Sir Nicholas Winton MBE

1 July 2015

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Sir Nicholas Winton MBE at the age of 106. “Nicky" Winton was enrolled as a Stoic in Grenville House in 1923, the year that the School was founded, and he embodied many of the characteristics which the first Headmaster of Stowe, JF Roxburgh, instilled in Stoics in the early days of the school: courage in the face of adversity, perseverance, tenacity, humility and good humour. 

We were proud to welcome Sir Nicholas back to Stowe on several occasions. In 2003, the year of his knighthood, he was the first recipient of the Distinguished Old Stoic Award and in 2008 he came to open Stanhope, a new girls' boarding house. At the service of dedication for Stanhope, Ruth Humphreys who lived locally, one of the 669 children rescued from Czechoslovakia, paid tribute to Sir Nicholas' life and work. Describing the murder of her parents by the Nazis, her journey across Europe and safe arrival at Liverpool Street Station where she was met by Sir Nicholas, Ruth thanked him for the greatest gift anyone can give another person, "the gift of life". 

Sir Nicholas was characteristically modest in his reply as he claimed that he only did what every person of conscience would do in similar circumstances and warned current Stoics against complacency when confronting evil in the world today. His biggest regret was in not saving the last group of 250 children as the ninth Kindertransport train was cancelled on 1 September because of the outbreak of the Second World War. None of the children were ever seen again. Today there are more than 6,000 descendants of the original 669 children rescued by Sir Nicholas. His life serves as an exemplar to us all and we are proud to call him an Old Stoic.

Anthony Wallersteiner, Headmaster