The foundation was founded in 2003 by Marcela Botnar to continue the philanthropy of herself and her late husband. We remain true to our humble family roots by keeping the Botnar family name, maintaining the Botnar’s philanthropic legacy, and through continuing to finance and support several targeted legacy investments.

Camelia Botnar
Camelia Eugenia Botnar was born on 14th August 1952 in Bucharest. She was Octav and Marcela Botnar’s only child. The family left Romania and settled in the United Kingdom in 1966. Camelia was intelligent, beautiful and strong-willed. She initially spent some time at the Lycée Victor Duruy near Les Invalides in Paris before joining her parents in London, where she enrolled at the French Lycée in Kensington. She was like her father in many respects. She had left wing leanings, but her experience had set her against Communism. She read extensively, wrote a lot and had no religious beliefs. After leaving the Lycée in London, she went to study at university in Paris. It was in Paris that she met a young man who was to become her fiancé. Camelia invited him to London for Christmas in December 1972 and on 23rd December, the couple left London by car to visit Stonehenge, the world-famous prehistoric monument. Their car was involved in a dreadful accident later that day: Camelia took the full force of the impact and died instantly.