Cyril Kinsky KC 1954-2026

We are much saddened to report that Cyril Kinsky died on 7 October 2026, after a long battle with cancer.

Cyril was a member of 3VB from 2003 to 2016, when he retired from the Bar to be a maker of fine furniture. He was called to the Bar in 1988,  and took silk in 2010. He had joined us from Brick Court Chambers, where he began in practice.

Cyril was a fine barrister, but a lot more than that.

After graduating from Cambridge in 1975 (in the English Tripos), Cyril became a freelance theatre director – working on a variety of productions, including (as he would recall with wry humour) the legendary Old Vic Macbeth, starring Peter O’Toole.

After turning to the Bar, and for all the pressures that imposed, he always found time apart for his many activities and enthusiasms, his philanthropy, and the fullest home and family life. Reflecting his Catholic faith, he was a Trustee of the Cardinal Hume Centre and Chair of the Governing Board of St Augustine’s Catholic College, Trowbridge. He was Chair of École Française de Londres Jacques Prévert in Brook Green, London, and in 2007 appointed a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques, respecting his contribution to French culture and education.

He and Natasha created another home in Verbier, Switzerland, where they welcomed many – with Cyril quietly shaming visitors with his energy and speed over mountain paths.

In 2016 Cyril left the Bar to follow his abiding love of marquetry – the art and craft of applying thin slices of wood veneer and other materials to a structure to form decorative pictures and designs. We in Chambers had long admired the desk displaying his skills. The website he later developed shows just how accomplished Cyril was – https://www.cyrilkinsky.com.

All here will remember Cyril’s warmth, humanity, generosity of spirit and the time (and, where needed, support) he gave to all those he encountered. He was a lovely man.

We extend profound sympathy to Natasha and his children – Alexander, Tatiana, Anastasia and Max. We all remember a life very well lived.