Sir Lawrence Kadoorie, Baron Kadoorie, CBE (2 June 1899 in Hong Kong - 25 August 1993 in Hong Kong) was a famous industrialist, hotelier, and philanthropist. His father was Sir Elly Kadoorie, and his uncle, Sir Ellis Kadoorie. His family were originally Mizrahi Jews from Baghdad who later migrated to Bombay (Mumbai), India in the mid-eighteenth century. He was educated at Clifton College.
Kadoorie and his brother Sir Horace Kadoorie worked for Victor Sassoon during the 1920s and 1930s, and managed his famous Shanghai hotel. They also worked for their father the famous industrialist Sir Elly Kadoorie.
Kadoorie was made a CBE and Baron Kadoorie, of Kowloon and of the City of Westminster in 1981 for his philanthropic work throughout the UK and Hong Kong.[1]
Kadoorie and his brother, Horace, both received the Magsaysay Award for public service in 1962. They were also conferred Chev.Leg.Hon. by the French government.[1]
He also gave money to the Kahal Kadosh Mekor Haim (Holy Community Fountain of Life) in order to finish the construction of the Kadoorie Synagogue for the Anusim/Marranos in Oporto, Portugal.
Kadoorie was married to Muriel Gubbay.
He is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Happy Valley, Hong Kong and survived by son and heir to his business Michael Kadoorie.[2] His widow, Muriel, died in Hong Kong on 5 December 2011.