Drue Heinz, who has died aged 103, was one of the most munificent philanthropists of the past half century; she was also the widow of Jack Heinz, grandson of the American entrepreneur who first bottled “57 varieties of pickle”.
Drue Heinz’s love and encouragement of literature, particularly Anglo-American literature, were famous on both sides of the Atlantic. Her benefactions in Britain included huge sums to establish a chair in American Literature at Oxford University, to create a new archive and library at the National Portrait Gallery, and to establish a book purchasing fund at the London Library.
She also endowed anonymously the post of Director of Studies at St George’s House, Windsor, regularly...