Alcon Copisarow

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Six men in suits and ties standing in front of a building
Alcon Copisarow (3rd from left) in 1953

Sir Alcon Charles Copisarow (25 June 1920 – 2 August 2017) was a British civil servant and management consultant who was the British government's chief scientific adviser at the Ministry of Technology during the Harold Wilson government.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Early life[edit]

Copisarow was born at Moss Side, Manchester to Maurice (né Moses)[7] Copisarow (1889–1959) and Eda (née Cohen). Maurice Copisarow was a chemist who worked for the Ministry of Munitions during the First World War and, despite his later blindness (possibly caused by contact with toxic chemicals), continued to produce highly regarded papers on subjects as varied as cancer research and agricultural chemistry. His father, Elkana (later "Conan") Copisarow, was a rabbinical scholar of Biruch, Russia, who settled in Manchester in 1908.[8][9]

Alcon Copisarow was educated at Manchester University, Imperial College London, and the Sorbonne.[10]

Career[edit]

During the Second World War, Copisarow served in the Royal Navy as a lieutenant.[11] He subsequently held Civil Service and other governmental posts: Scientific Counsellor at the British Embassy, Paris 1954–60, Director of Forest Products Research Laboratory 1960–2, Chief Technical Officer, NEDC 1962–4, Chief Scientific Officer, Ministry of Technology 1964–6. He was knighted in 1988.[12]

Personal life[edit]

In 1954, Copisarow married Diana (1933-2019),[13] daughter of Maj. Ellis James Castello, M.C. and a descendant on her mother's side of Alfred Louis Cohen, brother of Sir Benjamin Cohen, 1st Baronet. They had four children.[14][15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sir Alcon Copisarow, top consultant and friend to royalty, dies aged 97". thejc.com. 3 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Sir Alcon Copisarow, scientist, management consultant and chairman of the Eden project – obituary". The Telegraph. 18 August 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Sir Alcon Charles Copisarow's Obituary on The Times". The Times.
  4. ^ Hill, Andrew (29 December 2014). "A McKinsey knight with a quiver full of arrows". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Sir Alcon Copisarow". 28 September 2017 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  6. ^ "McKinsey Alumni Center- Spotlight On: Sir Alcon Copisarow". alumni.mckinsey.com.
  7. ^ University of Manchester Register of Graduates and holders of diplomas and certificates 1851-1958, ed. Vincent Knowles, Manchester University Press, p. 141
  8. ^ Robinson, Robert (2004). "Copisarow, Maurice (1889–1959), chemist". In Watson, K. D (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32560. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, ed. William D. Rubinstein, et al, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 181
  10. ^ The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, ed. William D. Rubinstein, et al, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 181
  11. ^ "Reference at www.thejc.com".
  12. ^ The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, ed. William D. Rubinstein, et al, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 181
  13. ^ "COPISAROW - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements".
  14. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., 2003, vol. 3, p. 4037
  15. ^ The Samuel Family of Liverpool and London: from 1755 onwards, a biographical and genealogical dictionary of the descendants of Emanuel Samuel, R. J. d'A. Hart, Routledge and Paul, 1958, pp. 14, 1955
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