Vivien Duffield

Dame Vivien Louise Duffield, (née Clore; born 26 March 1946 ) is an English philanthropist.

Life and career Vivien Louise Clore was born to Jewish parents. Her father was millionaire businessman and philanthropist Sir Charles Clore and her mother was Francine Halphen, a heroine of the French resistance.

She was educated at the Lycée Français, Heathfield School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University where she read modern languages. She has a brother, Alan Evelyn Clore. Her marriage to British financier John Duffield produced two children, Arabella and George. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976. She is Chairman of the Clore Foundation in Israel.

A 2005 London Evening Standard article estimated that she and the Foundations she controls had donated in excess of £176 million. In March 2011, amid heavy Government cuts on the arts, she donated £8.2 million for educational purposes to 11 arts institutions.

Honours Dame Vivien Duffield's charitable work has been formally acknowledged by many institutions, both in the UK and in Israel. She was appointed a CBE in 1989, promoted to DBE in 2000 and in 2008 The Prince of Wales presented Dame Vivien with one of the first Medals for Arts Philanthropy. The Medal celebrates individuals who support the arts and recognises the contribution of the most inspiring philanthropists in the UK. In 2006, she was awarded the Beacon Fellowship Prize. In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. In 2017 she was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art.