Sir Isidore Spielmann, CMG (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

21 July 1854 – 1925) was a British civil engineer turned art connoisseur, impresario and exhibition organizer.

Early life

Isidore Spielmann was born into a Jewish family in

in 1854, the son of the banker Adam Spielmann (1812–1869), one of three brothers who had emigrated from Schokken (now

Skoki Skoki (german: Schokken) is a town in Poland, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Wągrowiec County, with 3,779 inhabitants (December 2004). It is located about 40 km north of Poznań. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called ...

), near Posen (now Poznan, following the Partitions of Poland. Isidore had seven siblings, several of whom died in infancy or in young adulthood, but the two surviving brothers were equally celebrated figures: Sir Meyer Spielmann (1856–1936) was primarily concerned with education and youth-rehabilitation and was knighted in 1928, but he was also an art collector himself;

Marion Spielmann Marion Harry Alexander Spielmann (London, 22 May 1858 – 1948) was a prolific Victorian art critic and scholar who was the editor of '' The Connoisseur'' and ''Magazine of Art''. Among his voluminous output, he wrote a history of ''Punch'', ...

(1858–1948) was the youngest and received no honours, but was a renowned art critic in his time and arguably the most influential of the three in the art world of the Edwardian era. Isidore's nephews and nieces included the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

campaigner

Eva Hubback Eva Marian Hubback (13 April 1886 – 15 July 1949) was an English feminist and an early advocate of birth control and eugenics. Early life Eva Marian Spielmann was born on 13 April 1886, daughter of Sir Meyer Spielmann (1856–1936). Sir Meyer wa ...

. Isidore's own career was in civil engineering and he was awarded the CMG, before he began his second career.

Art Impresario

Spielman compiled the book, ''Royal Commission : St. Louis International Exhibition, 1904'', an account of the British exhibition at the St. Louis World's Fair, which he took part in organizing. The book was published by the Royal Commission in 1906. Sir Isidore Spielmann was awarded a knighthood in 1905. Spielmann was Britain's Commissioner for Art for the 1908

Franco-British Exhibition The Franco-British Exhibition was a large public fair held in London between 14 May and 31 October 1908. The exhibition attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France. The chief ar ...

Family life

Spielmann married Emily Sebag-Montefiore (1859–1929) and they had five children. Lady Spielmann was the elder, and only surviving, daughter of Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore, the son of Solomon Sebag and Sarah Montefiore; Sir Joseph's uncle was the famous Sir

Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, aft ...

, Bt. and on the baronet's death in 1885, the Sebag surname was altered by royal licence, in fulfillment of the legacy, initiating the new branch of the family. Lady Spielmann's last address was 56 Westbourne Terrace, London, W. The younger of the two sons, Harold Spielmann, was killed at Gallipoli in 1915, as a 23-year old Captain in 10th Bn., the Manchester Regiment. The eldest daughter, Dora Marian Spielmann married

Laurie Magnus Laurie Magnus (5 August 1872 – 28 April 1933) was an English author, journalist, and publisher. Biography Magnus was born in London to Jewish parents Katie and Sir Philip Magnus. He was educated at St Paul's School, and graduated with a Mas ...

, heir to the Magnus baronetcy, but he narrowly predeceased his father and it was their sons who continued that line; two of the daughters married a distant cousin from the Sebag-Montefiores, further bonding 'the Cousinhood'. The youngest daughter, Adelaide (1895–1961), married Lionel Cohen, Lord Cohen, the distinguished

Law Lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House o ...

from another well-known banking dynasty.

References

{{Authority control People from London English art critics English people of Polish-Jewish descent British Jews