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Trust from 1975 and of the New Sadler's Wells Opera from 1987 to 1989. He was also a director of the Trustee Theatre Trust from 1977 to 1984.

Personal life

In 1936, Engholm married Nancy Hewitt, daughter of Clifford Hewitt of Rye. They had a daughter born in 1943.

References

*Times Obituary June 1990 *Who was Who {{DEFAULTSORT:Engholm, Basil 1912 births 1990 deaths People educated at Tonbridge School University of Paris alumni Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British expatriates in Australia British expatriates in Chile British expatriates in France Governors of the British Film Institute