Background
Beit was born in Hamburg, Germany, the younger brother of Alfred Beit, into the Jewish family of an affluent Hamburg trader.
Beit was born in Hamburg, Germany, the younger brother of Alfred Beit, into the Jewish family of an affluent Hamburg trader.
He became a naturalised British citizen in 1896. In 1890 he left for South Africa to gain experience in the diamond industry. Despite playing a prominent part in the Witwatersrand gold industry, he returned to London, partly because he did not want to confine his interests solely to financial activities, but also to cultivate his scientific, artistic and cultural tastes.
He fell under the spell of Cecil Rhodes"s imperialist vision and was his house-guest at the time of the Jameson Raid.
He served as director of the British South Africa Company. He funded construction of the Beit Quad, Students" Union building and hostel at Imperial College, London.
A plaque depicting him by Omar Ramsden is situated in the Beit Quad entrance. King Edward"s Hospital Fund received £50,000 from Beit in 1928 for the purchase of radium.
He was no less generous to public collections in the United Kingdom, helping the Victoria and Albert Museum to acquire many works of art
He also gave his name to an award for excellence in sculpture through the Royal Society of British Sculptors, the Otto Beit Meda He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Cape Town and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (Federal Reserve System) in 1924.
He was also a member of the Governing Body from 1912 and a founder member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of Street Michael and Street George (Knight Commander of the Order of Street Michael and Saint George) in the 1920 New Year Honours for his work in connection with South African troops and hospitals in England and was created a baronet in 1924 for his numerous donations to children"s sanatoria, libraries and a homoeopathic research institute.
Royal Society]
He remained for six years and played an active role in the development of Rand Gold Mines and became a member of Hermann Eckstein"s firm, H. Eckstein & Company
He was a generous benefactor of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and more so with his gifts to the University of Cape Town, of which he turned the first sod in 1920.
