Sigismund Mendl

Sir Sigismund Ferdinand Mendl KBE (2 December 1866 – 17 July 1945) was a British Liberal Party politician and businessman.

Sir
Sigismund Mendl
KBE, MP
Member of Parliament
for Plymouth
In office
1898–1900
Preceded byWilliam Pearce
Succeeded byCharles Harrison
Personal details
Born(1866-12-02)2 December 1866
Kensington, London
Died17 July 1945(1945-07-17) (aged 78)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Party
ProfessionPolitician

Early life

Mendl was born in Kensington, the son of Czech-born grain importer and shipowner Ferdinand and Jeanette Rachel Mendl.[1][2] He was educated at Harrow School and University College, Oxford, graduating with second-class honours in Jurisprudence, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple.[3][4][5] Mendl was a grain importer, like his father, and served as president of the London Corn Trade Association from 1909 to 1912 and again from 1915 to 1919, and on the Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies until 1920.[5][6] From 1915 to 1918, he was also a member of the War Office Advisory Committee on Army Contracts.[5] Mendl was the first chair of Decca Records, a company that his grandson, Hugh, worked for.[7] He was appointed Vice President of the World Services Group in 1938.[8]

Political career

Mendl was the Liberal MP for Plymouth from 1898 to 1900, having unsuccessfully contested the seat in 1895 and the Isle of Wight constituency in 1892.[4] During his election campaign in Plymouth, the Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler urged Jewish voters in Plymouth to vote for the non-Jewish Conservative candidate over Mendl, who was Jewish.[6] From 1915 to 1918, Mendl served on the War Office Advisory Committee on Army Contracts. Mendl was knighted in 1918.[1]

Personal life

He married Frances Moses in 1888, with whom he had two sons.[3][5] His younger brother, Charles Mendl, was a diplomat.[2] He died on 17 July 1945.[9] His funeral was held on 20 July at Golders Green Crematorium.[10]

References
  1. William D. Rubinstein; Michael Jolles; Hilary L. Rubinstein (22 February 2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 665. ISBN 978-1-4039-3910-4.
  2. "Mendl, Sir Charles Ferdinand (1871–1958), information officer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34985. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. "Mendl, Sir Sigismund Ferdinand, (2 Dec. 1866–17 July 1945), Chairman of the National Discount Co. and Director of the London Life Association, etc". Who's Who & Who Was Who. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U229194. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1.
  4. "MENDL, SIGISMUND FERDINAND - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com.
  5. "Register". Retrieved 25 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. Julius Carlebach (1991). Second Chance: Two Centuries of German-speaking Jews in the United Kingdom. Mohr Siebeck. p. 183. ISBN 978-3-16-145741-8.
  7. Simon Napier-Bell (26 June 2014). Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay: The dodgy business of popular music. Random House. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-78352-030-5.
  8. "Register". Retrieved 25 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Obituary: Sir Sigismund Mendl". The Times. 18 July 1945.
  10. "Funerals: Sir Sigismund Mendl". The Times. 20 July 1945.


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