Brook Bernacchi
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Brook Antony Bernacchi (貝納褀; 22nd January 1922-1996), was a lawyer and politician in Hong Kong. He was also the founder of the Reform Club, the oldest political group in Hong Kong. During his many years as a member of the Urban Council, he became known for his struggle for direct representation.
[edit] Life
Bernacchi was educated in Westminster School and was called to the Bar in Great Britain in 1943. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1945 as part of the Royal Marines. He decided to stay in Hong Kong and consequently became a member of the Hong Kong Bar Association in 1946 and its chairman in 1963. In 1960 Bernacchi became a Queen's Counsel.
In 1948 Bernacchi and his close friend, Elsie Elliot (later known as Elsie Tu), set up the Reform Club of Hong Kong, whose main goal was to create public housing for all. He was elected to the Urban Council on 31st May 1952, where he was reelected until he stepped down in 1981, in order to protest the lack of universal suffrage. Even though he returned to politics two years later, he was only elected to the Council in 1989.
In 1994, he became the only Westerner to be sent on the first mission of Hong Kong advisers to China.
He married Patricia Sheelagh with 3 step children. He died in 1996 because of a brain tumor at the age of 74.
[edit] References
- Elisabeth Tacey, Lawyer and fighter for rights Brook Bernacchi dies at 74 South China Morning Post, 23 September, 1996.
- Urban Council, Urban Council Annual Report, 1974
