Charles Letts
{{Short description|English entrepreneur}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Charles Letts
| birth_date = {{birth date|1918|8|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Send, Surrey, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|10|23|1918|8|16|df=yes}}
| death_place = Singapore
| occupation = Entrepreneur
| spouse = {{nowrap|Cecilia ("Sissi") Monro
Cecilia Choo}}
| children = Billie Letts
}}
Lionel Edgar Charles Letts BEM (15 August 1918 – 23 October 2013) was an English entrepreneur notable for a 75-year career in Southeast Asia during which he took a role on the boards of more than 90 listed companies, survived torture, multiple escape attempts and a death sentence as a Japanese Prisoner of War and acted as a spy on behalf of the British Secret Intelligence Service.{{cite web |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/the-man-who-saved-durai-from-bankruptcy |title=The man who saved Durai from bankruptcy |author=K. C. Vijayan |date=3 November 2013 |website=The Straits Times |publisher=Singapore Press Holdings |access-date=6 June 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://death.my/2013/11/03/lionel-edgar-charles-letts/ |title=Our Deepest Sympathies and Heartfelt Condolences |author=Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad and Batu Kawan Berhad |date=3 November 2013 |website=The Star (Malaysia) |publisher=Malaysian Chinese Association |access-date=6 June 2017}}
Personal life
Letts was born in the English village of Send two months before the end of World War I, the son of Frederick James Letts, a hairdresser, and Eva Catherine Watts. While a Staff Captain in the Army he married Cecilia Monro on 29 December 1945 in Bangkok, Thailand.{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1993/41814_b157159-00308 |title=The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Miscellaneous Foreign Returns; Class: RG 32; Piece: 31 |publisher=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=1 July 2018}}
Military career
Letts fought with the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War and with the Free Thai Movement during World War II{{cite book |last=Studwell |first=Joe |date= September 2008|title=Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and South East Asia |publisher=Grove Press |page=88 |isbn=978-0802143914}}
Business career
Letts played a significant role in the sale of British owned assets in Southeast Asia during the period after World War II, in the process making deep connections with numerous individuals whose families would go on to accumulate huge wealth as the British Empire rolled back in Asia.{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/asia-travel/thailand/charles-letts-skgg593xfsh |title=Charles Letts |author= |date=6 November 2013 |website=The Times |access-date=6 June 2017}}
Diplomatic Roles
In later life Letts acted as Honorary Consul in Singapore for Brazil and Portugal.{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/10437091/Charles-Letts-obituary.html |title=Charles Letts - obituary |author= |date=8 November 2013 |website=The Telegraph |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=6 June 2017}}
Decorations
During his lifetime Letts was awarded the British Empire Medal, became a Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross and was made a Knight of the Norwegian Order of Merit.
Donation To T. T. Durai
Letts helped to save disgraced former Chief Executive Officer of the National Kidney Foundation Singapore, T. T. Durai, from bankruptcy, with a gift of $1 million.{{cite web |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/the-man-who-saved-durai-from-bankruptcy |title=The man who saved Durai from bankruptcy |author=K. C. Vijayan |date=3 November 2013 |website=The Straits Times |publisher=Singapore Press Holdings |access-date=6 June 2017}}
References
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Category:Recipients of the British Empire Medal
Category:World War II spies for the United Kingdom
Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
Category:British World War II prisoners of war
Category:20th-century British businesspeople
Category:British expatriates in Singapore
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