Financier, born in India. He joined Lonrho (London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company) in 1961, and became chief executive and managing director. In 1983 he became chairman of The Observer newspaper, which he sold to The Guardian in 1993. He stepped down from Lonrho in 1994, following a bitter battle for control of the company with German property tycoon Dieter Bock.
Roland 'Tiny' Rowland (1917 - 1998) was a British businessman and chairman of the Lonrho conglomerate from 1962 to 1994.
German background
Rowland, originally Roland Walter Fuhrhop, was born on November 27, 1917 in a World War I detention camp for aliens in India, as the child of an Anglo-Dutch mother and a German trader father. His father was interned as an enemy alien and when his mother became fatally ill Rowland joined them in internment.
Rhodesia
In the post-war years, Tiny Rowland moved to Rhodesia. Rowland was recruited to the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company, later Lonrho, as chief executive in 1962. Under his directorship, the firm expanded out of its origins in mining and became a conglomerate, dealing in newspapers, hotels, distribution, and textiles, and many other lines of business. However, he failed to gain control of Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, which was eventually bought by the Egyptian-born tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed for £615 million in 1985, leading to a well-publicised feud between the two men.
Honoured
Never fully accepted by the establishment in Britain, Rowland was consistently overlooked when it came to the award of British honours. However, in 1996 President Nelson Mandela awarded Rowland the Order of Good Hope, the highest South African honour.
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