Infused throughout the life of my father, Andrew Hunt, who has died aged 68 of a heart attack, was a love of different cultures, history, politics and travel. It was forged in the intellectual and cultural melting pot of 1940s Cairo, where he was born to a Greek mother, Elly (nee Xippas), who was descended from the Comninos line of Byzantine emperors, and a Lancastrian RAF officer, Kenneth Hunt, who was stationed in Egypt during the second world war.
Moving from Cairo to Gatley, Cheshire, as a child, he settled into suburban life, spending his weekends cheering on Manchester United and sneaking under barriers with school friends at a nearby airport to watch the planes take off. He seized his first opportunity for adventure, deferring a place at Oxford University at 16 to hitchhike around South America. He later won a scholarship to Princeton University, where he studied sociology. Taking part in civil rights protests in 1960s America left a deep impression, confirming in him a conviction for tolerance and social equality that permeated his life.
He embarked on a career in banking with Chase Manhattan in the UK – where he met his future wife, Rita – then with Bankers Trust in New York and Paris, before returning as general manager of the London office. He left in 1990 to set up his own consultancy and pursue a passion for helping small industrial companies, especially those in his beloved north-west, to survive the choppy waters of the business world. He came up with innovative ways for smaller companies to access much-needed development capital.
In 2007, while still running the business, he became chair of iDE UK, a charity supporting rural communities in the developing world. Taking on an organisation not in the best of shape, he instigated a restructure that transformed it, securing its future and with it the prospects of a quarter of a million farmers around the world. This huge achievement helped earn iDE a place in the Global Journal's top 100 non-governmental organisations worldwide in 2013.
Friends, colleagues and family have described my father as a man of fierce intellect and great humanity, modesty, wisdom, humour and kindness. With semi-retirement came more time to enjoy watching sport and theatre, visiting exhibitions and reading his many history books. Most often, though, he could be found walking along the Thames in south-west London or near his home in the Surrey hills, whatever the weather.
Through it all, family came first. He is survived by Rita, his daughter, Nicola, son, Alexander, myself and a granddaughter, Jenna.
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