Coalition of Jewish community charities, including CAA, demands that University of Oxford does not honour Mosley family name amid donation scandal

A joint open letter from a coalition of Jewish charities, including Campaign Against Antisemitism, has demanded that the University of Oxford and St Peter’s College, Oxford, do not “honour or use the Mosley family name” amid a donation scandal engulfing the institution.

The University was reportedly given a £6 million donation from a charitable trust established by Max Mosley, the Formula One tycoon. His fortune originated as an inheritance from his father, Sir Oswald Mosley, who was leader of the antisemitic British Union of Fascists and who wedded his wife in Joseph Goebbels’ house in the presence of Adolf Hitler. Mr Mosley is believed to have supported his father’s cause — and the Union Movement, which succeeded the British Union of Fascists — during the late 1950s and 1960s.

The £6 million donation to the University was to endow the Alexander Mosley Professor of Biophysics Fund. In addition, St Peter’s College was due to receive a £5 million donation to build a new block of student accommodation named Alexander Mosley House. Mr Mosley, who died earlier this year, set up the trust ten years ago in the name of his son, Alexander, who was an alumnus of St Peter’s College and died of a drug overdose.

Writing together, the charities told the University and College: “We find it extraordinary that, at a time when the university and its colleges are reviewing their legacies and making more efforts to be inclusive of minorities, your institutions could readily accept contributions from a notorious fascist family that has caused immense pain to the Jewish community within living memory and whose fortune derives from a man who strove to see the antisemitic policies of Adolf Hitler implemented in this country,” the letter said.

“We are at a loss to understand how you imagine a present or future Jewish student will react to being taught by a professor, or having to live in accommodation, that celebrates a family whose patriarch led violent marches through Jewish neighbourhoods, and who was married at Joseph Goebbels’s house in Berlin in the presence of Adolf Hitler.”

Signed by ten national and local charities, the letter concluded by urging Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Louise Richardson, and the master of St Peter’s College, Prof. Judith Buchanan, “in the strongest possible terms” to “apply a portion of the funds to education about antisemitism, delivered by a credible organisation; dedicate some of the funds to supporting Jewish life at the University, and at St Peter’s in particular; and confirm that no project, including the endowed chair and the student accommodation, will honour or use the Mosley family name.”

The letter is signed by AJEX, The Jewish Military Association; Campaign Against Antisemitism; the Community Security Trust; Generation 2 Generation, which helps the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors to tell their family stories; the Holocaust Educational Trust; the Jewish Leadership Council; Oxford Chabad Society; Oxford Jewish Society; the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Europe; and the Union of Jewish Students.

It has also emerged that Imperial College London received almost £2.5 million and University College London received half a million pounds from the trust, even as both universities have been reviewing the names and legacies of their buildings in sensitivity toward other minorities.

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities. The University of Oxford has adopted the Definition.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].