Lucien Wolf
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Lucien Wolf (born 1857 in London; died 1930) was an English Jewish journalist, historian, and advocate of Jewish rights. His father had been a wealthy German Jew who acquired political refuge in England as a result of the 1848 revolution.
Wolf began his career in journalism as early as 1874, at the age of 17, becoming a writer for the Jewish World and remaining at this position until 1894; from 1905 to 1908, he would later serve as its editor. In 1877, he became assistant director of the Public Leader. From 1890 to 1909, he was foreign editor of the Daily Graphic, writing under the pseudonym Diplomaticus. From 1895 to 1905 he wrote under the same pseudonym for the Fortnightly Review. As indicated by his pseudonum -- Wolf's writings dealt primarily foreign affairs and diplomacy and he became a respected expert in these fields.
The outbreak of the anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia in 1881; this event sparked his interest Jewish affairs. He became a sharp critic of the Czarist regime and attempted to draw attention to the plight of Russian Jews. In 1912, Wolf wrote a supplement named Darkest Russia to the Jewish Chronicle. With the outbreak of World War I, Wolf's preference for the more liberal German government to the Russian practically ended his career in journalism, as the British were allied with Russia against Germany.
In 1893, Wolf was one of the founders and the first president of the Jewish Historical Society of England.
From 1903 Wolf served on the Conjoint Committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Anglo-Jewish Association. He thereby served for over 20 years effectively as "Foreign Secretary" for Anglo-Jewry. The "Conjoint Committe" had been in 1878. Author Sharman Kadish, citing Chimen Abramsky, says that he was regarded as "Public enemy number one of the Tsarist Government" in England.
Wolf was part of the Anglo-Jewish delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. He helped draft the minority treaties, which guaranteed rights for the ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority populations. The Jewish delegations to the conference were split along different ideological lines. Eastern European delegates were generally diaspora nationalists, American delegates Zionists, and the Western Europeans mostly opposed both Zionism and disaspora nationalism, wanting Jews to be integrated into the societies they live in.
[edit] References
- Guide to the Papers of Lucien Wolf (1857-1930) and David Mowshowitch (1887-1957), (1708-1963) (bulk 1880-1930). Retrieved January 30, 2006.
- Bolsheviks and British Jews: The Anglo-Jewish Community, Britain and the Russian Revolution
- by Sharman Kadish
- (London: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd: 1992)
| Preceded by: none |
President of the Jewish Historical Society of England | Succeeded by: Hermann Adler |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wolf, Lucien |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | British-Jewish journalist, historian, advocate of Jewish rights |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1857 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1930 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
