Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron

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The Lord Gavron
Born (1930-09-13)13 September 1930
Died 7 February 2015(2015-02-07) (aged 84)
Title Baron Gavron of Highgate
Known for Publishing
Years active 1964 – 2015
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Hannah Fyvel (deceased)
Nicky Gavron (divorced)
Dr Kate Gavron
Issue Simon Gavron
Sarah Gavron
Rafi Gavron (grandson)

Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron, CBE, FRSL (13 September 1930 – 7 February 2015) was a British printing millionaire, philanthropist and a Labour Life Peer.

Life and career[edit]

Gavron was the eldest son of Nathan, a patent lawyer, and Leah Gavron. He was brought up in Hampstead Garden Suburb[1] and studied at Leighton Park School in Reading and then at St Peter's College, Oxford. Gavron became a barrister and was called to the bar by Middle Temple in 1955. The same year he married his first wife, Hannah Fyvel, who died in 1965.

Gavron founded the St Ives Group in 1964, serving as Chairman from 1964 to 1993. He was the Director of Octopus Publishing between 1975 and 1987 and Electra Management from 1981 to 1992. He was also the proprietor of the Carcanet Press from 1983 to 2015 and served as the Chairman of the Folio Society, (1982-2015) and the National Gallery Co Ltd (1996-1998). He was both chairman of the Guardian Media Group and a trustee of the Scott Trust between 1997 and 2000.

Gavron was chairman of the Open College of the Arts (1991-1996), a director of the Royal Opera House (1992-1998), a trustee of the National Gallery (1994-2001), and of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (1987-2005). He was a governor of the London School of Economics (1997-2002) and chaired his own charitable trust, the Robert Gavron Charitable Trust (1974-2015). He was in 1996 elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[2]

Politics[edit]

Gavron was active in the Labour Party and a financial contributor to the Labour Leader's Office Fund run by Lord Levy which financed Tony Blair's private office before the 1997 General Election. He was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1990 Birthday Honours,[3] Gavron received a life peerage as Baron Gavron, of Highgate in the Borough of Camden, on 6 August 1999.[4] Gavron served on House of Lords, UK Parliament, Works of Art Committee from 1999 -2003 and 2005 -2009. [5] Lord Gavron was a member of both the Groucho and MCC.

Personal life[edit]

Gavron was married married three times.[6] In 1955 he married Hannah Fyvel, the daughter of T. R. Fyvel who was literary editor of Tribune and The Jewish Chronicle. They had two sons before her death in 1965. In 1967 Gavron married Felicia Nicolette Coates, a long-serving Local Authority Councillor, who was elected to the London Assembly and was the Deputy Mayor of London from 2004 to 2008. Before they divorced in 1987, the couple had two daughters including the film director Sarah Gavron. In 1989 Gavron married Katherine Gardiner (nee Macnair).

Gavron died of a heart attack on Saturday 7 February 2015 after playing a game of tennis in the afternoon.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://thepeerage.com/p19130.htm#i191294
  2. ^ "Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 8 August 2010. 
  3. ^ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52713. p. 8. 16 June 1990.
  4. ^ The London Gazette: no. 55586. p. 8907. 18 August 1999.
  5. ^ http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-gavron/2504
  6. ^ The Peerage, entry for Lord Gavron
  7. ^ Boffey, Daniel (7 February 2015). "Lord Gavron, former chair of the Guardian Media Group, dies aged 84". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2015. 
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