Ramadan Güney

Güney's mausoleum in Brookwood Cemetery

Güney was born in Paphos, Cyprus in 1932 to Turkish Cypriot parents.[5] After leaving school, he served in the British Army and police on the island. However, in 1955, with the rise of EOKA Greek Cypriots fought a violent campaign for the end of British rule as well as for union with Greece (enosis); Güney fought against this by becoming a founding member of the Volkan organisation.[5] In 1958 he emigrated to Britain where he set up a music publishing business and became a millionaire at the age of 35.[6] In 1977 he helped found and run the first Turkish Cypriot mosque in London, called the Shacklewell Lane Mosque, and worked on a variety of social and community projects, arising from his work with the UK Turkish Islamic Centre.[3]

He acquired Brookwood Cemetery in 1985, the purchase evolving from Güney's role as Chairman of the UK Turkish Islamic Trust, which wanted suitable burial facilities for its members.[3]

In 1990 he stood guarantor for £1m for the bail of Asil Nadir,[7] who was accused and eventually convicted of theft in his role as the chief executive of Polly Peck, a British textile company. [8] Nadir eventually fled, but the courts ruled that Güney was not liable to pay the £1m because bail had not technically been renewed; it also turned out that Güney had warned the Serious Fraud Office in advance of his concerns that Nadir might flee.[7]

He died at the age of 74 in Northern Cyprus. Following a service at his mosque in London, he was buried in his family vault at Brookwood Cemetery on Friday 10 November 2006.[3]

Güney was married to Süheyla Güney who died in 1992.[9] They had two sons and four daughters from this marriage.[3]

Diane Holliday was Güney's partner of 6 years before his death.[10] In 2011, the inheritance of the cemetery was successfully challenged by Diane Holliday and her adult son from a previous marriage, Kevin.[11]