Raphael Joseph Feiwel (1907 – 22 June 1985), better known as Tosco R. Fyvel or T. R. Fyvel (), was an writer, journalist and literary editor. In 1936–1937, he was active in the Zionist movement in Palestine, then under the control of the British mandate, and worked with

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

. The T R Fyvel Book Award, awarded to a "book which has given new insight into issues or events, shown a perspective not often acknowledged, or given a platform to new voices", is one of the five Freedom of Expression awards presented by

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 ...

Life and career

Fyvel was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany. His mother, Sterna (Schneerson), was from a Belarusian Jewish family, was a niece of essayist

Ahad Ha'am Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927), primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name Ahad Ha'am ( he, אחד העם, lit. 'one of the people', Genesis 26:10), was a Hebrew essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zi ...

, and had worked for

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...

. His father, Berthold Feiwel, from a

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

n Jewish family, was an executive director of

Keren Hayesod Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal ( he, קרן היסוד, literally "The Foundation Fund") is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5 ...

. Fyvel (or, as he then still was, Feiwel) studied the Moral Sciences tripos (i.e. Philosophy) at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, where he graduated with a third-class degree in 1928. Following his graduation, Fywel moved to Palestine, where he spent some time as an assistant to Meir in the

Histadrut Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...

. Returning to Britain, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he worked in counter-intelligence. Fyvel first met

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

in January 1940 when their mutual publisher,

Fredric Warburg Fredric John Warburg (27 November 1898 – 25 May 1981) was a British publisher best known for his association with the author George Orwell. During a career spanning a large part of the 20th century and ending in 1971, Warburg published Orwel ...

, introduced the two men. Although Orwell did not agree with the proposed independent Jewish state in Palestine, they became friends and sometimes met at Warburg's home in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. The three men planned a series of pamphlets/essays to be published by

Secker & Warburg Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

as Searchlight Books.Rodden, John (2001) ''George Orwell: The Politics of Literary Reputation'', pp. 314-8. Transaction Publishers
At Google Books. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In 1945, he succeeded Orwell as literary editor of the ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

'' newspaper when Orwell left to become a war correspondent for ''

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 ...

''. Fyvel remained in this post until 1949. In the early 1950s, he was a founder and contributor to '' Encounter''. From 1973 to 1983, he was literary editor of ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

''.Rubinstein, William D. ''et al'' (2011) ''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', p. 308. Palgrave Macmillan
At Google Books. Retrieved 18 June 2013. Fyvel was married to the South African-born Mary Kirschner.http://www.craiglevin.com/FamilyTree/HILLMAN_FAMILY_TREE.pdf Their daughter, writer Hannah Fyvel, was the wife of

Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron (13 September 1930 – 7 February 2015) was a British printing millionaire, philanthropist and a Labour life peer. Early life and education Gavron was the eldest son of Nathan Gavron, a patent lawyer, and Leah Gav ...

. Fyvel's great-grandson is actor Rafi Gavron.

Publications

*1938: ''No Ease in Zion'' *1961: ''The Insecure Offenders'' *1964: ''Troublemakers: Rebellious Youth in an Affluent Society'' ( Schocken) *1968: ''The Frontiers of Sociology'' (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

& Kegan Paul, London) *1968: ''Intellectuals Today'' (

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

, London) *1983: ''George Orwell: A Personal Memoir''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fyvel, T. R. 1907 births 1985 deaths 20th-century English writers 20th-century British writers English essayists English Jews British literary editors Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge British people of Belarusian descent English people of Belarusian descent 20th-century essayists