Background
He was born in Prague, Bohemia in 1916. Turnovsky was the second son of Max Turnovsky and Caroline Weiser.
advocate manufacturer vice president
He was born in Prague, Bohemia in 1916. Turnovsky was the second son of Max Turnovsky and Caroline Weiser.
Turnovsky was bilingual in Czechoslovakian and German and attended a German-speaking school. His interest in music began when he was seven and attended his first opera.
Max was a jeweller and of Jewish ethnicity. At school he also learnt English and French. At 16, while a school a Realgymnasium pupil, Turnovsky joined the youth wing of the German-speaking section of the Social Democratic Party.
He was elected to executive positions in the party and was prominent in the unsuccessful efforts to persuade leading France and Britain to intervene against Hitler.
In March 1939 he fled to London after being advised that the Gestapo were after him. Arriving in January 1940 Turnovsky undertook casual employment.
Founding the Tatra Leather Goods Company he manufactured and sold watch straps. The success of this venture led to a number of successful manufacturing ventures.
Turnovsky represented the Manufacturers Federation at the National Development Conference (1968-1969) and was its president(1972-1973 and 1979-1980).
He led a delegation of manufacturers to Canberra (1973), and was honorary consul for Mexico (1973-1981). Because of his Social-Democrat beliefs, as chairman of the Development Finance Corporation from 1973 to 1976, he gave weight to social objectives as well as sound business procedures in the corporation’s funding of new business ventures. Turnovsky helped establish the Wellington Chamber Music Society and was its chair from 1950 to 1954.
He was vice president of the Federation of Chamber Music Societies (1950-1953) and president (1953-1960).
In 1962 Turnovsky was appointed to the cultural sub-commission of the National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The young Czechoslovakian patriot had become one of the most eminent ers of his generation. His ashes were buried at Karori Cemetery.
Turnovsky was thought to be the first resident er to become a member of Lloyd’s, the British insurance underwriters. He was appointed to the Manufacturing Development Council, was a member of trade missions to Pacific states (1971) and China (1973). In 1953 he was a founding member of the Opera Company, and was chairman of its board from 1959 to 1969.
He was also a founding member of the Advisory Council in 1960, becoming deputy chairman of its successor, the Queen Elizabeth II Council of, from 1970 to 1973.
He was a member of the national commission (1963-1988) and its chairman (1974-1978). He was a member of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s executive board (1978-1983).
He was a trustee of the International Festival of the, and a member of the project development board of the Museum of Te Papa Tongarewa.