Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo
Peter Garth Palumbo, Baron Palumbo, is a British property developer, devotee of architecture, and art collector, who served as the last Chairman of the unified Arts Council of Great Britain, before it was divided into separate councils in 1994.
Lord Palumbo sat as a Life Peer on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords from 1991 to 2019.
Early life
Of Italian descent, Lord Palumbo is the only son of Rudolph Palumbo, also a property developer, by his first wife Elsie Gregory. He was educated at Scaitcliffe School, Englefield Green in Surrey, and then at Eton College before going up to Worcester College, Oxford, where he read jurisprudence graduating with a third-class degree.Career
Notable property projects and homes
In the 1960s Palumbo commissioned Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to build a tower in London; although it was designed, it was never built.In 1972 Palumbo bought Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, US, designed by Ludwig Mies, to which Palumbo added the designer's furniture. He also expanded the grounds of the house by purchasing adjacent properties and placed in them the work of sculptors including Anthony Caro and Richard Serra. Palumbo sold the property at auction to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2003. Palumbo also owns Kentuck Knob, a private house built by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Allegheny Mountains south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; owned a unit in the 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago; and for a time owned Le Corbusier's Maisons Jaoul in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris.
In 1994 Palumbo demolished the Mappin & Webb building in the City of London and replaced it, at No 1 Poultry, with a building designed by the British architect, Sir James Stirling, which was opened by Sir Eddie George, then Governor of the Bank of England.
In 2000, Palumbo opened the Walbrook Club, a private members' club in the City of London, which he has owned and operated since.
Arts
Palumbo served as a Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1978 until 1985 and Chairman of its foundation. Formerly a Trustee of the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Natural History Museum, he also served as Chairman of the Serpentine Gallery's Board of Trustees. Prime Minister Thatcher appointed him Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain, serving from 1988 until 1994.Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth and Chairman of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, Lord Palumbo also served as a Trustee of the Architecture Foundation and chaired the jury of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture.
Palumbo led the fundraising effort to restore and refurbish the Church of St Stephen Walbrook in London, a building designed by Sir Christopher Wren which had been badly damaged during the Blitz – the sculptor Henry Moore was commissioned by Palumbo to create its stone altar. The former Rector of St Stephen Walbrook and founder of the Samaritans, Dr Chad Varah, also served as the Palumbo family chaplain.
Upon Prime Minister Thatcher's nomination, he was elevated to the peerage, being created on 4 February 1991 Baron Palumbo, of Walbrook in the City of London, the territorial designation being taken from the ward and street in the parish where he was churchwarden, which were named after the former River Walbrook. Lord Palumbo sat in the House of Lords until retiring from parliament on 2 September 2019.
Personal life
Palumbo married Denia Wigram in 1959 – together they had one son and two daughters. They divorced in 1977.After Denia died in 1986, Palumbo married Hayat Mrowa, having, by his second wife, a son, and two daughters.