Sir Sigmund Sternberg ( hu, Sternberg Zsigmond; 2 June 1921 – 18 October 2016) was a Hungarian-British philanthropist, interfaith campaigner, businessman and Labour Party donor.

Early life

Sternberg was born in 1921 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

. He was Jewish. He emigrated to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1939, and was

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

as a British citizen in 1947.

Career

Sternberg worked in the scrap metal trade. After the war, he founded Sternberg Group of Companies. By 1968 he retired from the scrap metal trade and focused on commercial property investments.

Philanthropy

Sternberg worked in promoting dialogue between different faiths. For example, he relocated a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

at Auschwitz. Moreover, he organised the first papal visit to a synagogue in 1986. Additionally, he negotiated the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

's recognition of the state of

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 ...

. He was a long-term Labour Party supporter and donor. Sternberg established The Sir Sigmund Sternberg Charitable Foundation in 1969 and was one of the co-founders of the Three Faiths Forum. Sternberg was Life President of the

Movement for Reform Judaism Reform Judaism (formally the Movement for Reform Judaism and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005) is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relatively ...

. He was chairman of the Sternberg Interfaith Gold Medallion. In 1976, Sternberg was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, and in 1985 he was made a Papal Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG) by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1998 for his interfaith work worldwide. In November 2005, Sternberg was promoted to the highest rank within the

Royal Order of Francis I The Royal Order of Francis I (properly 'The Royal Order of Francis I of the Two Sicilies' it, Reale Ordine di Francesco I) was an extinct order of merit of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which was annexed in 1861 by the King of Italy (un ...

to the grade of Knight Grand Cross (GCFO), this in recognition of his contributions to furthering the interfaith activities of the British and Irish Delegation. In 2008, he received the FIRST International Award for Responsible Capitalism, lifetime achievement medal.2008 Award
– official website of FIRST Magazine

Personal life and death

Sternberg married Ruth Schiff in 1949. They had a son, Michael Sternberg, and a daughter, artist

Frances Aviva Blane Frances Aviva Blane ( Sternberg), is an English abstract painter who works in the Expressionist tradition. Her subject matter is the disintegration of paint and personality. Blane also draws. However, whereas her paintings are mainly non-ref ...

. They divorced in 1969, and he later married Hazel Sternberg, who died in 2014. He died on 18 October 2016.

References

External links

Profile from the Three Faiths Forum
*A portrait of Sir Sigmund (1998) by

Valerie Wiffen Valerie Wiffen ARCA (born 1943) is a London-based British artist who is best known for her portraiture. Biography Wiffen was born in Danbury, Essex in 1943 and received her art education and training at South West Essex Technical College and Sc ...

Sir Sigmund Sternberg by Valerie Wiffen, oil on canvas, 1998
is in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sternberg, Sigmund 1921 births 2016 deaths Templeton Prize laureates Hungarian Jews British Jews Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Knights of St. Gregory the Great Labour Party (UK) donors British people of Hungarian-Jewish descent