Michael Heller (businessman)

Heller co-founded the Michael & Morven Heller Charitable Foundation in 1988.^[6] Thanks to a charitable gift they made to the Magen David Adom UK Friend Society in 2006, a Mobile Intensive Care Unit which drives pregnant women in Israel to the nearest hospital was named in their honour.^[7] Eight years later, in 2008, as a result of another donation, an ambulance was also named in their honour.^[7]

In 2010, they attended a fundraising dinner for the British ORT, a Jewish charity.^[8]

They also contributed to the Hampstead Theatre and the London Jewish Cultural Centre.^[9][10] They donated to the Save Van Dyck for the National Portrait Gallery to acquire Anthony van Dyck's self-portrait.^[11]

Heller served as the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel.^[12] By 2012, he had donated over GBP£100,000 to the Conservative Party.^[12] In 2014, he attended a GBP£50,000 dinner with Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.^[13] He also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, a center-right think tank based in London.^[3] He later served as a member of its Board.^[14]

Heller was named a Fellow Commoner by his alma mater, St Catharine's College, in 2003.^[4] He received an honorary degree from Sheffield Hallam University in 2010.^[15]

Heller was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours "for charitable services".^[12][16]

Heller was married to Morven Livingstone, Lady Heller (b. 1940), daughter of Dr Julius Livingstone, a family doctor, and Pearl (née Levy). Morven was raised with her younger sister, human rights lawyer Frances Raday, in Manchester.^[17] Together they resided in Hampstead, north London.^[12]

Heller was a member of the Royal Automobile Club, a private members' club.^[3] He also collected modern art.^[3]

Heller died on 30 January 2023, at the age of 86.^[18]