Charles Clore

Clore was of Lithuanian Jewish background, the son of Israel Clore, a Whitechapel tailor who had emigrated to London, and later to Palestine. Clore moved to Birmingham and went to Montgomery Street School. He worked at his father's textile business but then moved to South Africa at the age of 20. He also invested in Lyndenburg Estates, a South African gold mining company. In 1939, he led a syndicate to acquire London Casino. After the war, he made more acquisitions, including a shareholding in Park Royal Vehicles, a textile mill in Yorkshire, and Richard Shops (a women's fashion retailer). In 1949, he sold Richard Shops to United Drapery Stores for £800,000, an increase of £755,000 on his initial investment. From 1945 to 1947, he owned Jowett Cars Ltd, where he was known as "Santa Clore" for his much anticipated financial investment. In 1951, he acquired the Furness Shipbuilding Company and in 1954, bought J. Sears & Co for £4 million. Through Sears, Clore came to form the British Shoe Corporation, which became the biggest shoe retailer in the United Kingdom. He also owned Lewis's department stores (which included Selfridges), jewellers Mappin & Webb and Garrard & Co, as well as investing heavily in property. In 1960, his City and Central Investments merged with Jack Cotton's City Centre Properties, uniting two of the country's largest property companies. In 1959, Clore acquired Stype Grange in Berkshire, near Hungerford, from Lord Rootes; he lived there for 20 years. In 1961, he acquired 16,000 acres of land in Herefordshire between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye, which had previously been owned by Guy's Hospital. Clore owned several good racehorses, notably Valoris which won the Epsom Oaks in 1966. Clore was knighted in the 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his philanthropic work. Clore and his wife Francine had two children, Vivien and Alan Evelyn Clore. Clore Shipping Company had two oil tankers, the Vivien Louise and the Alan Evelyn. In 1957, the Clore and Francine marriage came to an end. He died of cancer in 1979 at The London Clinic. ==Philanthropy==

In 1964, he created the Clore Foundation, a philanthropic trust providing support in Israel and the United Kingdom for hospitals, universities and cultural organisations. In 1967, he provided the Charles Clore Pavilion for Mammals at London Zoo. In 1976, he provided the lion terraces there too. After his death, his daughter Vivian became the chair of the foundation and, in 2000, she merged her foundation with the Clore Foundation to create the Clore Duffield Foundation, which is a donor to arts and Jewish community projects in Britain and abroad. The first major project after Charles' death was the creation of the Clore Gallery at Tate Britain in London, which houses the world's largest collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner, and was built in 1980–87 with £6 million from Clore and his daughter and £1.8 million from the British government. ==Legacy and commemoration==

The beachfront Charles Clore Park in Tel Aviv is named after Clore. It stretches across 30 acres, and families use the seaside park to celebrate birthdays and host barbecues, or even attend city-wide events such as Tel Aviv Pride. His father, who died in 1933, is buried in nearby Petah Tikvah. In September 1980 thieves stole 19 paintings worth £3 million from Clore's Monaco apartment, including works by Renoir, Monet, Pissarro and Utrillo. Clore's former butler, Ronald Headford, was found lying on the floor of the apartment after the theft, claiming that he had been attacked by the thieves, but was later found to have collaborated with them. Headford later committed suicide in Monaco's prison. In 2014 Clore's daughter, Vivien Duffield, saw the musical with William Astor, whose father, William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor, was also depicted. ==References==