Melchett (Mond), Alfrd Moritz, Lord

(1868–1930)

   British industrialist, politician and Zionist. Ludwig Mond settled in England from Germany in 1867, and built up the chemical firm of Brunner, Mond and Company, as well as the Mond Nickel company. His son Alfred succeeded him and by a series of mergers established the giant complex of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926. Alfred Mond entered politics as a Liberal member of Parliament in 1906. He held the offices of commissioner of works (1916–21) and minister of health (1921–2). In 1926 he resigned over policy differences and joined the Conservative Party. He had progressive and far-sighted views on management- labour relations; in 1928 he organized a successful conference of businessmen and trade union leaders. He was knighted in 1910 and in 1928 made Lord Melchett of Landford.

   Mond had no religious education. His wife was not Jewish, and his two children, Henry and Eva Violet, were brought up as Christians. However, Mond became a Zionist at the time of the BALFOUR Declaration in 1917, and from then on played a prominent part in the movement. He visited Palestine for the first time in 1921 with Dr WEIZMANN, and accepted the chairmanship of the newly formed Economic Council for Palestine. In 1928 he was elected president of the English Zionist Federation and the following year became associate- chairman of the expanded Jewish Agency Council. He built himself a villa with a beautiful garden on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and founded the settlement of Tel Mond in the citrus-belt in the Sharon plain. After Hitler’s rise to power, Lord Melchett’s two children converted to Judaism, and both of them shared his Zionist enthusiasm. Henry (1898–1949), the second Baron Melchett, was chairman of the Jewish Agency Council, and president of the World Maccabi Union. Eva (1895–1973), who married the second marquess of Reading, was an active Zionist. She was chairman of the British section of the World Jewish Congress and vice-chairman of the International Council of Women. In 1972 she was elected president of the Liberal and Progressive Synagogues. Henry’s son, Julian (1925–73), the third Lord Melchett, was appointed chairman of the British Steel Board.