Matthew Robert Ralph d'Ancona (born 27 January 1968) is an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. A former deputy editor of ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'', he was appointed editor of ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in February 2006, a post he retained until August 2009.

Early life and education

D'Ancona's father was a Maltese tennis champion of Italian descent who moved to England to study and played youth football for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

before becoming a civil servant. His mother was an English teacher. D'Ancona was educated at

St Dunstan's College ) , type = Public SchoolIndependent day school , chair_label = Chairman of Governors , chair = Paul Durgan , head_label = Head , head = Nicholas Hewlett , address = Stanstead Road, Catford , city = London B ...

, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for boys (now co-educational) in

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...

in south London, where he was head boy. He also won an essay-writing competition run by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' on the subject of the future of British industry. He went to

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he took the top First in Modern History for his year in 1989. The same year, he was elected a fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

Life and career

After a year studying medieval

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

, d'Ancona joined the magazine ''

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

'', before proceeding to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' as a trainee. There he rose swiftly to become education correspondent and then assistant editor at the age of 26. He joined ''

'' in 1996 as deputy comment editor and columnist, before becoming deputy editor. He wrote a weekly political column in ''The Sunday Telegraph'' for a decade, in which role he was "treated as the best insight into

Cameronism This article concerns the policies, views and voting record of David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (May 2010 to July 2016). Cameron describes himself as a "modern compassionate conservative" and has said that he is "fed ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MPs". He succeeded

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

as editor of ''The Spectator''. On 28 August 2009 it was announced that d'Ancona would be stepping down as editor to be replaced by

Fraser Nelson Fraser Andrew Nelson (born 14 May 1973) is a British political journalist and editor of ''The Spectator'' magazine. Early and personal life Nelson was born in Truro, Cornwall, England but raised in Nairn, Highland, Scotland. He attended Nairn A ...

. While not himself a believer, d'Ancona is also the co-author of two books on early Christian theology, ''

The Jesus Papyrus The "Magdalen" papyrus was purchased in Luxor, Egypt in 1901 by Reverend Charles Bousfield Huleatt (1863–1908), who identified the Greek fragments as portions of the ''Gospel of Matthew'' (Chapter 26:23 and 31) and presented them to Magdalen Co ...

'' and ''The Quest for the True Cross''. He has written three novels, ''Going East'', ''Tabatha's Code'' and ''Nothing to Fear''. D'Ancona has also written several articles for the British political magazine '' Prospect''. In January 2015, d'Ancona joined ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as a weekly columnist. He left the paper in 2019. He also writes columns for the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', '' GQ'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and is an editor of

Tortoise Media ''Tortoise Media'' is a British news website co-founded by former BBC News director and ''The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', a ...

. He is chairman of the liberal Conservative think tank,

Bright Blue Bright Blue was a South African band that was prominent on the progressive scene in the final years of apartheid. The band's name "reflected the paradox of being bright in a very blue time" but was also a tribute to Chelsea FC. They are best ...

, a trustee of the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

and a Visiting Research Fellow at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

Bibliography

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References

External links

Journalisted - Articles written by Matthew d'Ancona
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ancona, Matthew Living people 1968 births Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English male journalists English magazine editors Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford People educated at St Dunstan's College The Spectator editors British people of Maltese descent