research centre in London.

Mr. Peter Green, of Marshall's Island, said yesterday that he made the gift on behalf of the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Foundation, which was founded in memory of his wife who died of breast cancer last year at the age of 38.

Described as a "gift of love'' by England's Daily Express newspaper, the money has been handed over to the charity, Breakthrough, formed to establish the world's first breast cancer research facility. It is devoted specifically to finding a cure for the disease which, in England alone, kills 15,000 women each year.

A building next to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London's Fulham Road will be designated The Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Building.

Mr. Green added: "It was Mary-Jean's hope that a cure would be found for breast cancer and it was her wish that the money would be donated in that area.'' The late Mrs. Green was the daughter of the late Col. Sir Harold P. Mitchell and Lady Mitchell. Her family owned extensive coal-mining operations in Canada and the US, as well as farming and real estate interests in South America, Switzerland, Fiji, Jamaica and Bermuda.

An active gardener who won many prizes in the Agricultural Exhibitions, the late Mrs. Green was also an art collector. Part of that collection formed the major loan exhibit when the National Gallery opened last month.