Joseph Edward Sieff (November 28, 1905 – November 4, 1982,Associated Press (November 5, 1982)
"Joseph Edward Sieff, 76"
''The Passaic Herald-News''. p. 31. Retrieved December 14,. 2022. also known as Teddy Sieff), was an English businessman and

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. He was chairman of retailer

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

and honorary vice-president of the British Zionist Federation. Sieff worked at M&S for much of his career, as did his brother

Israel Sieff Israel Moses Sieff, Baron Sieff (4 May 1889 – 14 February 1972) was an English businessman and Zionist who was chairman of the British retailer Marks & Spencer from 1964 to 1967. Early life and education He was born in Manchester, the son of ...

. Teddy succeeded Israel as Chairman in 1967, serving until 1972. He was succeeded as Chairman by Israel's son Marcus Sieff. In 1973, Teddy Sieff survived an assassination attempt by the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...

. On 30 December, PFLP assassin Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (aka ''Carlos the Jackal'') called on Sieff's home on Queen's Grove in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

and ordered the maid to take him to Sieff. Finding Sieff in the

bathroom A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically ...

, in his

Bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or animal may bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed acrylic, porcelain-enameled steel or cast iron, or fiberglass-reinforced ...

, Carlos fired one bullet at Sieff from his Tokarev 7.62mm pistol, which bounced off Sieff just between his nose and upper lip and knocked him unconscious; the gun then jammed and Carlos fled. The assassination attempt is depicted in the 2010 miniseries/film, '' Carlos'' with an actor portraying Sieff. Archive footage of an interview with Sieff himself is also included in the miniseries/film.

References

1905 births 1982 deaths English businesspeople in retailing English Jews English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Palestinian terrorist incidents in Europe Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine 20th-century English businesspeople {{Judaism-bio-stub