Ethnicity Mizrahi Jewish Children Michael Kadoorie Spouse(s) Muriel Gubbay Siblings Horace Kadoorie | Name Lawrence Baron Parents Elly Kadoorie | |
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Occupation industrialisthotelierphilanthropist Grandchildren Natalie Kadoorie, Bettina Kadoorie, Philip Kadoorie | ||
Lawrence Kadoorie, Baron Kadoorie, CBE (2 June 1899 – 25 August 1993) was a famous industrialist, hotelier, and philanthropist.
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Biography
Lawrence Kadoorie was born at the peak of the British Empire's power. He was the first man born in Hong Kong to be named to the British House of Lords.
Kadoorie was born to a Mizrahi Jewish family, the older of sons of Laura (née Mocatta) and Sir Elly Kadoorie. His brother, Horace Kadoorie (1902–1995), would become his partner in the family business.
His uncle was Sir Ellis Kadoorie. His family were originally Mizrahi Jews from Baghdad who later migrated to Bombay (Mumbai), India in the mid-eighteenth century. He was educated at Clifton College. Kadoorie and his brother Sir Horace Kadoorie worked for Victor Sassoon during the 1920s and 1930s, and managed his famous Shanghai hotel. They also worked for their father the famous industrialist Sir Elly Kadoorie.
Awards and philanthropy
Kadoorie was made a CBE in 1970, knighted in 1974 and created Baron Kadoorie, of Kowloon in Hong Kong and of the City of Westminster on 22 September 1981 for his philanthropic work throughout the UK and Hong Kong. Kadoorie and his brother, Horace, both received the Magsaysay Award for public service in 1962. They were also conferred Chev.Leg.Hon. by the French government. He also gave money to the Kahal Kadosh Mekor Haim (Holy Community Fountain of Life) to finish the construction of the Kadoorie Synagogue for the Anusim/Marranos in Oporto, Portugal.
Personal life
In 1938, Kadoorie married Muriel Gubbay, the daughter of Hebrew scholar David Sassoon Gubbay. They had two children: a son, Michael Kadoorie (heir to the family business) and a daughter Rita (who married a Scottish accountant). He died in 1993 and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. His widow, Muriel, died in Hong Kong on 5 December 2011.