Percy Molteno

Percy Alport Molteno (12 September 1861 – 19 September 1937) was a Cape Colony-born lawyer, director of companies, politician and philanthropist who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1906 to 1918.

Molteno was born in the Cape Colony – the second son of John C Molteno who later served as the Cape's first Prime Minister. He attended Diocesan College (Bishops), took first place in the Cape matric examination and went on to achieve great academic honours at Trinity College, Cambridge before being called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in London. After qualifying as a barrister and practising law in the Cape for several years, he moved to Britain to accept a partnership in the firm of Donald Currie & Company, managers of the Castle (later, the Union-Castle) Line, and married Sir Donald Currie's daughter Elizabeth. In his position as a manager of shipping lines, he brought in refrigeration methods to allow for the introduction of South African fruit to European markets. He is regarded as the pioneer of the South African export fruit industry.

Molteno was a prolific letter-writer who corresponded with many of the leading political figures of the colony. His writings and politics were guided by two main themes - his advocacy of responsible government and his staunch opposition to the Boer War. These views made him a divisive figure both inside and outside the Liberal Party, of which he was a member: Winston Churchill once refused to attend a dinner if he was to be sat next to him, while Henry Simpson Lunn reports fearing that his windows would be smashed if word got out that Molteno was present at his club. Molteno went on to enter the British House of Commons as the Member for Dumfriesshire in 1906.

In the years following the Boer War, Molteno withdrew from the shipping trade and devoted himself to post-war humanitarian efforts in South Africa. Although he was deeply involved in the process leading up to the Union of South Africa in 1910 (He was the adviser and confidant of a number of leading South African statesmen), the events after the union – like the rise of Afrikaner nationalism and Apartheid – led to his disillusionment with South African politics and his increasing devotion to humanitarian issues. He was a great supporter of scientific endeavour (The Molteno Institute was his endowment to Cambridge University – his Alma Mater) and was involved in the establishment of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

He died in Zurich in 1937.