Christopher Samuel Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat (born 23 February 1937) is a British Conservative Party politician, businessman, company director, journalist and author. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

from 1970 to 1977, then a member of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, and in 1993 was appointed as a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, with a seat 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 Westminster ...

, in which he remains active.

Family background

Tugendhat was born in Marylebone, England. His father, Dr Georg Tugendhat (1898–1973), was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and came to Britain after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

to pursue a doctorate at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

. He settled in Britain and married British-born Marie Littledale in 1934. Georg Tugendhat traced his paternal origins to the town of Bielitz in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...

, which until 1918 was part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...

but became part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

in 1920. His father was from a Jewish family, and converted to Catholicism.

Career

Tugendhat was educated at

King's College School, Cambridge King's College School is a coeducational independent preparatory school for children aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road off Grange Road, west of the city centre. It was founded to educate the choristers in the King's ...

, Ampleforth College and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of ...

, then took up a career in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

, becoming a features editor and leader writer for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'' from 1960 to 1970. In 1970 he was elected as a Conservative

(MP) for the

Cities of London and Westminster Cities of London and Westminster (also known as City of London and Westminster South from 1974 to 1997) is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. It is a borough ...

, remaining in the House of Commons until 1977, when he resigned after being appointed as a member of the

. He was first appointed to the commission by a Labour government over the head of the nominee of the Conservative leader

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, but four years later, as prime minister, Thatcher reappointed him, and he served as vice-president of the commission from 1981 until 1985. On 3 December 1980, when he was leaving his home in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, two bullets were fired at Tugendhat from a car, narrowly missing him; he called the attack "closer than I would have liked." The

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunif ...

claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt. Following his role at the European Commission, Tugendhat was chairman of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (

Chatham House Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...

) from 1986 to 1995, and of the

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles ...

from 1986 to 1991, when he was succeeded by

Christopher Chataway Sir Christopher John Chataway (31 January 1931 – 19 January 2014) was a British middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and Conservative politician. Education He was born in Chelsea, London, the son of James Denys ...

. In 1993 he was appointed to the

as a

on the nomination of

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...

. He later went on to become the chairman of

Abbey National The Abbey National Building Society was formed in 1944 by the merger of the Abbey Road and the National building societies. It was the first building society in the United Kingdom to demutualise, doing so in July 1989. The bank expanded throu ...

, Blue Circle Industries, the European Advisory Board of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...

, and the

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is an NHS trust based in London, England. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and together with Imperial College London forms an academic health science centre. The trust was formed in October 20 ...

. He was also a director of Rio Tinto and Eurotunnel, among other companies.

Other work

Tugendhat is a member of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) Advisory Board, an independent financial think tank which serves as a neutral, non-lobbying platform for exchanges among official institutions and private sector counter-parties worldwide.

Personal life

He married Julia Lissant Dobson; they have two sons, James (born 1971) and Angus (born 1974). His younger brother, Michael, was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales, and his nephew Tom Tugendhat has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for

Tonbridge and Malling Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Tonbridge is the largest settlement but the authority is based in the modern development of Kings Hill. Geography Tonbridge and Malling Borough cover ...

since May 2015.

Honours

Tugendhat was knighted in the

1990 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 1990 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 15 June 1990, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 1990. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged firstly by the ...

. On 15 October 1993 he was created a

as Baron Tugendhat, of

Widdington Widdington is a village and a civil parish near Saffron Walden, in the Uttlesford district, in the county of Essex, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 504. The village is located near the M11 motorway. Widdington has a c ...

in the County of Essex. In 1998 he became the Chancellor of the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, from which position he stood down in 2013, to be succeeded by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. He was chairman of

, the UK's first

academic health science centre An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic health science system, or academic health science partnership, is an educational and healthcare institute formed by the grouping of a health profess ...

, from 2007 until December 2011. In 1998 he was awarded the honorary degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

by the University of Bath.

Publications

* ''Oil: The Biggest Business'' (1968) London. Eyre and Spottiswoode * ''Multinationals'' (1971) London. Eyre and Spottiswoode * ''Making Sense of Europe'' (1986) London. Viking * ''Options for British Foreign Policy in the 1990s'' (Chatham House Papers) by Christopher Tugendhat and William Wallace (Nov 1988) * ''Roy Jenkins, a Retrospective'' (2004); contributor, wrote Chapter 12. * ''A History of Britain through Books 1900-1964'' (2019) London. whitefox * ''The Worm in the Apple'' (2022) London. Haus Publishing.

References

External links

*
Hansard: Christopher Tugendhat's contributions in Parliament

Prospect article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tugendhat, Christopher 1937 births Living people People educated at Ampleforth College Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge English businesspeople Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers British European Commissioners Chancellors of the University of Bath UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Politics of the City of London English Roman Catholics English people of Austrian-Jewish descent English people of Polish-Jewish descent Council and directors of Chatham House English people of Irish descent Presidents of the Cambridge Union European Commissioners 1977–1981 European Commissioners 1981–1985