Jay Pomeroy (1895-1955). Russian-born British entrepreneur and impressario

Jay Pomeroy was born Joseph Pomeranz to a Jewish family in Crimea in 1895. Managing to avoid the rampant anti-Semitism in Russia at that time, he studied in Paris and Berlin, and began, but never completed, a course in medicine in Geneva. In 1915 he came to London escorting a patient, and remained, working in trade and commerce in a variety of businesses (including selling pork pies). In 1930, along with his wife, Pomeranz became a British citizen and changed his name to Pomeroy. He continued his business career, but following a disastrous fire to an uninsured warehouse in 1936 was declared bankrupt in 1940.

Pomeroy, however, recovered to such an extent that, in 1941, along with the conductor Anatole Fistoulari and other Russian exiles, he mounted a production of Modest Mussorgsky’s opera Sorochinsky Fair at London’s Savoy Theatre. Pomeroy knew nothing about theatre or opera, and may have been in love with one of the singers. It was also at this time that his involvement in the whisky trade began, alongside his career as an impresario, which continued in 1942 when he mounted Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto with Carl Ebert at London’s Cambridge Theatre, which he went on to buy. The Mussorgsky production included some ballet, one of the dancers being Diana Gould (later Menuhin). From 1941 until 1944, Gould was the ballerina of the Jay Pomeroy Russian Opera and Ballet. The company was highly successful, particularly in opera, and in the mid 1940s was seen as a serious rival to the Covent Garden Opera. 

Pomeroy actually attempted to buy the Royal Opera House, and was even appointed to the Opera Board of the Arts Council in 1948. However, 1948 was also the year of his undoing. Although his theatrical adventures were affectionately regarded, Pomeroy’s whisky enterprises were not only disliked in the trade but also came to the notice of the Inland Revenue. Pomeroy was subjected to retrospective legislation over tax, and was involved a number of court cases over several years. Pomeroy lost the last of these in 1948, and was ruined financially. He died in 1955 a disappointed man, with debts amounting to £500,000.