Leo Goldschmidt 13 August 1932 – 14 December 2022

It is with tremendous sadness that the school has received the news of the death of Leo Goldschmidt OW, age 90.

Leo came to MCS in 1942 as a refugee from war-torn Europe. He and his family escaped from Brussels following the Nazi occupation of Belgium in May 1940. They came to Britain as part of a convoy that saw the ship ahead of them sunk with the loss of all hands. Leo and his family were in London during the blitz of August of that year.

Leo’s exceptional scholarly abilities saw him supported by the British Council to attend MCS, where he boarded from September 1942 until the end of the war. He returned to Brussels with his family after the war, where he remained.

Leo Goldschmidt supported bursaries at MCS for many years and was the first Old Waynflete to endow a bursary. He understood the importance of creating in perpetuity support for pupils who might not otherwise be able to benefit from an MCS education in the way that he did. In doing so he recognised the transformative experience of MCS, and the way that a mix of pupils creates a stronger, healthier school for everyone. His wisdom and farsightedness were an inspiration to the school’s Governors when they committed to increasing the school’s endowed bursary provision. Leo became the school’s first Modern Founder in recognition of his extraordinary generosity.

Leo’s last visit to school was in 2017, although he welcomed the Master to his home in Brussels on a number of occasions after that. In 2017 he remarked:  “I made my contribution out of gratitude, not only to MCS but also to the British Government which, at the height of the War, still made it possible for a foreign and penniless refugee family to send their ten-year old son to such a remarkable educational institution.” In recent years he has received news of the school’s support for local charity Asylum Welcome with enthusiasm.

Master of MCS, Helen Pike, said: “Leo Goldschmidt was an eminently civilised man, and it was a privilege to have known him. His benevolent support and companionship have been a constant for many years. He was a great man, with a deep commitment to Anne-Marie and all his family. Our thoughts are with them.

“Leo will be honoured here at Magdalen College School in perpetuity. He is the first of our Modern Founders, and is celebrated in our Endowment Book. I was glad to be able to take the Book to show him during what has become my last visit with him in Brussels.

“I shall miss his distinctive voice, his solicitous emails – and above all his love of MCS, a love born out of a recognition of how his time in Oxford guided many paths in his life. I also recall his delighted smile as he opened a small gift from MCS during my most recent visit: a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone translated into Latin. He looked forward to the challenge.”

Bill Morris, Chair of OW Committee, said: “In the difficult times we have faced and are still facing it is worth reflecting on how much more difficult it was in Europe when Leo Goldschmidt arrived at Magdalen College School in the desperate days of 1942. He came here after a tortuous journey by land and sea. It speaks volumes that this wonderful man always acknowledged the debt he owed to MCS and repaid it manyfold during the course of his fulfilling life. Everyone involved with MCS mourns his passing. His membership of the Old Waynfletes and indeed the whole MCS community will be sadly missed. We are most grateful to have known him for all these years.“

Neil Record OW, former Governor said: “I got to know Leo a couple of decades ago as we were both regular visitors to the school. He impressed me enormously as embodying all that is noble about the human spirit. A man who as a boy was a refugee from Nazi Germany, and who never forgot the debt, as he saw it, that he owed MCS in particular, and Britain in general. He had great success in business, and has more than repaid MCS with his generosity and inspiring love of learning.”

John Leighfield OW, former Governor and President of the Bob Stanier Legacy Society said: “It is hard to contemplate the MCS family without Leo. He has always embodied all that is best in the school. Starting from incredibly difficult circumstances but with a natural ability and steadfastness, he blossomed at MCS, and his actions were the pre-eminent symbol of gratitude for all the school does for its alumni. The school made a major impact on Leo; Leo’s generosity, and its example to others, will make an enormous, permanent, impact on the school.“

The Magdalen College School Endowment Book marks Leo’s signal generosity to MCS through an illuminated letter. It shows the school crest, Magdalen College tower, an outline map of Belgium and a lion, from a post-WWII Belgian coin symbolising Leo’s career in banking in Belgium.

Leo recorded an oral history during his visit in 2017 and his memoir, Seven Nines, is held in the MCS Archive.