Sir
James Michael Goldsmith
(1933-97)
Honours
Knighted, 1976[1]
Positions Held
Member of the European Parliament for France, 1995[1]
Director of the Rothschild's bank in France, 1975[2]
Biographical
A businessman, financier, publisher and politician, Goldsmith was sent
to Eton by his father which he later left after carrying out a very profitable
betting coup. In 1951, he completed his national service and afterwards
returned to the way of life he had been introduced to at Eton. Demonstrating
his extraordinary business talents, he conceived the Mothercare company,
and went on to become head of Cavenham Foods, Bovril and Slater Walker.
He extended into American business investing in the Grand Union chain
of supermarkets, and later took over Diamond International and St Regis.
He was to became anti-Europe and spent some 20 million pounds financing
the Referendum Party. He kept two households, one in London and
another in Paris, and also spent time in another home in Mexico.
He was one of the world's richest men, and his business ventures were
as sensational as his private life.[1]
Place of birth: Paris[2]
Place of first marriage: Edinburgh[1]
Place of third marriage: Paris[3]
Place of death: Benahavis, Spain[1]
Sources
1. N. Faith. Obituary: Sir James Goldsmith. Independent, 21 July 1997.
2. R. Davenport-Hines. Goldsmith, Sir James Michael (1933–1997). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004-2018.
3. C. Kidd, C. Shaw et al, eds. Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2008. London: Debrett's Peerage Ltd., 2007.
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