Posted on 12/07/2005 12:15:34 AM PST by nickcarraway
LONDON — Frits Philips, who played a significant role in turning the family’s light bulbs business into a huge multinational electronics corporation, passed away last night in Eindhoven, aged 100. He died of complications resulting from a fall last week.
Referred to by employees as “Mr Frits”, Frederik Jacques Philips was president and chairman of the Board of Management of N.V. Philips' from 1961 to 1971. However, his influence began in the 1930s and lasted well after his formal departure from the company.
He oversaw the company's expansion to the Americas and Asia, and technological innovations such as the audio cassette in 1961 and later the first integrated electronic circuits.
"In Frits Philips we lose a warm and committed man, spirited entrepreneur, who lived his life to the full, and who was intensively involved with Philips and the world outside", said Gerard Kleisterlee, President and CEO of Royal Philips Electronics. "We are thankful for his service to our company for which we will always remember him."
Royal Philips Electronic NV was founded by Frits Philips' uncle and his father. The company is now Europe's leading electronics manufacturer, with annual sales of more than $35 billion and nearly 160,000 employees.
Frits began as an industrial engineer at the age of 25 when he started working at the family business in Eindhoven. He spent more than 40 years at the company, serving as president until his retirement in 1971 and then staying on as a member of the supervisory board until 1977.
He was in charge of the company in a time of great changes, the company noted in a statement issued Tuesday (Dec 6). In the 1950s, in particular, far-reaching economic and technological developments took place. "Reconstruction was followed by rapid expansion of the industrial and commercial activities that led to further geographical spreading of the facilities in the Netherlands and beyond. With the founding of the European Economic Community a scaling-up and regrouping of production became necessary. The company was confronted, moreover, with growing competitive pressure from other parts of the world."
Examples of his progressive vision are the creation, together with Matsushita Electronics, of a cathode-ray tube factory in Japan and the launching of production units in Taiwan. He attached huge importance to scientific research and development, focusing particularly on product renewal and manufacturing techniques. Under his leadership there grew up an international research organization that has contributed greatly to significant innovations in electronics and lighting.
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, he was imprisoned for five months after a strike by Philips workers and was forced by the Germans to open a workshop. He helped hundreds of workers survive the war, efforts that later earned him a medal from Israel's Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust authority.
He gained widespread popularity for his efforts to fight unemployment and poverty following the Great Depression of the early to mid-1930s and for later leading the country's growth into an industrialized giant.
A restful peace for this fellow.
"Fritz! Fritz! They killed Fritz!"
/obscure movie reference
Wizards. Necron99 rules....
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