Education: The Man Nobody Knew

In common rooms and dining halls all over Oxford, there had been plenty of guesses, but the mystery remained unsolved. A wealthy Frenchman had given Oxford one of the biggest gifts in its history—$6,000,000 for a new college—but had insisted on remaining anonymous. Who was he? Announcing the gift last fall, Vice Chancellor John Lowe said he knew but wouldn't tell; the mysterious donor could just go on being Monsieur X (TIME, Sept. 27).

But far away from Oxford, a Middle East correspondent for the London Evening Standard had made a guess of his...