Frank Goldsmith

Major Frank Goldsmith (1878-February 14, 1967) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and luxury hotel owner in France and the United Kingdom.

Born Franck Adolphe Benedict Goldschmidt in 1878, the son of Adolphe Benedict Hayum Goldschmidt and Alice Emma Moses Merton (1835-98), daughter of Joseph Benjamin Moses aka Moses Merton. His grandfather was Benedict Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt, banker and consul to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, founder of the B.H.Goldschmidt Bank.

Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, he gained an honours degree in law and was called to Bar by the Inner Temple in 1902. In 1903 he was elected to Westminster City Council, remaining a member for four years. In 1904 he was elected a member of London County Council representing South St. Pancras with W.H.H. Gastrell as municipal reformers, having defeated both George Bernard Shaw and Sir William Geary, who were standing as Progressives. From 1904 to 1910 Goldsmith was active on many committees showing great interest in education and special schooling, becoming whip of the Municipal Reform Party. He was also involved in many Jewish charities, assisting in the organizations involved in the emigration of Jews from the Russian Empire and became a member of the emigration committee of the Jewish Board of Guardians.

In 1910 Goldsmith was elected Conservative M.P. for Stowmarket, close to his family home of Cavenham Park. Although remaining an M.P. until 1918 his political career was ended at the outbreak of the 1st World War where he served in Palestine and Gallipoli with the Suffolk Yeomanry.

After the war Goldsmith moved to France where he set up a hotel business. He married Marcelle Moullier in June, 1929. Goldsmith eventually built up a portfolio of 48 hotels including the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, the Carlton in Cannes and the Lotti in Paris. He was director of the Savoy Hotel company for many years and one of the founders of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. He was Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. He died in Paris on February 14, 1967, leaving a widow and two sons, Edward Goldsmith, an environmentalist and eco-philosopher, and James Goldsmith, billionaire businessman and founder of the Euro-sceptic Referendum Party.

References

* The Times Obituary, February 17, 1967 pg.14
* [http://www.heymannfamily.com/phpgedview/individual.php?pid=I01530 Genealogy]
* [http://www.juedischesmuseum.de/judengasse/ehtml/F028.htm Goldschmidt-Kassel family]