Michael Harris Caine

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For other uses, see Michael Caine (disambiguation).

Sir Michael Harris Caine (17 June 1927 – 20 March 1999)[1] was an English businessman. He headed Booker Bros and Booker plc, the food wholesalers. His philanthropic activities included co-founding the Man Booker Prize, creating the Caine Prize and the Russian Booker Prize, and serving as president of the Royal African Society.

Career[]

Michael Harris Caine was born in British Hong Kong on 17 June 1927,[2] the son of economist Sydney Caine, who was later Financial Secretary of Hong Kong and director of the London School of Economics. Michael Caine attended Bedales, an independent school notable for its progressive ethos. He studied at the University of Oxford, receiving his bachelor's degree after writing on slavery and secession in the United States. He received his master's degree at George Washington University.

He was an executive and board member at Booker plc, chief executive from 1975 to 1979 and finally chairman until 1993, the year he retired.

He helped establish the Man Booker Prize for literary fiction, using the Prix Goncourt as a model. He chaired the Booker Prize Management Committee.[1][3]

Caine headed and maintained several Africa-focused organizations and initiatives, including the Royal African Society, the Africa Centre (for which he chaired the council of management from 1995),[4] the African Emerging Markets Fund, Africa '95 and the United Kingdom Council for Overseas Students. For his philanthropic work he was knighted in 1988.

Personal life[]

With his first wife, Janice Mercer, he had one son and one daughter; the couple divorced in 1987. Later that year he married the politician and philanthropist Emma Nicholson. Together they had a foster son, Amar Kanim, who was rescued from Iraq after surviving a napalm attack during the 1991 uprisings there.[5]

Caine was frequently confused with the actor Michael Caine, as his second wife recalled, "An enormous number of times. The phone would ring in the middle of the night, and there would be these inebriated women calling from Los Angeles saying, 'I'm coming over, I'm on the next plane, get my room ready.'"[3]

He died on 20 March 1999 in London.[1][3]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Trewin, Ion (24 March 1999). "Obituary: Sir Michael Caine". The Independent. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ^ Trewin, Ion (23 October 2011). "Obituary: Sir Michael Caine". The Independent. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Hoge, Warren (24 March 1999). "Sir Michael Caine, 71, Muse Behind Britain's Booker Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  4. ^ Niven, Alastair (23 March 1999). "Sir Michael Caine obituary". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Kay, Jon (13 May 2019). "The boy in the photo". BBC.
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