Frederick Turnovsky (28 December 1916 – 12 December 1994) was a notable New Zealand manufacturer, entrepreneur, advocate for the arts and community leader. He was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Bohemia in 1916.

Early life

Turnovsky was the second son of Max Turnovsky and Caroline Weiser. Max was a jeweller and of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ethnicity. Turnovsky was bilingual in Czech and German and attended a German-speaking school. At school he also learnt English and French. His interest in music began when he was seven and attended his first opera. At 16, while a school a

Realgymnasium ''Gymnasium'' (; German plural: ''Gymnasien''), in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being ''Hauptschule'' (lowest) and ''Realschule'' (middle). ''Gymnas ...

pupil, Turnovsky joined the youth wing of the German-speaking section of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. He was elected to executive positions in the party and was prominent in the unsuccessful efforts to persuade leading France and Britain to intervene against

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. In March 1939 he fled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

after being advised that the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

were after him.

New Zealand

On 27 June 1939 he married Liselotte Felicitas Wodaková at Hampstead and in December 1939 they left for

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Arriving in January 1940 Turnovsky undertook casual employment. Founding the Tatra Leather Goods Company he manufactured and sold watch straps. The success of this venture led to a number of successful manufacturing ventures. Turnovsky was thought to be the first resident New Zealander to become a member of

Lloyd's Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

, the British insurance underwriters. Tatra was one of the largest makers of soft leather goods in Australasia by the mid 1960s and in 1966 was a government Export Award in 1966. Turnovsky represented the New Zealand Manufacturers Federation at the National Development Conference (1968–69) and was its president(1972–73 and 1979–80). He was appointed to the Manufacturing Development Council, was a member of trade missions to Pacific states (1971) and China (1973). He led a delegation of manufacturers to Canberra (1973), and was honorary consul for Mexico (1973–81). Because of his Social-Democrat beliefs, as chairman of the Development Finance Corporation from 1973 to 1976, he gave weight to social objectives as well as sound business procedures in the corporation's funding of new business ventures.

Arts

Turnovsky helped establish the Wellington Chamber Music Society and was its chair from 1950 to 1954. He was vice president of the Federation of Chamber Music Societies (1950–53) and president (1953–60). In 1953 he was a founding member of the New Zealand Opera Company, and was chairman of its board from 1959 to 1969. He was also a founding member of the Arts Advisory Council in 1960, becoming deputy chairman of its successor, the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand, from 1970 to 1973. In 1962 Turnovsky was appointed to the cultural sub-commission of the New Zealand National Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. He was a member of the national commission (1963–88) and its chairman (1974–78). He was a member of UNESCO's executive board (1978–83). He was a trustee of the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, and a member of the project development board of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. In 1984 he set up the Turnovsky Endowment Trust to recognise and encourage outstanding achievement in the arts. For services to the arts, Fred Turnovsky was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

, and was a foundation member of the Order of New Zealand in 1988. The young Czech patriot had become one of the most eminent New Zealanders of his generation.

Honours

In the

, Turnovsky was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services in the field of music. On 6 February 1988, Turnovsky was the tenth appointee to the Order of New Zealand."The Order of New Zealand" (12 February 1988) 23 ''

New Zealand Gazette The ''New Zealand Gazette'' ( mi, Te Kāhiti o Aotearoa), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record (Government gazette) of the New Zealand Government. Published since 1840, it is the longest-running publication i ...

'' 447 at 448.

Death

Turnovsky died on 12 December 1994 in Wellington, survived by his wife, and their son and daughter. His ashes were buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first crema ...

Autobiography

''Turnovsky: Fifty Years in New Zealand''. Allen & Unwin, 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnovsky, Frederick 1916 births 1994 deaths 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Czech emigrants to New Zealand Members of the Order of New Zealand New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Burials at Karori Cemetery