Simon David Davan Sainsbury (1 March 1930 – 27 September 2006) was a British businessman, philanthropist and art collector.
Early life
Sainsbury was born in London,[1] the middle son of Alan Sainsbury and his wife Doreen. His brothers are John; Timothy, former Conservative Minister of Trade. David Sainsbury, Labour life peer and Minister for Science, is a cousin.[2] His great-grandfather, John James Sainsbury, established a grocer's at 173 Drury Lane in 1869 which became the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's.
Sainsbury trained as a chartered accountant after leaving university. He joined the finance department of the family company, then known as J. Sainsbury, in 1956 and became a director in 1959,[1] responsible for finance. When his brother John became chairman of Sainsbury's in 1969, Simon was given the deputy chairmanship. In 1973, it was Simon who steered the company through what became the largest ever floatation on the London Stock Exchange.[2]
Charitable works
The Judge Business School, established using Sainsbury fundsMr and Mrs Carter of Bullingdon House, Bulmer, Essex by Thomas Gainsborough, one of the older paintings in the bequest
Near the end of his life, Sainsbury entered into a civil partnership with his partner of 40 years, Stewart Grimshaw, a restaurateur and bookseller. He suffered from Parkinson's disease in his later years, and ultimately suffered a fall which caused his death.[2]
Upon his death in 2006, Sainsbury bequeathed the cream of his art collection to the National Gallery and the Tate. The combined value of the paintings in the bequest has been estimated at £100 million.[5] In 2008, the National Gallery received five works, by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, and Henri Rousseau, and the Tate thirteen, including works by Balthus and Lucian Freud.[5] Sir Nicholas Serota, the director of the latter institution, called the bequest "one of the most important gifts in the history of Tate".[6]