Sternberg, Sir Sigmund

Sternberg, Sir Sigmund
▪ 1999

      On March 4, 1998, Sir Sigmund Sternberg, British businessman and philanthropist, was named winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest annual monetary award—$1,230,000—for having "advanced public understanding of God and spirituality." The prize was established by Sir John Templeton in 1972 to complement the Nobel Prizes, which he felt neglected humanity's spiritual dimension.

      Sternberg was born in Budapest on June 2, 1921. The seeds of his interest in improving interfaith relations were sown during his childhood through his early awareness of the absence of dialogue between Roman Catholics and Jews. Owing to quota restrictions for Jews at the University of Budapest and to the rise of Nazism, he left Hungary for Great Britain in 1939. At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, he was classified by the British government as a "friendly enemy alien"; Hungary was not at war with Britain but was not an ally. Because of the classification, he could not attend school and so began to work in metal recycling. He established his own business in that industry, became a member of the London Metal Exchange (1945), and was naturalized as a British citizen (1947).

      Sternberg's involvement in business, civic life, and charitable causes paved the way for his interfaith work and resulted in his knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1976. In 1979 he joined the International Council of Christians and Jews, an umbrella organization created to fight anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia, and in 1981 he founded the Sternberg Centre for Judaism, Europe's largest Jewish cultural centre. The recipient of honours bestowed by many nations, he was in 1985 named a Knight Commander of the Pontifical and Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great at the request of Pope John Paul II, only the second Jew so named in the United Kingdom. His many accomplishments included helping to arrange the first-ever papal visit to a synagogue (Rome, 1986); helping to establish diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel (1993); and assisting in the creation of the Three Faiths Forum to promote mutual understanding between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism (1997).

      During recent years Sternberg became best known for his facilitation of the Geneva Declaration, an agreement calling for the removal of a Carmelite convent that had been established in the mid-1980s at the site of the World War II Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in Poland. Although the nuns' intent was to pray for the camp's victims, many considered their presence an intrusion in a setting where nearly two million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Prior to Sir Sigmund's intercession in 1989, relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people had deteriorated. He negotiated with Poland's Jozef Cardinal Glemp, who subsequently agreed to the move, which was eventually completed in 1993.

      Sir Sigmund was the second Jew—and the first Reform Jew—to receive the Templeton Prize. The prize money was to be used by the Sternberg Charitable Foundation to support its interfaith causes.

REBECCA RUNDALL

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • STERNBERG, SIR SIGMUND — (1921– ), British businessman, interfaith activist, and patron of Reform Judaism. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Sternberg came to England in 1939 when antisemitic laws made it difficult to receive a higher education in Hungary. After the war he… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Sternberg — may refer to: Places * Sternberg, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, a town in Germany * Šternberk ( Sternberg in German), a town in the Czech Republic and seat of the mediæval County of Sternberg * Český Šternberk, a town in the Czech Republic * Torzym (… …   Wikipedia

  • Sigmund Sternberg — Sir Sigmund Sternberg is a British philanthropist, businessman and Labour Party donor. He has worked in promoting dialogue between different faiths. Successes in this area include: *Relocating a Roman Catholic convent at Auschwitz. *Organising… …   Wikipedia

  • religion — religionless, adj. /ri lij euhn/, n. 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and… …   Universalium

  • Movement for Reform Judaism — The Movement for Reform Judaism Type charity Founded 1958 (1958) Headquarters The Ster …   Wikipedia

  • ENGLAND — The British Isles were unknown to the Jews until a late date, and the settlement of the Jews in medieval England was among the latest in Europe. It is possible that a small nucleus was to be found there under the Romans and that in the Saxon… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Kurt Schubert — (* 4. März 1923 in Wien; † 4. Februar 2007 ebenda) war der Doyen der österreichischen Judaistik. Er war maßgeblich am Wiederaufbau der Universität Wien im Frühjahr 1945 beteiligt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Auszeichnungen 3 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Calendar of 1998 — ▪ 1999 January January 1       At the stroke of the new year, the Russian ruble is worth a thousand times less than before as three zeros are removed from its value; about six new rubles equal one U.S. dollar.       Foreign Minister David Levy… …   Universalium

  • Internationaler Rat der Christen und Juden — Der Internationale Rat der Christen und Juden (ICCJ) ist der internationale Dachverband von 38 nationalen christlich jüdischen und interreligiösen Dialogorganisationen in 32 Ländern. Der ICCJ und viele seiner Mitgliedsorganisationen engagieren… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Canon Andrew White — Infobox clergy name = Andrew White image size = caption = birth date = 1964 birth place = Bexley, Kent, England death date = death place = church = Church of England other names = education = ordained = 1990 writings = congregations = offices… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”