Baron William de Gelsey of Gelse and Beliscse (17 December 1921, Vienna – 26 February 2021, London), internationally known as William de Gelsey, was a British banker and economist of Hungarian origin. He was chief adviser of the Board of Directors of UniCredit CAIB Securities and chairman of the board of directors at the pharmaceutical company Richter Gedeon Nyrt.[1]
William de Gelsey | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 December 1921 Vienna |
| Died | 26 February 2021 (aged 99) London |
| Citizenship | British |
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Family background
editDe Gelsey was the son of Dr. Henrik de Gelsey (1890–†?), lawyer and landowner, and Marguerite Lieser, a scion of the Gutmann family of Gelse and Beliscse. His mother was Austrian. His father's family lost their Croatian estates after the First World War. His paternal great-grandfather, Henrik Gutmann (1805–1890) of Gelse, was the president of the Nagykanizsa Savings Bank, founder and president of the Nagykanizsa Trade and Industry Bank shareholders' association, a citizen of Nagykanizsa,[2] who was granted nobility and the noble predicate of Gelse from King Franz Joseph I of Hungary on 26 December 1869; his paternal great-grandmother was Nanette Strasser (1819–1878).[3] His paternal grandfather, Baron Vilmos Gutmann of Gelse and Beliscse (1847–1921), a resident of Nagykanizsa, was appointed a royal councillor on 25 February 1882[4] and was subsequently granted the rank of Baron as well as the predicate of Beliscse on 16 September 1904.[5] In 1895, the generous Vilmos Gutmann of Gelse established the 'Vilmos Gutmann of Gelse Scholarship Foundation', which was intended for untiring students of exemplary conduct at the main grammar school of Nagykanizsa.[6] Baron William de Gelsey's paternal grandmother, was the noble Krausz Rozália of Megyer (1854–1932).[7][8] His maternal great-grandfather, Krausz Mayer (1809–1894),[9] was a landowner and distiller, who had been granted nobility and the noble predicate of megyeri by the King on 3 September 1882.[10] Baron William de Gelsey's aunt was Baroness Lilly Amália Gutmann of Gelse and Beliscse (1882–1954), whose husband, Baron Iván Skerlecz of Lomnica (1873–1951), was the Ban of Croatia-Slavonia.
Career
editAfter studying at the Royal Catholic University High School in Budapest, he followed in his father's footsteps to obtain an MA in Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge. At that time he wanted to be a chemist.
After gaining experience at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), he turned to management consulting when it became apparent that as a Hungarian he had little chance of becoming head of the international division. In 1960 he turned to investment banking. First as managing director of Hill Samuel & Co, he later became managing director and then vice-chairman of Orion Royal Bank, a major international consortium (NatWest/Chase/WestLB/Royal Bank of Canada/Credito Italiano/Mitsubishi Tr). Gelsey's nickname at Orion was Wandervogel, 'world traveller'.[11]
He visited Hungary only twice during the communism. In 1974, he represented Orion Royal Bank at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian National Bank.
In 1988 he moved to Vienna, where he became an adviser to what is now UniCredit Bank (formerly Creditanstalt).
The Hungarian subsidiary of Creditanstalt acted as the advisor to the privatisation of Gedeon Richter after which, in 1995 Gelsey was elected as a member of the Richter board. Four years later, he became chairman of the board, a position he has held ever since 2011.[12]
Charitable works
editTogether with his brother Alexander de Gelsey,[13] they played an instrumental role in returning the more than 300-year-old Royal University Catholic High School (which was closed in 1948) to its original building. It took three years of litigation to get the building back from the capital's municipality. The brothers set up the Catholic University High School Foundation, which contributed more than 100 million forints to the modernisation of the building. William de Gelsey personally secured the application for the 'EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms' tender as well as co-financed 15% of the project (€150,000).[14]
Honours and awards
edit| Ribbon | Name | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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|
Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary | 2010 | Awarded for the establishment of the Catholic University High School Foundation and in recognition of its multifaceted, supportive activities to raise the quality of Hungarian public education.[15] |
| - | Hungarian Economy Award (Magyar Gazdaságért Díj) | 2009 | [16] |
|
Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG) | 2005 | Awarded for services to the Hungarian Catholic Church.[17] |
Arms
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References
edit- ^ "Friends of Hungary Founder Baron William de Gelsey Passes Away At 100". Hungary Today. 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Gelsei Gutmann Henrik urnak" (JPG). Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Gelsei Gutmann Henrik" (JPG).
- ^ "Guttmann de Gelse Vilmos nagykanizsai lakos | Libri Regii | Hungaricana". archives.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Gutmann de Gelse et Beliscse Vilmos r:Ödön,László,Aladár nagybirtokosok | Libri Regii | Hungaricana". archives.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Kegyes tanítórendi katolikus gimnázium, Nagykanizsa, 1895 | Könyvtár | Hungaricana". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "gelsei es beliscsei özvegy báró Gutmann Vilmosné". Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Róza báróné halálára - 1932. július - Huszadik Század - Sajtócikkek a múlt századból". www.huszadikszazad.hu. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Megyeri Krausz Mayer". Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Krausz de Megyer Mayer birtokos,szesz-élesztőgyáros n:Lőwy Amália gy:Lajos,Izidor,Karolina,Ida,Anna,Paula,Teréz,Róza | Libri Regii | Hungaricana". archives.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Heroes and villains". marcosaba.tripod.com. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Gedeon Richter Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Gedeon Richter Annual Report: 8. 2014.
- ^ April 16, 2006, June 24, 1924-. "Alexander de Gelsey". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "A Gelsey fivérek és az Egyetemi Katolikus Gimnázium". egyetemi.hu. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ^ "Magyar Közlöny 2010. évi 184. szám". p. 26288. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
- ^ "Magyar Gazdaságért Díj - a Richter elnökének". Életforma (in Hungarian). 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ "ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS An. et vol. XCVIII 6 Ianuarii 2006" (PDF). p. 90. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
