Leslie Porter

Porter was born in London, to Henry and Jane Posament. His first job, at age 14, was at HR Owen Rolls-Royce dealers, where he demonstrated his ability in sales. He joined the family owned textile business, J. Porter & Co., in 1938, after completing his schooling at Holloway County School.

During the Second World War, Porter served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in Egypt, Greece, Crete, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Italy, rising to the rank of Quartermaster sergeant, 1st Battalion in The Rangers. He re-joined the family business in 1946 and immediately reorganised the operations and structure of the company to include linens for the home and furnishing fabrics. By 1954 the business was making a profit and in 1955, Porter was appointed as managing director.

In 1948, Leslie Porter married Shirley Cohen (appointed DBE in 1991), daughter to Jack Cohen, founder of the Tesco supermarket chain. Jack, impressed with Leslie's success at J. Porter & Co. immediately offered him a job; however, independently wealthy and successful, Leslie did not make the move to Tesco Stores until 1959. Leslie and Shirley Porter had two children, John and Linda.

Sir Leslie retired with his wife Dame Shirley to Herzliya Pituah, Israel, in 1993 and was actively involved in philanthropic activities until his death in 2005. Their involvement included among others the Porter Foundation, and a number of charitable organisations in Israel and the United Kingdom.

In 1993, Sir Leslie Porter was appointed as Chancellor of Tel Aviv University. During his tenure, Porter and his wife set up several scholarship funds at the university, as well as working to expand the university premises by donating funds for the Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, Porter Institute for Semiotics and Poetics, the Cohen-Porter United Kingdom Building of Life Sciences and the Cohen-Porter Family Swimming Pool.

Care for the elderly and services to benefit the elderly formed a large part of Porter's philanthropic activities in the United Kingdom, through the Porter Foundation and in Israel, with the funding of the Porter Senior Citizen Centre in Jaffa.

Sir Leslie Porter was a supporter of the arts, with his endowment of The Porter Gallery at Britain's National Portrait Gallery, and funding for The Porter Gallery at the V&A, as well as the Royal Academy.