Sir Jules Thorn (7 February 1899 – 12 December 1980) was the founder of Thorn Electrical Industries, one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

's largest electrical businesses.

Career

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 ...

to Jewish parents Leibisch Thorn and Teme Thorn (née Finkelstein), Julius (later known as Jules) Thorn was

conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

ed into the

Austrian Army The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nat ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

.Jules Thorn at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> After the War he studied at the ''Handelshochschule'' (Business School) 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 ...

. In 1923 Thorn moved to the

as representative for Olso, an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n manufacturer of gas mantles. In 1926 Olso went bankrupt and Thorn chose to set up business on his own trading as the ''Electric Lamp Service Company''. In 1936 he diversified into manufacturing and expanded the company into one of the largest electrical businesses in the country, Thorn Electrical Industries. He was knighted in 1964. In 1970 Thorn retired from full-time involvement in the business to devote himself to his racehorses and his collection of Impressionist paintings. He was a successful racehorse owner and won the

2,000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

at Newmarket with High Top in 1972. Only in 1976 did he retire as

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the business. Sir Jules was a noted philanthropist supporting many medical, educational, artistic and humanitarian charities and endeavours. A large number of legal and medical scholarships as well as museums carry his name. Thorn died in

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on 12 December 1980, not long after seeing his company's successful takeover of its long-time rival EMI. His work and vision is continued through the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust, chaired until recently by his daughter Ann Rylands.Jules Thorn Charitable Trust
/ref>

Family

In 1928 he married Dorothy Olive Tanner and together they went on to have one son and one daughter. He married a second time, to Jean Norfolk, in 1971.

References

1899 births 1980 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople British Jews British racehorse owners and breeders Knights Bachelor Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom 20th-century British philanthropists {{UK-business-bio-1890s-stub