Amélie Jakobovits, Baroness Jakobovits (née Munk; 31 May 1928 – 7 May 2010) was a British charity

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

, and the wife of

Immanuel Jakobovits Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits (8 February 192131 October 1999) was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. Prior to this, he had served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland and as rabbi of the Fi ...

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, and an important figure in Jewish life in the UK in her own right, who was known as the "Queen Mother" of the UK's Jewish community.

Early life

She was born Amélie Munk on 31 May 1928 in

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

, Bavaria, Germany, the daughter of Elie Munk (1900–1981), a rabbi and rabbinic scholar, and his wife, Fanny Frumet Munk, née Goldberger (1906–1979). In 1936, they moved to Paris, and after the Nazi invasion, moved to Switzerland in 1940, and remained there until Paris was liberated.

Career

Unusually in Orthodox Jewish life, she mediated between her husband and

Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson ( – June 12, 1994; Anno Mundi, AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an American Orthodox rabbi and the most rec ...

, who was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, leader of one of the largest Hassidic groups, on matters relating to Israel. Her husband was far more of a "dove", and Schneerson was quite "hawkish". This was made possible by a longstanding connection between them - she had even played football as a child with Schneerson in pre-war France. She led the first marches in support of the Soviet Jewry movement, supporting Jews being allowed to leave the Eastern Bloc for resettling in Israel. She did extensive charity work, including Yad Sarah, Emunah and Kisharon. After her husband died, she became known as the "Queen Mother" of the UK's Jewish community.

Personal life

She met her future husband

through a family friend, and Jakobovits proposed to her at the top of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

. They had two sons and four daughters. She was a cousin of the American writer on the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Deborah Lipstadt Deborah Esther Lipstadt (born March 18, 1947) is an American historian and diplomat, best known as author of the books ''Denying the Holocaust'' (1993), ''History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier'' (2005), ''The Eichmann Trial'' ...

.Deborah Lipstad, ''Denial: Holocaust History on Trial'', p. 269

Later life

She died at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Ho ...

, London, of bronchopneumonia and heart failure, on 7 May 2010. Her death was mourned by a crowd of 5,000 on the Shirehall Estate in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, London, where she had lived in her later years. She was buried next to her husband on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

, Israel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobovits, Amélie 1928 births 2010 deaths Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom German emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Ansbach German expatriates in England British baronesses Spouses of life peers Wives of knights