Established in 1969 - The origins of the Van Leer activities lie with Bernard Van Leer, a Dutch industrialist and philanthropist, who founded the Van Leer packaging company in 1919. This company became a world leader, which enabled Van Leer to use his resources for philanthropy. When he died in 1958, Bernard Van Leer had arranged his affairs to ensure his business interests would continue to fuel philanthropic work. His family had agreed to relinquish their inheritance rights, which enabled him to bequeath his fortune to a trust set up in 1949 in Switzerland. This trust was subsequently replaced by the Van Leer Group Foundation in 1969.