Sir Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Ustinov‘s career has lasted for more than sixty years and he has taken part in more than 80 films in the role of actor, producer, director and scriptwriter. In 1952 he gained a Golden Globe for his role of Nero. Later, he was awarded two Oscar Academy Awards for his roles in Spartacus and Topkapi, and he was nominated for another two. In 1969 his talent as an author was honoured with a nomination for the best script. He took part in several TV serials which centred around topics ranging from travel to architecture. His inexhaustible activity in this field was widely known.
Since 1971 he was a goodwill ambassador for the children’s aid organization of the UN (UNICEF). In 1999 he started his own foundation. The aim is to support and maintain the humanitarian ideas, the artistic and spiritual creation of the founder and the objective is to work towards a bettering of the social, spiritual and emotional circumstances as well as the health of children and youth regardless of age, ethnic origin, religioug belief.
In 2000 he added yet another facet to his life time achievement, when he founded the Ustinov Institutes and the set up of an international network of universities for the research into prejudice. In order to get to grips with this phenomenon, Sir Peter and his colleagues were aiming to establish this as a subject to be studied at universites in many different countries. The vision was a library of prejudice, documenting their origin and ways of working in the different cultures. There were two university institutes at the University in Budapest and the University of Durham, England where Sir Peter has been chancellor for more than ten years.
Since its foundation in 1993 he was an active honorary member of the Club of Budapest.
Peter Ustinov was knighted in 1990. He died in spring 2004.