Kasabian frontman’s family boost archive of the grandad who became Students’ Union president at 50

The family of Kasabian frontman Sergio Pizzorno have donated items to an archive honouring one of their clan who became a students’ union president – as a grandad in his fifties.

Sergio’s grandfather, Wilf Dillon, served as the University of Leicester Students’ Union President between 1971 and 1972, aged 50.

Wilf’s remarkable story is traced through an archive devoted to his life, which is held in the University’s Archives and Special Collections.

His youngest daughter, and Sergio’s mum, Pat Pizzorno, has now donated a box full of University-related items Wilf had kept – including newspaper cuttings, exam papers and photographs – to the archive.

Pat said: “Wilf’s archive offers a glimpse into the story of an everyday man who lived an extraordinary life. My dad may have appeared to be an ordinary husband and father and yet the impacts he had was anything but ordinary. He inspired his family to live happy and fulfilling lives grounded in kindness, purpose and morality.

“I am certain, too, that many others were touched by his magic. Those who knew him will remember not only the man he was but also the guiding light he became in their lives. This is celebration of that legacy – a life well lived and of the enduring influence of a remarkable and lovely everyday man.”

Dr Simon Dixon, the University’s Associate Director for Community and Heritage, said: “Wilf Dillon’s archive is a treasure trove of material from his time at the University, complementing fascinating interviews recorded by Cynthia Brown in 2003 for the East Midlands Oral History Archive.

"We are very grateful to Pat for generously donating the archive to the University."

Wilf made the news headlines, including in the USA, when he beat five candidates to the president’s role in 1971.

He’d enrolled on a politics course at the University, aged 47, following the sale of his family hosiery business, which he ran with wife Kate. Wilf became a grandad for the first time as a student, when Pat gave birth to Sophie.

The archive contains Wilf’s self-penned profile which was used for his campaign for the presidency. In it, he described himself as a working class married father of two, and a grandfather, who was locally educated with previous experience working as a door-to-door salesman, clerk, engineer, representative, salesman manager, a factory manager and someone who set up a manufacturing business from scratch.

His profile also highlighted his trade union achievements, including being chairman of two branches, a shop steward and leading strike action.

Wilf’s experiences fighting for fellow students gave him an edge in the election, as highlighted in his manifesto, in which he wrote: “It would be a mistake to elect a president merely on his organisational ability. He must be outward looking as well and be a worthy advocate of students’ rights and aspirations.”

One example was him being a driving force for a review of the make-up of the first year social science course, which he achieved “as a result of agitation” through the student council. He also pointed towards his role on the student council, which was instrumental in bringing in a University ban on employing South African staff, in-keeping with the anti-Apartheid movement which opposed the institutional racial segregation and discrimination in the country.

Wilf featured on Kasabian’s 2014 long player, 48:13, when he can be heard speaking the song’s only lyrics ‘in mortis ora incerta est’ – a Latin phrase meaning ‘the hour of death is uncertain’. At the time of release, Sergio told the BBC: “There’s something powerful about a man in his 90s saying that.”

That same year, Sergio wore a T-shirt with Wilfred across the front during Kasabian’s Glastonbury headline set, in tribute to the man who was in ill health.

Sergio told the NME: “That’s my grandad.” “He’s the most incredible man, but he’s in his 90s and not very well at all. I just thought if I wore a little nod to him, he might see it when he opened the newspaper in his hospital bed on Monday morning and get a kick out of it. My mum said he was buzzing from it, so job done.”

Wilf died in 2017 aged 95. His obituary was penned by friend and fellow Leicester graduate, Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith, who followed in Wilf’s footsteps to become the first black female student elected as President of the Students’ Union, in 1975.

She wrote: “Wilf was an internationalist and a socialist who hated privilege, poverty and inequality wherever that might be. He strove, through his own actions, beliefs, principals and politics, to do his best to redress the balance. He was a man of many parts; opera-lover, football fanatic, keen sportsman, rambler, mountaineer, ace quiz compiler and devoted father for daughters Pat and Marcia, who talk fondly about how much fun Wilf was as a dad. It was a pleasure and a privilege to have known Wilf. He was a life-enhancer, and his sprit, energy and dynamism, will go on growing with his memory.”