Simon Murray
| Simon Murray CBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
25 March 1940 Leicester, England |
| Known for | Businessman, adventurer, author |
| Spouse(s) | Jennifer Murray (née Mather) |
| Children | 3 |
Simon Murray, CBE (born 25 March 1940) is a British businessman, adventurer, author, and former French Foreign Legionnaire. He was the oldest man to reach the South Pole unsupported, at the age of 63.
Murray was born in Leicester, England into a family with some tradition of military service. His father belonged to a wealthy family. Murray's grandfather on his father's side retained a permanent suite at the Connaught Hotel, while his grandmother retained a similar suite at Claridges Hotel. Murray's father abandoned the family early on and Murray claims to have had no recollection of him at that time. An uncle paid for Murray to attend Bedford School, an independent school in the county town of Bedford in Bedfordshire. In 1960, he joined the French Foreign Legion, and served for five years in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP). During his service, he fought in the Algerian War against the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). After rising to the rank of Chief Corporal, he turned down an offer to attend Officers' School in France, and left the Legion in 1965 after completing his service. He wrote of his experiences in the Legion in the book Legionnaire, published in 1978. And later, based on his book he produced the autobiographical movie "Deserter" which only came as a DVD.
On leaving the Foreign Legion in 1965, he married his wife Jennifer, and moved to Hong Kong where he worked for Jardine Matheson for fourteen years. After that, he left to start his own company, Davenham Investments, a project advisory company. N.M.Rothschild took a 50% stake in Davenham. Amongst many high-profile deals, Davenham went on to represent Mitsui in the Singapore Mass Transit Railway project.
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