Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1955-
History
Leon Koerner was born in Moravia in 1892. In 1920 he became a partner, along with his brothers, in the family firm, J. Koerner Timber Industry. Leon married Thea Rosenquist, an actress from Vienna, in 1921. Following a trip to Vancouver in 1939, and because of the war in Europe, Leon and Thea settled in British Columbia. The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation was established in 1955 by Leon and Thea Koerner to contribute to the educational, social, and cultural development in British Columbia and Canada. In 2015, the foundation transitioned from being a grantmaker to an endowment called the Leon and Thea Koerner Legacy Fund which is to be held by Aqueduct Foundation. This endowment will support the Leon and Thea Koerner Award, that began in 2016 and is administered by the BC Arts Council, serves to continue the Koerner legacy and support the same developments in British Columbia that the foundation had. The LTK award is awarded through a peer review process.