George Weidenfeld

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George Weidenfeld

Arthur George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld , GBE (born September 13, 1919 in Vienna ; † January 20, 2016 in London ) was a British journalist, publisher and diplomat of Austrian-Jewish origin. He was also a columnist for the Berlin daily Die Welt . In 1949 he became political advisor to the Israeli government and head of cabinet to President Chaim Weizmann . He was a British citizen and, since 1994, an Austrian citizen again .

Life

Weidenfeld grew up as an only child in a middle-class Viennese family and developed a love for opera at an early age. After graduating from the Piarist High School in Vienna, he attended the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna . During his studies he became a member of the Jewish-academic association Unitas. After Austria's "Anschluss", he emigrated to London and started working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), mainly for the BBC Overseas Service . From 1942 political commentator for the BBC on European affairs, he wrote a weekly column . His Viennese cousin Gretel Beer had also lived in England since 1939. She also worked for the media. In 1945 Weidenfeld founded the publishing house Weidenfeld & Nicolson with Nigel Nicolson , for which he worked until the end. In 1946 he became a British citizen. He was married four times and died in London at the age of 96.

Publishing activity

The publishing house "Weidenfeld & Nicolson" published some sensational titles in its early days, including Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita . Because Weidenfeld feared prosecution because of the accusation of pornography , he initially only had a small edition printed and seven copies were bound , which he sent to the government with a request to examine the work and to confirm its harmlessness, which was also done. As a result, the publisher specialized in the publication of important works on European history and in biographies, including the memoirs of Charles de Gaulle , Konrad Adenauer , Harold Wilson , Golda Meir , Lyndon B. Johnson , Mosche Dajan , Henry Kissinger and Schimon Peres .

In 1985 Lord Weidenfeld expanded into the United States and together with Ann Getty bought the publisher "Grove Press". "Grove Press" later merged with the New York office of "Weidenfeld & Nicolson" under the name "Grove Nicolson". In 1991 “Weidenfeld & Nicolson” was acquired in Great Britain by the “Orion Publishing Group”, but the “Weidenfeld & Nicolson” brand was retained for non-fiction books and biographies, for which George Weidenfeld was still responsible. In 1993 his American company "Grove Nicolson" merged with the "Atlantic Monthly Press" to form "Grove / Atlantic Inc."

Lord Weidenfeld was able to withdraw from the daily publishing business and take more care of the contacts to well-known authors. Another milestone for “Weidenfeld & Nicolson” was the publication of the biographical work Memory and Identity of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Lord Weidenfeld was also a columnist for the Berlin daily Die Welt and the weekly Bild am Sonntag .

Political and public work

In 1948, when the State of Israel was founded, Weidenfeld became an advisor to the Israeli government and, in 1949, head of cabinet for one year to the first state president of the new state, Chaim Weizmann.

In the mid-1990s, Weidenfeld founded the Club of Three , which brought together leading representatives of political, cultural and public life from Great Britain, France and Germany for informal discussions on issues relating to the further development of Europe in order to promote cooperation and understanding within Europe. In 2006 the Institute for Strategic Dialogue emerged from this . Associated with this was a reorientation towards longer-term programs in the area of ​​combating extremism, education and Europe's position in the world. Weidenfeld was president of the institute until his death.

In addition to his publishing activities, Lord Weidenfeld was involved in the founding and further development of several universities. From 1996 to 2004 he was chairman of Ben Gurion University in the Negev and governor of Tel Aviv University . He was Governor Emeritus of the Weizmann Institute . From 1992 to 1994 he was Vice Chairman of the “University of Oxford Campaign” and from 1994 Vice President of the “Oxford University Development Program”. In 2000 the IJP (International Journalist Program) named its traditional German-British scholarship program for journalists after Lord Weidenfeld. In 2004 he was co-founder of the international media conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium in Potsdam and until recently co-chairman of the M100 advisory board.

Honors

In 1969, Weidenfeld was raised to a Knight Bachelor degree by Queen Elizabeth II . In 1976 he was promoted to Life Peer with the title Baron Weidenfeld , of Chelsea in the County of Greater London . In the New Year Honors List 2011 he was honored with the highest level of the Order of the British Empire , the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE).

Lord Weidenfeld has been honored many times for his efforts towards European integration. In 1991 he received the Federal Cross of Merit with a star . In April 2002 he received the Austrian Cross of Honor for Art and Science 1st Class and in 2003 the Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the State of Vienna . Since 2006 he has been chairman of the Israel Group in the House of Lords .

Fonts

  • The Goebbels experiment - a study of the Nazi propaganda machine . Together with Derrek Sington, Murray, London 1942. (Interview with Weidenfeld about the Goebbel propaganda and his book in Spiegel Online February 22, 2005. [1] )
  • Of people and times - the autobiography. Translation Charlotte Breuer. Europe, how u. a. 1995. ISBN 978-3-203-51256-3 . English original edition entitled: Remembering my good friends. Harper Collins, New York City / USA 1994, ISBN 0-06-017286-X .

Movie

  • The bridge builders Henry Kissinger, Fritz Stern and Lord George Weidenfeld. Jewish emigrants and reunification. Documentation, 43 minutes, Germany, USA, Israel, England, Austria, Switzerland, 2010. Written and directed by Evi Kurz , Production: TLF-Timelinefilm GmbH Fürth, first broadcast: ARD , September 29, 2010. In interviews, Kissinger, Stern and Weidenfeld u. a. Helmut Schmidt, Angela Merkel, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Richard von Weizsäcker, Timothy Garton Ash and Niall Ferguson.

obituary

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bernhard Schulz : Charming observer: journalist, diplomat and publisher Lord Weidenfeld is dead. In: Tagesspiegel . January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Andrea Seibel: “It's hard to imagine that the new Pope is European.” Welt.de, February 18, 2013, accessed on September 13, 2014.
  3. ↑ Laudation Dr. Wolfgang bowl. m100potsdam.org. Accessed December 3, 2017
  4. ↑ Andrea Seibel: Lord Weidenfeld and the Who's Who of literature. welt.de, September 13, 2014, accessed on September 13, 2014.
  5. ^ Institute for Strategic Dialogue - History. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 (English, presentation of the institute's history on the website of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue ).
  6. ↑ IJP George Weidenfeld journalist grant for British and German journalists
  7. ↑ Honors List ( Memento from September 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 462 kB) December 31, 2010.
  8. ↑ Börsenblatt für den deutschen Buchhandel 158 (1991), p. 2568.
  9. ↑ "Bridge Builder" Lord George Weidenfeld received decorations. wien.at, April 10, 2003, accessed on November 22, 2010.
  10. ^ Table of contents ( Memento from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 76 kB) from TLF-Timelinefilm GmbH.
personal data
SURNAME Weidenfeld, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weidenfeld, Arthur George, Baron Weidenfeld (full name); Weidenfeld, Sir George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Austrian publisher and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 20th January 2016
Place of death London