Lord Moser obituary
Claus Moser, the government statistician and former chairman of the Royal Opera House, who has died aged 92, could have become a professional musician, but he chose academia, and academic honours were thrust upon him. Later, banking and business claimed him too, but his passion for the arts underpinned the many roles he undertook with a quick mind and dedication.
His cultured Jewish parents, Lotte and Ernest, had to flee to Britain from Berlin with their two sons in 1935 to escape Nazi persecution. Claus thrived at Frensham Heights school, in Farnham, Surrey, where his musical talents were quickly recognised; he joined the choir and played the piano in a quartet. In 1940 he was given a place at the London School of Economics, but with the fall of France, he was interned at Huyton Camp, Liverpool, along with hundreds of other "friendly enemy aliens", many of whom, like him, went on to have distinguished careers in their adopted country.
Continue reading...