# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-lever-1st-viscount-leverhulme
# Generated: 2026-08-15T22:51:26.766Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-lever-1st-viscount-leverhulme"
name: "William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme"
slug: "william-lever-1st-viscount-leverhulme"
description: "William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools, he joined his father's wholesale grocery business in Bolton at the age of fifteen. Following an apprenticeship and a series of appointments in the family business, which he successfully expanded, he began manufacturing Sunlight Soap, building a substantial business empire with many well-known brands such as Lux and Lifebuoy. In 1886, together with his brother, James, he established Lever Brothers, which was one of the first companies to manufacture soap from vegetable oils, and which is now part of the British multinational Unilever. In politics, Lever briefly sat as a Liberal MP for Wirral and later, as Lord Leverhulme, in the House of Lords as a peer. He was an advocate for expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa and Asia, which supplied palm oil, a key ingredient in Lever's product line. His firm had become associated with activities in the Belgian Congo by 1911."
tagline: "English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician (1851-1925)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/The_mirrors_of_Downing_street%3B_some_political_reflections_(1921)_(14779880014).jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1851-09-19"
deathDate: "1925-05-07"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           52.19
  momentum:             9.657646776395744
  historical:           11.48903333333333
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Lever%2C_1st_Viscount_Leverhulme"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever%2C_1._Viscount_Leverhulme"
    title: "William Lever, 1. Viscount Leverhulme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever%2C_1st_Viscount_Leverhulme"
    title: "William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever"
    title: "William Lever"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%88%D8%B1"
    title: "ویلیام لیور"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever_(1er_vicomte_Leverhulme)"
    title: "William Lever (1er vicomte Leverhulme)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hesketh_Lever"
    title: "William Hesketh Lever"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hesketh_Lever"
    title: "William Hesketh Lever"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pms.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever"
    title: "William Lever"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hesketh_Lever"
    title: "William Hesketh Lever"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever%2C_1%3Ae_viscount_Leverhulme"
    title: "William Lever, 1:e viscount Leverhulme"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lever"
    title: "William Lever"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A8%81%E5%BB%89%C2%B7%E6%B5%B7%E6%96%AF%E7%A7%91%E6%96%AF%C2%B7%E5%88%A9%E8%8F%AF"
    title: "威廉·海斯科斯·利華"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1989190"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump