Antony Fisher

Sir Antony George Anson Fisher (28 June 1915 – 8 July 1988), nicknamed AGAF, was a British businessman and think tank founder. He participated in the formation of various libertarian organisations during the second half of the twentieth century, including the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Atlas Network. Through Atlas, he helped establish up to 150 other institutions worldwide. Early life Antony Fisher was born on 28 June 1915, into a wealthy mining family. He was two years old when his father was killed by a sniper in Gaza during World War I. He was educated at Eton College. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, with a degree in engineering. During the Second World War, Fisher served as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force, being awarded the Air Force Cross. He and his brother Basil Fisher were assigned to the 111 Hurricane Squadron, which was in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Shortly after that posting, in April 1940, their cousin Michael Fisher was killed in the Battle of Flanders. A few days later Fisher's closest friend and a member of the 111 Hurricane Squadron, David Berry, was killed when his Hurricane was shot down over Flanders during the Dunkirk evacuation. On 15 August 1940, Fisher saw his brother Basil plummet to his death after Basil's Hurricane was shot down and his parachute caught fire. The experience both traumatised Fisher and, according to a biography, galvanised him into a belief that he must act to make the world a freer and more prosperous place where nation states would not go to war.