Samuel, Howard

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SAMUEL, HOWARD

SAMUEL, HOWARD (1914–1961), British property developer and Labour publisher. Born in London, the son of a prominent jeweler, Howard Samuel was the cousin of the property developer Harold *Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross. Howard Samuel was educated at St. Paul's School and founded his own estate agency with his brother Basil. After 1945 Samuel's firm, Land Securities, emerged as Britain's largest property developer and estate agent. The holding company Samuel formed, Great Portland Estates Ltd., also became nationally known. Although one of the richest men in the country, Samuel was a strong supporter of the Labour Party and was actively involved in financing the left-wing periodicals Tribune and the New Statesman. He was also a close friend of the radical Labour leader Aneurin Bevan. Samuel died in Greece of a heart attack at the age of only 48, leaving a fortune of £3.8 million, making him probably one of the twenty richest men in Britain at the time.

bibliography:

odnb online; O. Marriott, The Property Boom (1967).

[William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)]

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