Mayer Matalon was one of the founding fathers of post-colonial corporate Jamaica, whose contributions still resonate into a new century.

Think of the mark left on modern America by the likes of the Rockefellers, the Carnegies and the Mellons and that gives you an idea of the legacy left by Mayer Matalon.

He is renowned as a corporate titan but his input and influence goes well beyond that sphere and into national development.

His story and efforts are wonderfully told by Diana Thorburn in her book entitled, “ Mayer Matalon: Business, Politics and the Jewish Jamaican Elite,” which now can be found in national libraries across Jamaica – a national treasure to be found in a national treasure you can say!

Speaking with Our Today, Thorburn describes the book “ as a business biography that is bigger than simply  just that, but also tells the story of Jamaica through the life of a man who played a role in all aspects of Jamaica’s development.”

Diana Thorburn has produced a scholastic narrative that is well researched. It took her four years to write this tome on one of Jamaica’s finest luminaries and the work is evident here.

Today, the National Housing Trust (NHT) is very much in the news but the idea for it and making it a reality was Mayer Matalon’s.

He was a man who was not born into wealth, grew up poor but by dint of hard work, vision, drive and personality built a fortune while at the same time, taking Jamaica further down the road of development.

He didn’t begin travelling out of Jamaica until his late twenties but was fascinated about what the world had to offer and what he could adapt from other countries for the betterment of his homeland, Jamaica.

This was the genesis of his forming and cultivating an international network.

Mexico had an affordable housing plan which was encapsulated in a national document. Matalon had that translated into English and applied with Jamaican characteristics. It is said that the secret of genius is intuitive improvisation.

“Back then, the idea of prefabricated, multi-unit housing developments was seen as a crazy notion, an unworkable concept but now we see it as pretty standard. Mayer Matalon came across the housing technology in Puerto Rico and adapted it here, constructing homes in Portmore and even built a causeway there,” said Thorburn.

The Matalon patriarch was a titan in the business sector who has carved out a stellar reputation over decades in corporate Jamaica.

Scotiabank had a policy of only having a Canadian as chairman of its board of directors in Jamaica but Mayer Matalon became the de facto chairman, ushering a new generation of bankers and making Scotiabank the leading banking entity in the country for many years. In time he was “The Chairman.”

He mentored many and got involved in personal development with an abiding conviction to see Jamaica progress.

From where he stood he had a panoramic view of Jamaica’s financial sector and foresaw the crash that ushered in the era of FINSAC. When he sounded the alarm, he was blithely ignored and Jamaica is still paying the consequences almost thirty years later.

He was close to all Jamaica’s prime ministers, more so Michael Manley, but did not enjoy a harmonious working relationship with PJ Patterson, who wanted to retire Jamaica’s then elite and see a new ruling class take its place.

Mayer Matalon’s priority and objective was always national development where Jamaica became a land where people could prosper and experience progress – in all facets.

Thorburn concludes, “We will never see a Mayer Matalon again, someone with that force of personality. He operated in a time before how we view governance today, nevertheless his accomplishments are vast. His is a remarkable story.”

His son Joseph Matalon has denoted 240 copies of this must-read book to the National Library of Jamaica.