Sir Robert Sainsbury, former joint president of the Sainsbury retailing group, died on Sunday aged 93. He was the grandson of John James Sainsbury who founded the company in 1869, and great grandson of Simon Van den Bergh, the founder of Van den Bergh Foods, now part of Unilever. Sir Robert joined the family business in 1930 and succeeded his elder brother Alan as chairman when he retired in 1967. His chairmanship lasted two years after which his nephew John took over. Sir Robert was best known for his philanthropic nature ­ he was the architect of the company's staff welfare scheme in the 1930s, and encouraged the advancement of employees. He founded The Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia in 1978 which now contains 1,200 works of art donated by himself. He was knighted in 1967 for his services to the arts. Sir Robert leaves behind his wife and three children. The Sainsbury family said he would be cremated at a private ceremony. {{NEWS }}

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