John Reith, 1st Baron Reith

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John Reith (woodcut)

John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith KT GCVO GBE CB TD PC (born July 20, 1889 in Stonehaven , Scotland, † June 16, 1971 in Edinburgh ) was the founding father and from 1922 to 1938 the first general director of the BBC ( British Broadcasting Company , British Broadcasting Corporation since 1927 ). His concept of seeing radio as a medium for educating the masses shaped the BBC and comparable broadcasters around the world for decades.

Career

Reith attended the renowned private school The Glasgow Academy and later Gresham's School in Norfolk . His father then sent him against his will to an apprenticeship at the North British Locomotive Company . He also served in the Territorial Army .

He was wounded in World War I and was then transferred to the Royal Engineers , where he rose to become captain . In 1922 he worked in the general election for the Conservative Party in London. He applied to the BBC in response to a newspaper advertisement and was appointed director. Reith put up fierce resistance to the print media when they decided in January 1923 that the BBC's programs should be printed in the newspapers at their own expense. The opposition gave up after a few months, but in the meantime Reith published the weekly Radio Times . In 1938 he gave up his post after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain advised him to do so .

After the beginning of World War II , Reith took over the Ministry of Information in 1940 and was a member of the British House of Commons for a short time . After Chamberlain's resignation, he moved to the Ministry of Transportation in Winston Churchill's cabinet , with whom he had an extremely bad relationship throughout his life. From October 1940 to February 1942, Reith was Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works , responsible for rebuilding the cities that had been bombed by the Germans. During this time he was raised to the hereditary nobility . After leaving the cabinet, he worked in the Admiralty until the end of the war .

After the war he held various board positions, including at the Colonial Development Corporation and insurance companies. From 1965 to 1968 he was Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow , from 1967/68 he was Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland .

In 1948, the BBC introduced the Reith Lectures in his honor , an annual series of lectures on BBC Radio 4 in which prominent figures speak on subjects of general interest. The series has now existed for more than 60 years, the first lecturer was Bertrand Russell , and Michael Sandel spoke in 2009 .

Private life

When Reith returned to the United Kingdom in 1917 after a two-year stay in the United States , he fell in love with Muriel Odhams, whom he then married. According to his daughter, he is believed to have had a variety of extramarital relationships, including one with a man.

Reith had a lavish lifestyle and at times employed up to eight servants. As a result, he was almost destitute in the last years of his life. He also suffered from severe depression during this period . Reith died in Edinburgh in 1971 at the age of 81 . The barony passed to his son, who personally renounced the title the following year. He lives again when he dies.

Web links

Commons : John Reith, 1st Baron Reith  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of the Reith Lectures
predecessor Office successor
New title created Baron Reith
1940–1971
Christopher Reith