Frida Mond

Frida Mond (1847 – 16 May 1923) was a German-born patron of the arts, who gave significant bequests to the British Academy and King's College London, during her lifetime and upon her death.

Life

Frida Mond was born Frederike Löwenthal in Cologne, Germany in 1847, the only child of Adolf Meyer Loewenthal. In 1866, she married her cousin Ludwig Mond, a chemist, manufacturer, and art collector, and the couple moved to England. Frida's close friend and former schoolmate, Henriette Hertz joined the family in England, participating in their cultural, artistic, and intellectual pursuits,

On Ludwig's death in 1909, Frida became a wealthy widow. The following year, she wrote to her friend Israel Gollancz, secretary of the British Academy and a professor at King's College London, to offer:for the acceptance of the British Academy, the sum of £500 a year for at least three years, to form the nucleus of a Fund (which it is hoped will be augmented by others donors, so that in time an annual income of about this amount may accrue) to be devoted to the furtherance of research and criticism, historical, philological, and philosophical, in the various branches of English literature, including the investigations of problems in the history and usage of English, written and spoken, and textual and documentary work elucidating the development of English language and literature. The gifted collection also included letters, portraits, busts, photographs, and other relics associated with Goethe and Schiller, as well as with Charlotte Buff, a friend of Goethe's.

Frida also left a lifetime annuity of £300 per year to her friend, the sculptor Anna Dabis, who had created a bust of Mond (now in the collection of King's College London).

In 2014, a 'legacy club' was established by the British Academy, and announced by its President Lord Stern. The club was intended 'to recognise and thank those who have pledged a legacy to the British Academy in their will', and was named the Mond Society.