Lord Marks, one of Britain’s outstanding philanthropists and one of the founders of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, died here today at the age of 76. Born in Manchester, he had been chairman and managing director of Marks and Spencer, Ltd., which he had built into the largest chain of variety stores in Britain.
One of the great Jewish philanthropists of his time, he contributed many millions of pounds for charitable and educational institutions. An aide and adviser to Dr. Chaim Weismann when the Zionist leader was in Manchester, Lord Marks served as a right-hand man to World Zionist leaders during the negotiations for the Balfour Declaration and during the subsequent years of feverish Zionist activity in Britain.
He gave many millions of pounds for various causes in Israel. He had served as president of the Joint Palestine Appeal, president of Keren Hayesod and he had been a vice-president of the Zionist Federation of Britain and of the Council for German Jewry. He was knighted in 1944 as Sir Simon Marks and elevated to the peerage in 1961.
Arthur Lourie, Israel’s Ambassador to Britain, said Lord Marks’ death was “irreparable” for Israel and the Jewish people. “A beloved and key figure for nearly two generations, he was a builder whose name will rank high in the pantheon of Jewish history,” Mr. Lourie stated.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
