Hyman Kreitman

Hyman Kreitman
Born	June 3, 1914
Died	May 8, 2001
Education	Cordwainers College
Occupation	Businessman, philanthropist
Spouse(s)	Irene Cohen
Children	2 sons, 1 daughter
Relatives	Jack Cohen (father-in-law) Shirley Porter (sister-in-law)

Hyman Kreitman (1914–2001) was a British businessman, philanthropist and art collector. He served as the chairman of Tesco from 1970 to 1974. He was a donor to Tate and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Hyman Kreitman was born on June 3, 1914. He had four older brothers. His father was Abraham Kreitman, who owned A. Kreitman & Sons, Boot and Shoe Manufacturers, of 28 Cambridge Road, Mile End, London. The business was "one of London's largest and most successful shoe manufacturers".

He was educated at Cordwainers College, now part of the London College of Fashion. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War II.

Kreitman became an executive at Tesco, the supermarket chain. He served as its managing director from 1968 to 1970, and as its chairman from 1970 to 1974.

With his wife, Kreitman endowed the Kreitman Foundation. They donated to Wigmore Hall and the Royal National Theatre. They also donated GBP£2.2 million to Tate Britain, where the Hyman Kreitman Reading Rooms are named in his honour. Meanwhile, they supported the establishment of Tate Modern.

Kreitman and his wife were donors to the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, where the Kreitman Plaza is named in their honour, as is the Irene and Hyman Kreitman Annual Memorial Lecture. Kreitman received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from BGU in 1979.

With his wife, Kreitman collected sculptures by Kenneth Armitage, Michael Ayrton, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Frink, Anthony Caro and Lynn Chadwick. They also collected paintings by John Piper and Ben Nicholson.

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