Alfred Doll-Steinberg: Oil refinery engineer who fought Lloyd's

 

Suggested Topics

Alfred Doll-Steinberg made a significant and pioneering contribution to the design and economics of oil refinery and petrochemical plant design in its early days. Later, his tenacity, analytical 48and robust business skills came into their own when he became the most vocal name in the fight against Lloyd's of London following the insurers' losses of £6 billion and the threat of bankruptcy of thousands of Lloyds names.

Alfred Doll-Steinberg was born in September 1933 in Vienna. His father Marcus worked for the Austrian government and his family's lives were saved when the Austrian Nazis dismissed all Jews from government jobs. The family came to England in 1938 and lived in Nottingham; being Austrian, his father was interned on the Isle of Wight for the duration of the war, and Alfred was later evacuated to the grounds of the Rothschilds' home, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire.

Doll-Steinberg showed early gifts for mathematics and chemistry and won a scholarship to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a double first. While at Cambridge he published his first papers on chemical engineering matters. He went on to be published widely in major international journals and literature and worked for Foster Wheeler and Shell in London and New York, The Institut Français du Petrole in Paris, later establishing his own engineering consultancy.

Putting into practice years of academic and theoretical Chemical Engineering, he took a formative role in the oil exploration, oil refining and petrochemical industries in the UK, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. This included the building of the oil refinery at Larnaca, Cyprus, and projects drilling for oil in Israel near Haifa in the Negev.

Then, as the dynamic Chairman of the Gooda Walker Action Group and Wellington Action Group from 1991 to 1992, he represented over 2,500 names of two of the worst-hit Lloyd's syndicates; he described "a sea-change in morality at Lloyd's. The 300-year-old principle of uberrima fides – utmost good faith – started to be replaced by the principle of caveat emptor – buyer beware."

He argued that the catastrophic losses were not a result of actual disasters including Piper Alpha and Hurricane Hugo but of the endless reinsurance of the same risk with brokers and underwriters taking a commission at each re-insurance. He succeeded in getting acceptance at the highest level to remedy the reinsurance circuit and effect a change of ethos, which endures today. A £900 million settlement was offered by Lloyd's as a result. This was a pivotal and highly significant change in one of the City's major institutions.

Doll-Steinberg was a lively spirit and a man of letters. He wrote numerous letters and articles in the world's major newspapers and journals on subjects ranging from finance to global warming with typically trenchant and logically structured opinion.

He was a director of several private companies in the UK including British Tours Ltd, which he co-founded in 1958. The company, originally called Undergraduate Tours Ltd, was an important innovation in UK tourism at the time and has taken over a million visitors on private tours around Britain. He was chairman of the technology company Tribeka Ltd, which developed an award-winning solution for the electronic distribution of software, music and movies in operation in the US, Europe and Australia.

Doll-Steinberg retained a lifelong love of chemistry, physics and mathematics and typically sought to encourage the young to follow the rigours of mathematics and natural laws which were so important to him. In 1988 he founded a scholarship at Gonville and Caius, the James Arthur Ramsay Prize, in honour of Professor Arthur Ramsay, a biologist whose work in biology had benefited from his grasp of thermodynamics.

He had a powerful sense of humour that owed more to the Goons than later genre. Frequently this was the lens through which he viewed the many events in which he was to be involved and influence. He read widely and enjoyed cinema, and donated generously to charity. He skied all his active life with his family.

Jason Doll-Steinberg

Alfred Doll-Steinberg, chemical engineer: born Vienna 20 September 1933; married 1965 Gerda (two sons, one daughter); died 9 May 2012.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
India and Shimla
14 nights from only £1899pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from £199pp Find out more
4* Soreda hotel break, Malta
Seven nights all-inclusive from £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats
Giro d'Italia: The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

As the Giro d'Italia tackles the brutal climb, Simon Usborne takes on the snow and switchbacks – and soon realises what the fuss is about
National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again