Howell Arthur Keir Gwynne, CH (3 September 1865 – 29 June 1950) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

author, newspaper editor of the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

'' from 1911 to 1937. , Mee, Arthur. ''Who's Who in Wales''. Cardiff, Western Mail Limited (1921). (p.170)

Early life

He was the son of Richard Gwynne, a schoolmaster and his wife Charlotte Lloyd, born at

Kilvey Kilvey Hill ( Welsh: ''Mynydd Cilfái'' or ''Y Bigwrn'') is a hill in South Wales, to the east of Swansea. Kilvey Hill is high and is classed as a Sub Marilyn. The top of Kilvey Hill enjoys panoramic views of Swansea city centre, Swansea Dock ...

;

Llewellyn Henry Gwynne Llewellyn Henry Gwynne (11 June 18639 December 1957) was a Welsh Anglican bishop and missionary. He was the first Anglican Bishop of Egypt and Sudan, serving from 1920 to 1946. Early life Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was born in Britain on 11 June ...

was his brother. He attended Swansea Grammar School.

Journalistic career

Gwynne began his career as a foreign correspondent in the Balkans, and then became the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

news correspondent in Romania. Holmes, Colin. "Gwynne, H. A." In Levy,Richard S. (ed.) ''Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution''. ABC-CLIO, 2005 (p.286) Early in his career, Gwynne was part of the group of journalists and writers including also

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Perceval Landon Perceval Landon (1869–1927) was an English writer, traveller and journalist, now best remembered for his classic and much reprinted ghost story "Thurnley Abbey". Family Perceval Landon was born in Hastings on 29 March 1869. He was the son of th ...

, Julian Ralph and F.W. Buxton who helped start a newspaper, ''The Friend'', for Lord Roberts for the British troops in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

, the newly captured capital of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. Carrington, C. E., (1955) ''The life of Rudyard Kipling'', Doubleday & Co., Garden City, N.Y., p. 236. Kipling and Gwynne remained friends for the rest of Kipling's life. Gwynne married Edith Douglas, daughter of Thomas Ash Lane, in 1907. In 1911, Gwynne became editor of ''The Morning Post''. The owner of the paper was Lilias, Countess Bathurst (1871–1965), a.k.a. Lady Bathurst, wife of

Seymour Henry Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst {{Infobox noble, type , name = Seymour Bathurst , title = 7th Earl Bathurst , image = Seymour Henry Bathurst 001.jpg , caption = Seymour Henry Bathurst {{circa, 1902 , alt = , CoA ...

(1864–1943). The Bathursts sold the paper in 1924. Gwynne held

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power ( economic and ...

and

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palesti ...

political views, and used his editorship of the ''Morning Post'' to promote these positions.Kadish, Sharman. ''Bolsheviks and British Jews: The Anglo-Jewish Community, Britain and the Russian Revolution''. London,

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 2013. . (pp. 33-4, 124) Gwynne was a strong supporter of the British war effort in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, supporting

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

and championing Lord Kitchener as the military leader that Gwynne believed was best qualified to help Britain win the war. Gwynne also befriended

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Unionism in Ireland, Irish u ...

, whose support for

Irish Unionism Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution. As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, followin ...

Gwynne shared. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, Gwynne became an outspoken opponent of

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

. Later, " ke many another elderly

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in the nineteen-twenties iplingreacted at the news of events in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, by moving further to the right in politics". Gwynne's ''Post'' "continued to fight its rearguard action, and iplingcontinued to urge Gwynne to take stronger stands". Kipling "was for years closely associated with the editorial policy of the ''Post'' and on terms of friendship with Lady Bathurst ..., ndspent many week-ends at

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

". Gwynne's relationship with Kipling remained close throughout the latter's life — he was a pallbearer at Kipling's burial in

Poet's Corner Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey in the City of Westminster, London because of the high number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The first poe ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

in 1936.Carrington, C. E., (1955) ''The life of Rudyard Kipling'', p. 393.

Gwynne and ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion''

In 1920, Gwynne caused controversy when he wrote an introduction to a book titled ''The Cause of World Unrest''. Gwynne's introduction argued that there was a Jewish conspiracy to promote Communism. Gwynne cited the book ''

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...

'' (later exposed as a forgery) in his introduction. While Gwynne did not take a stance on whether ''The Protocols'' were authentic or not, he did claim that "the Jewish Bolsheviks" in Russia were "carrying out almost to the letter" the program outlined in ''The Protocols''. Gwynne's articles linking Jews and Communism resulted in him receiving a letter of complaint from the Jewish journalist Leopold Greenberg, who accused Gwynne of promoting

Antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

Works

*''The Army on Itself'' (1904) *'' The Cause of World Unrest'' (1920) (editor), collection of a series of ''Post'' articles based on the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion *''The Will and the Bill'' (1923)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwynne, Howard Arthur 1865 births 1950 deaths Welsh journalists British anti-communists British conspiracy theorists Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour People from Swansea Protocols of the Elders of Zion