Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan
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Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan (June 6, 1915 – January 17, 1995) was a British industrialist and the founder of Kagan Textiles, of Elland, who made raincoats from the waterproof Gannex fabric which Kagan had invented. Gannex raincoats were most famously worn by Harold Wilson. He was sent to prison for ten months in 1980 for stealing from his own companies.
[edit] Early life
He was born Joseph Kaganas into the ancient Jewish community in Lithuania. He first came to Britain in 1934 to study at Leeds University but returned to Lithuania where he was trapped on the outbreak of World War II in Kovno. He married Margarita Shtromaite (later Dame Margaret Kagan) in the Kovno Ghetto. The newlyweds and Joseph's mother, Mira managed to survive over three years in the Kovno ghetto hiding in a factory, and then sold radios in Bucharest. From 1946 he settled in Huddersfield and began work as a blanket weaver. He founded his firm at a small factory opposite Elland Town Hall. His father Benjamin also emigrated: he was the second oldest man in Britain when he died at the age of 109.
[edit] Rise to wealth and fame
In 1951 Kagan invented Gannex and his firm began to grow in size, moving to a larger mill in Dewsbury Road. The raincoats became fashion icons, with several celebrities wearing them, including Royalty[citation needed]. In 1967, he bought Barkisland Hall, Barkisland as accommodation for visitors to his company.
[Huddersfield]] was the home town of Harold Wilson, later Leader of the Opposition in 1963, and Kagan became close to Wilson and provided funding for his private office. Upon Wilson's resignation honours list in 1970, he was given a knighthood.
[edit] Fall from grace
When Wilson finally resigned as Prime Minister, Kagan was made a life peer as Baron Kagan, of Elland in the County of West Yorkshire on the "Lavender List" in 1976, taking the Labour Party whip.
A police investigation into irregularities in his companies[citation needed] found criminal behaviour and Kagan was prosecuted; attempting to flee the country, to either Israel or Spain, he was stopped in Paris[citation needed]. On December 12, 1980, he was convicted of four counts of theft and sentenced to ten months in prison and fined £105,000 (approxiametly US$ 200,000, unadjusted for inflation). He lost his knighthood but his peerage could not be forfeited. Upon release from custody, he returned to the House of Lords and campaigned for prison reform[citation needed]. In 1994, he suffered a heart attack in the House of Lords chamber. He died the following year.
