Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo

The Right Honourable
The Lord Palumbo
Peter Palumbo, 1974
Chairman of the
Arts Council of Great Britain
In office
1989–1994
Preceded byLord Rees-Mogg
Succeeded byabolished; replaced by national councils
Personal details
Born
Peter Garth Palumbo

(1935-07-20) 20 July 1935 (age 89)
London, UK
Spouse(s)
Denia Wigram
​
​
(m. 1959; div. 1977)​

Hayat Mrowa (m. 1986)
Children6, including James Palumbo
Parent(s)Rudolph Palumbo (father);
Elsie Gregory (mother)
RelativesKamel Mrowa (father-in-law)
EducationScaitcliffe School;
Eton College
Alma materWorcester College, Oxford
OccupationProperty developer
Known forChairman, Arts Council of GB
Websitewww.lordpeterpalumbo.com

Peter Garth Palumbo, Baron Palumbo (born 20 July 1935), is a British property developer and art collector, who served as the last Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain.[1]

Lord Palumbo sat as a Life Peer on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords from 1991 to 2019.[2]

Early life

Of Italian descent,[3] Lord Palumbo is the only son of Rudolph Palumbo, also a property developer,[4] by his first wife Elsie Gregory.[5] He was educated at Scaitcliffe School, Englefield Green in Surrey, and then at Eton College before going up to Worcester College, Oxford, where he read jurisprudence graduating with a third-class degree.[6]

Career

Notable property projects and homes

In the 1960s Palumbo commissioned Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to build a tower in London; although it was designed, it was never built.[7]

In 1972 Palumbo bought Farnsworth House in the US (outside of Chicago), designed by Ludwig Mies, to which Palumbo added the designer's furniture. He also expanded the grounds of the house by purchasing adjacent properties and placed in them the work of sculptors including Anthony Caro and Richard Serra. Palumbo sold the property at auction to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2003. Palumbo also owns Kentuck Knob, a private house built by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Allegheny Mountains south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; owned a unit in the 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago;[7] and for a time owned Le Corbusier's Maisons Jaoul in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris.[6]

In 1994 Palumbo demolished the Mappin & Webb building in the City of London and replaced it, at No 1 Poultry, with a building designed by the British architect, Sir James Stirling, which was opened by Sir Eddie George, then Governor of the Bank of England.

Arts

Palumbo served as a Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1978 until 1985 and Chairman of its foundation (1986–87).[8] Formerly a Trustee of the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Natural History Museum, he also served as Chairman of the Serpentine Gallery's Board of Trustees. Prime Minister Thatcher appointed him Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain, serving from 1988 until 1994.

Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth (1992–2007)[9] and Chairman of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery,[10] Lord Palumbo also served as a Trustee of the Architecture Foundation and chaired the jury of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture.

Palumbo led the fundraising effort to restore and refurbish the Church of St Stephen Walbrook in London, a building designed by Sir Christopher Wren which had been badly damaged during the Blitz (World War II) – the sculptor Henry Moore was commissioned by Palumbo to create its stone altar.[11] The former Rector of St Stephen Walbrook and founder of the Samaritans, Dr Chad Varah, also served as the Palumbo family chaplain.[6]

Upon Prime Minister Thatcher's nomination, he was elevated to the peerage, being created on 4 February 1991 Baron Palumbo, of Walbrook in the City of London,[12] the territorial designation being taken from the ward and street in the parish where he was churchwarden, which were named after the former River Walbrook.[6] Lord Palumbo sat in the House of Lords until retiring from parliament on 2 September 2019.[13]

Personal life

Palumbo married Denia Wigram (only daughter of Major Lionel Wigram[14]) in 1959 – together they had one son (James Palumbo, created Baron Palumbo of Southwark in 2013) and two daughters. They divorced in 1977.[15]

After Denia died in 1986, Palumbo married Hayat Mrowa (daughter of the Lebanese newspaper publisher Kamel Mrowa, and ex-wife of businessman Ely Calil),[16] having, by his second wife, a son (the Hon. Philip Palumbo),[17] and two daughters.[18]

Royal connections

Lord Palumbo was a polo teammate of Charles, Prince of Wales, the two remaining close until 1984 when Charles publicly criticised Palumbo's plans to erect a building designed by Mies van der Rohe near St Paul's Cathedral, describing it as "a glass stump"[6] which, faced with opposition, were not realised. In 1988, Palumbo became godfather to Princess Beatrice of York, the elder daughter of the Duke of York.[19]

Arms

Coat of arms of Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo
Notes
Granted by the College of Arms[20]
Coronet
Coronet of a UK Baron
Crest
the Top of a Dovecote Or, perched on its Conical Roof Vert a Dove's wings elevated and addorsed Or.
Escutcheon
Vert a Pale Or over all an Escarbuncle counterchanged.
Supporters
Dexter: an Alsatian Dog;
Sinister: a Fox Proper, each resting the exterior foreleg on a rectangular Plinth Or.
Compartment
upon a Circle of Paving Stones Proper.
Motto
Loyaulté me lie (Loyalty binds me).

References

  1. ^ www.artscouncil.org.uk
  2. ^ www.parliament.uk
  3. ^ www.ravello.com
  4. ^ Hugh Massingberd, ed. (1998). The Daily Telegraph Fourth Book of Obituaries: Rogues. London: Macmillan. pp. 6–9. ISBN 033373999X.
  5. ^ Birth Certificate ref: June–September 1935 Marylebone 1a 602
  6. ^ a b c d e "Profile: Builder of dreams or monuments?: Peter Palumbo, a visionary at the Arts Council – Voices – The Independent". The Independent. 4 December 1993. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. ^ a b Carol Vogel (4 October 2003), Celebrated Mies House Up for Auction The New York Times.
  8. ^ www.tate.org.uk
  9. ^ "History Alumni and Development University of Portsmouth". University of Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  10. ^ www.highgatecemetery.org
  11. ^ www.ststephenwalbrook.net
  12. ^ "No. 52443". The London Gazette. 7 February 1991. p. 1993.
  13. ^ "Lord Palumbo". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  14. ^ Burke's Peerage 107th Edition, Page 3191
  15. ^ www.debretts.com
  16. ^ Rankine, Kate (13 September 2003). "Business profile: Chairman with a passion for needlework". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  17. ^ www.walbrook-club.co.uk
  18. ^ www.burkespeerage.com
  19. ^ "Princess Beatrice Gets 5 Godparents". Philadelphia Media Network. 2 September 1988. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  20. ^ www.college-of-arms.gov.uk
Media offices
Preceded by Chairman of the
Arts Council of Great Britain
1989–1994 		Succeeded by
Body replaced by national councils
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Palumbo 		Followed by