Sir

Nicholas Thomas Sekers

MBE
Sekers circa 1962
Born
Miklós Szekeres

(1910-12-12)12 December 1910
Sopron, Hungary
Died23 June 1972(1972-06-23) (aged 61)
Yugoslavia
Other names"Miki"
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • Industrialist
Known forSekers Fabrics
SpouseAgota Anna Balkanyi
Children3, including David Sekers
RelativesSuzanne Balkanyi (sister-in-law)

Sir Nicholas Thomas "Miki" Sekers MBE (born Miklós Szekeres, 12 December 1910 – 23 June 1972) was a British-based industrialist who, with his cousin, founded Sekers Fabrics. He was also a patron of the arts.

Early life

He was born Miklós Szekeres[1] on 12 December 1910 in Sopron, Hungary.[2] He trained in textile technology in Krefeld, Germany.

Career

At the invitation of John Adams (later Lord Adams) who was charged with overcoming the 50% unemployment from which West Cumberland was suffering at the time, Sekers, who was Jewish,[2] arrived in Britain from Hungary in 1937 with his cousin, Tomi de Gara, to establish West Cumberland Silk Mills at Richmond Hill, Hensingham, West Cumberland, in 1938.[2] During World War II West Cumberland Silk Mills was required to make parachute silk. When supplies of silk ran low, and the new experimental product nylon was introduced as a replacement, Sekers began experimenting with the new synthetic fabric, seeing its potential for dressmaking. An introduction to Christian Dior led to Sekers producing fabrics for him and many others in the field of Dior's ready-to-wear. In the 1960s, Sekers began to design and produce furnishing fabrics. In 1962 he was awarded the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for Elegant Design (now known as the Prince Philip Designers Prize).

Patron of the Arts

He sat on the boards of Glyndeborne, the Royal Opera House, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the Royal Shakespeare Company,[3] and was an early supporter of the painter Percy Kelly.[4] He was an early patron of the portrait painter Judy Cassab and commissioned work by Oliver Messel, Graham Sutherland, John Piper and Suzanne Balkanyi. Sekers established and endowed a trust to convert a barn at his home at Rosehill, Whitehaven, into the Rosehill Theatre.[5][6]

Personal life

He was married to Agota Anna Balkanyi.[7][8] In 2008, an "extremely rare costume by Christian Dior", entitled Zemire, and the centrepiece of the Dior 1954 autumn/winter collection was spotted in a Paris auction.[7] It was discovered to have been commissioned by Agota Sekers.[7]

They had three children: Christine, born 1942, who married Jean Baudrand, the son of a textile manufacturer in Lyons; David Sekers born 1943, who married Simone Caplat, daughter of Moran Caplat, the general manager of Glyndebourne; and Alan, born 1947, who worked in film production.[2]

He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 22 April 1968.[9]

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1955 New Year Honours[10] for services to the fashion industry,[2] and was knighted in the 1965 New Year Honours[11] for services to the arts.[2]

Sekers died on 23 June 1972, in Yugoslavia, following a heart attack while on holiday there.[2]

Legacy

His portrait, a 1969 photograph by Godfrey Argent is in the National Portrait Gallery.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Sajtóiroda, NEFMI (3 September 2009). "Nemzeti Erőforrás Minisztérium - 50 éves a Sir Nicholas Sekers (Szekeres Miklós) által alapított színház Angliában". www.nefmi.gov.hu. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Crosby, Margaret (3 July 2009). "Sekers: A story woven in silk". Whitehaven News. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Johnston, Dan. "Obituary: Sir Nicholas Sekers". Design: 75. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "The Man Who 'Discovered' Percy". Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Theatre history". Rosehill Theatre. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Blackadder, Joe (2009). Rosehill: The story of a Theatre 1959–2009. Carlisle: Bookcase.
  7. 1 2 3 Victoria and Albert Museum, Online Museum (11 January 2011). "Costume cleaning conundrums". www.vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. ↑ "Freya Stark: An Inventory of Her Collection at the Harry Ransom Center". norman.hrc.utexas.edu.
  9. ↑ "Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Sir Nicholas Sekers". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "No. 40366". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1954. p. 20.
  11. ↑ "No. 43529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1964. p. 1.
  12. ↑ "Sir Nicholas Thomas Sekers". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
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