Sir Leon Bagrit (13 March 1902 – 22 April 1979) was a leading British industrialist and pioneer of automation.
Early life and education
Born to Jewish parents in Kiev, in the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine), Sir Leon studied law at Birkbeck College in the University of London, formed his own company in 1935, and for many years headed the revamped firm of Elliott-Automation Ltd., which, outside the United States, was the largest computer manufacturer in the world.[1]
Career
Leon Bagrit was a member of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 1963–1965 and the Advisory Council on Technology, 1964-1979. He was a director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1962-1970. He founded the Friends of Covent Garden, and chaired it, 1962-1969. In 1964, he was invited by the BBC to present the Reith Lectures.[2] Across six broadcasts, titled The Age of Automation,[3] he explored how the increased technological development of the time would change people's lifestyles, and the wider world.
Due to the generosity of the Bagrit Trust, a dedicated building, the Sir Leon Bagrit Centre, was opened in the summer of 1991. This Centre formed a cornerstone of the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London and the next step in the development of bioengineering at Imperial.[4]
See also
- List of Jews born in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
- List of British Jews
- List of Ukrainian Jews
- List of Old Olavians
- Who was Who
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
References
- ^ Taku, Thomas A. (1999). Framework for Industrialization in Africa. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275964986.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures". BBC.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures, Leon Bagrit: The Age of Automation: 1964". BBC.
- ^ "The Sir Leon Bagrit Memorial Trust". Imperial College London.
External links
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