biography
pronunciation:
[kaw(r)tohld]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1876–1947)
|
| biography:
| British industrialist, a descendant of Samuel Courtauld (1793–1881), the Huguenot founder of the silk manufacturing company in 1816. As chairman of Courtaulds Ltd he promoted the British synthetic fibre industry. He bought the exclusive British rights to the viscose process of making artificial silk, later to be known as rayon. In the 1940s and 1950s, his company developed acrylic (‘Courtelle’) and triacetate (‘Tricel’) synthetic fibres. In subsequent decades Courtaulds acquired many textile and clothing companies. A patron of art and music, he founded the Courtauld Institute of Art in Portman Square, London, and donated it along with his art collection to London University. |
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