George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld (13 September 1919 – 20 January 2016) was a British publisher, philanthropist, and newspaper columnist. He was also a lifelong

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and renowned master networker. He was on good terms with popes, prime ministers and presidents and put his connections to good use for diplomatic and philanthropic ends.

Early life

Weidenfeld was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, in 1919.Oliver Marr
"A man whose life has been an open book"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', 28 June 2009. He was born to an Austrian-Jewish family, the only son of Max and Rosa Weidenfeld. Weidenfeld attended the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and the city's Diplomatic College. Following the ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

'' (Germany's annexation of Austria) in 1938, he emigrated to London, with limited English and a 16/6d postal order (approximately £32.46 in 2019). He began work with the monitoring service of the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

(BBC).

Career

By 1942, he was a political commentator for the BBC and also wrote a weekly newspaper column, coming into contact with General de Gaulle and Tito as a result. In 1949, Weidenfeld served for a year as the political adviser and Chief of Cabinet to

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

, the first President of Israel. In that role, Weidenfeld launched a campaign to convince the world that Israel should keep western Jerusalem. The city had been divided between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan after the two sides signed an armistice agreement earlier in the year.

Publishing career

In 1948, Weidenfeld co-founded the publishing firm

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

with

Nigel Nicolson Nigel Nicolson (19 January 1917 – 23 September 2004) was an English writer, publisher and politician. Early life and education Nicolson was the second son of writers Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West; he had an elder brother Bene ...

. Intending to start an upmarket political magazine, a mix of the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', they found that the post-war paper shortage made a book publishing concern more feasible, and the new firm was partly intended as a cover for the impractical magazine. Over the years, the firm published many outstanding titles, including the British edition of

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

's ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...

'' in 1959 and Nicolson's biography of his parents, ''

Portrait of a Marriage ''Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson'' is the 1973 biography of writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West compiled by her son Nigel Nicolson from her journals and letters. Synopsis The book relates to Sackville-West ...

'' (1973). In 1985, Weidenfeld's publishing interests expanded to the United States, when he acquired the

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

in partnership with Ann Getty (wife of

Gordon Getty Gordon Peter Getty (born December 20, 1933) is an American businessman and classical music composer, the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork Light, Ann Rork, was his father's fourth wife. When his father died in 1976, G ...

). Grove later merged with the New York division of Weidenfeld & Nicolson to form Grove Nicolson. In 1991 Weidenfeld & Nicolson's UK branch was sold to the

Orion Publishing Group Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connell ...

and became Orion's main non-fiction imprint, with Weidenfeld as non-executive chairman. In 1993, the American company, Grove Nicolson, merged with the

Atlantic Monthly Press Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself " ...

to form Grove/Atlantic Inc. In 2005 he arranged the publication of ''Memory and Identity'' by

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. Weidenfeld was also joint chairman of the advisory board of the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is the school of public policy of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The School was founded in 2010 following a £75 million donation from business magnate Len Blavatnik, supported by £26 million fro ...

in Oxford; adviser to the board of Axel Springer AG Berlin and a columnist for the Berlin newspapers ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'', '' Welt am Sonntag'' and '' Bild Zeitung''. In January 2006 the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, founded as The Club of Three in the 1990s, was established along with the Weidenfeld Scholarships and Leadership Programme at Oxford and, in 2010, he founded the Humanitas Programme of visiting chairs at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Philanthropy

Weidenfeld served in many philanthropic capacities including chairman of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (1996–2004), governor of the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

, vice-chairman of the EU-Israel Forum, member of the founding council of the Rothermere American Institute at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, trustee,

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

(1974–87) and trustee of the National Portrait Gallery (1988–95). He co-founded the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust at Oxford University, one of the largest post-graduate scholarship programmes at Oxford. He also established the "Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund", which intended to support Christians fleeing the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

, although its focus on Christians has caused some criticism.

Awards and honours

Weidenfeld became a

British citizen The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and Nor ...

in 1947, was knighted in 1969, and created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 25 June 1976 taking the title Baron Weidenfeld, of

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

. Originally taking the Labour whip, in 1981 he defected to the Social Democratic Party (becoming their arts spokesman in the Lords), and following the SDP's merger with the Liberals in 1988 opted to join

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

's 'continuing' SDP. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 '' New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

for public service. Further honours included honorary fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford, honorary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, honorary fellow,

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and honorary D.Litt. from the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. He was made an honorary senator of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, in 1996 and awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters,

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

, by

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 2010. He was appointed Knight Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1991), the Austrian Cross of Honour First Class for Arts and Science (2002), the Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the County of Vienna (2003), the Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2005) and the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (2008). The Bene Merito honorary badge was awarded by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2011. He received the London Book Fair/Trilogy Lifetime Achievement Award for International Publishing in 2007 and the

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek (; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978 Jerusalem ...

Life Achievement Award in Jerusalem in 2009.

Personal life

Weidenfeld married Jane Sieff in 1952, daughter of Israel Sieff, Baron Sieff who was a part of the family that controlled

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

. Before their divorce in 1955 they had a daughter, Laura Weidenfeld (b. 1953). After their divorce, he married Barbara Skelton (1916–1996), the English memoirist, novelist and socialite, in 1956, who had previously been married to

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...

. His third marriage was to Sandra Payson Meyer (1926–2004) in 1966. She was the daughter of Americans Charles Shipman Payson and Joan Whitney, of the

Whitney family The Whitney family is a prominent American family descended from non-Norman English immigrant John Whitney (1592–1673), who left London in 1635 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. The historic family mansion in Watertown, known as The Elm ...

. They divorced 10 years later in 1976. His fourth and final marriage was to Annabelle Whitestone (born 1944), who was 25 years his junior, in 1992. They remained married until his death in 2016. He was a staunch supporter of Israel and was described as an "adamantine

". Among his friends were politicians Angela Merkel and

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations#List of secretaries-general, secretary-general of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 a ...

. He died in London on 20 January 2016, aged 96 and was honoured with burial on the Mount of Olives in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Arms

Published works

References

External links

* *
George Weidenfeld
arte.tv * Weidenfeld made an extended appearance on the television programme '' After Dark'', alongside

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

and

Adnan Khashoggi Adnan Khashoggi (; 25 July 1935 – 6 June 2017) was a Saudi businessman and arms dealer known for his business dealings, extensive geopolitical influence, and opulent lifestyle, which earned him the moniker "''The Jay Gatsby, Great Gatsby ...

among others. Details here.
Lord Weidenfeld's biography
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
The IJP George Weidenfeld Bursary for British and German journalists
*

Ion Trewin Ion Courtenay Gill Trewin (13 July 1943 – 8 April 2015) was a British editor, publisher and author. Biography Born in London, the son of J. C. Trewin and Wendy Trewin (''née'' Monk), Ion Trewin was educated at Highgate School. He was the l ...

"How George Weidenfeld defied the sceptics: profile"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 18 July 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weidenfeld, George 1919 births 2016 deaths 20th-century British philanthropists Academic staff of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev British book publishing company founders British publishers (people) Crossbench life peers Fellows of King's College London Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford Honorary Fellows of St Peter's College, Oxford Jewish British politicians Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990) peers University of Vienna alumni