Jocelin Winthrop Young

Jocelin Slingsby Winthrop Young (25 October 1919 – 8 February 2012) was a British educator, headmaster and Royal Navy officer who co-founded the Greek independent boarding school Anavryta and founded the Round Square association of schools. He was also the private tutor of King Constantine II of Greece between 1948 and 1958.

Early life

Winthrop Young was born on 25 October 1919 at Heversham, Westmorland (now Cumbria) to renowned mountaineers Geoffrey Winthrop Young and Eleanor Winthrop Young. Winthrop Young's parents were friends with German educator Kurt Hahn and consequently he was sent to study at Hahn's first school Schule Schloss Salem from 1931 to 1933.

When Hahn (who was Jewish) sought to leave the country following the rise to power of the Nazis, Winthrop Young's parents were amongst those who facilitated his escape to Britain. During this time King Paul of Greece and Queen Frederica contacted Kurt Hahn and expressed their desire that he set up a school in Greece so that their son the Crown Prince Constantine could be educated there.

Winthrop Young returned to visit Gordonstoun and here he became acquainted with Roy McComish, the two men began a long lasting friendship and working relationship

In 1953 an earthquake struck Greece, a disaster which caused the death of thousands of people and the destruction of many buildings. Shortly after the earthquake King Paul of Greece visited the site of the earthquake with his wife Frederica of Hanover and her brother Prince George of Hanover, who was at this point the headmaster of Schule Schloss Salem. Prince George decided to initiate a building project to help repair the damage done to the island of Cephalonia his project would involve students from schools in various different countries. One of these schools was Gordonstoun and these students were under the supervision of Roy McComish, a close friend and collaborator of Winthrop Young's.

In 1964 Winthrop Young became head of boarding at Schule Schloss Salem, the school where he had received his early education.

The six schools that attended this first conference and were the founding members of the Round Square were Box Hill School, Gordonstoun, Anavryta Experimental Lyceum, Schule Schloss Salem, Aiglon College and Abbotsholme School. At the second Round Square conference, held at Box Hill, the principles of the association were established and co-education was the first of the sequence of conference themes that was discussed.

Winthrop Young retired as head of boarding and headmaster of the Salem campus at Schule Schloss Salemin 1974, but continued to run Round Square as Honorary Secretary and later as Director until he retired from that position in 1992.

Winthrop Young died in Heiligenberg, near Salem in Germany in 2012 at the age of 92.