Myrtle Franklin

BORN LONDON, OCTOBER 18,1923. DIED LONDON, JUNE 25, 2015, AGED 92

ASTRONG BELIEF in education and a keen interest in young people led Myrtle Franklin to take up several governorships of London schools and colleges. She was also a governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Purcell School for musically gifted children.

As a member of the Inner London Education Authority, she was on the Appointments Committee, appointing heads of London Schools and Inspectors. Her governorships included Alice Model Day Nursery in Stepney and Tower Hamlets Comprehensive, both of which she chaired, North Western Polytechnic and Westminster College. The Hebrew University and the Purcell School played a big part in her life. She was a governor of the HUJ for more than 30 years and chairman and life presi- dent of the Women’s Group of the British Friends of the Hebrew University. In 1991 she was awarded an honorary fellowship of the University. As a governor, she contributed generously of her time and means. She actively campaigned on behalf of the students, for example in ensuring the re-opening of a student library in the evenings after budget cuts forced early closing, and in providing improved cafeteria facilities.

Myrtle Franklin was the daughter of Jack and Violet Sebag-Montefiore, the second of six children. After attending Frances Holland and Badminton schools, she went to Froebel Teacher Training College. During the Second World War and during the Blitz, she taught at schools in the East End of London.

In 1947, she married David Franklin, uniting two large Jewish families. Theirs was a happy marriage. They were both keen and active supporters of the Purcell School, where she was also a governor. David underwrote funding for one of the first boarding houses to ensure it could be acquired and opened and also for the school’s gymnasium when the lack of such a permanent facility put the school’s future at risk. Myrtle applied her educational exper- tise to assist heads through more than a generation.

Myrtle also loved the country, particularly Beaulieu where the family had a home for 30 years. Described as a colourful personality, Myrtle had style and a sense of class — “one of the poshest, classiest people” according to her grandson Joe’s Facebook post. She was also noted for her sense of humour.

Her dinner parties for young people were widely praised, reflecting her desire to engage with them and introduce them to each other. This love of young people was exemplified in her work as a governor of the Purcell School and of the Hebrew University.

As a student she had a brief dalliance with the Communist Party, but she joined political societies of various colours at university in order to mix with people of diverse ideas. Later she became an active member of the Conservative Party and was known to many as a Conservative member of the Inner London Education Authority.

Myrtle was a three times great niece of Sir Moses Montefiore. In 1985, to commemorate the centenary of his death, she curated the photographic exhibition at the Montefiore Windmill at Yemin Moshe in Jerusalem, which remained there until recently. The same year, together with her son-in-law Michael Bor, she published a book, Sir Moses Montefiore 1784-1885.

Her husband, David, was Ashkenazi and when he became a founder of the New London Synagogue, Myrtle supported him there while as a Sephardi, she retained her links with the Lauderdale Road community. Throughout her many communal activities David was the centre of her life. She was devastated when he died of cancer in 1986, aged 67. She married Gershon Ellenbogen seven years later, a marriage that lasted until his death in 2003.

Myrtle is survived by her four children Veronica, Shirley, Nigel and Stephen, six grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.