MAYER, SIR ROBERT

MAYER, SIR ROBERT (1879–1985), British patron of music and philanthropist. Mayer was born in Mannheim, Germany, the son of a hops merchant. He emigrated to Britain at the age of 17, working as a stockbroker and then as a successful nonferrous metal dealer. Through his non-Jewish wife, a soprano singer and music patron, Mayer himself became involved as an organizer and sponsor of musical concerts for children, a series which spread throughout Britain and became well known. In 1932, in collaboration with Sir Thomas Beecham, he founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Mayer devoted   his long life to introducing children to music and to assisting young musicians. He was a supporter of many other charitable causes, including the Anglo-Israel Association. Mayer was knighted in 1939 and was made a Companion of Honour (C.H.) in 1973. He also received many other honors, dying at the age of 105. Mayer wrote an autobiography, My First Hundred Years (1979). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online. (William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)