David Francis Kessler, OBE, (6 June 1906 - 24 November 1999) was a British publisher and author. He was the managing director of ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

''.

Early life

David Kessler was born on 6 June 1906 in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, South Africa. His father, Leopold Kessler, was a friend of

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

, an early proponent of

Zionism 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 a shareholder of ''The Jewish Chronicle''. Kessler was educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

before graduating from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in law and economics.

Career

Kessler began his career by working for Antonin Besse, an oil and shipping businessman with ties to the

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, Yemen. He subsequently worked for the Palestine Potash Company, later known as the

Dead Sea Works The Dead Sea Works (, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel. History Under the British administration, concessions from the Mandatory government were given. On January 1, 1930, the "Con ...

, 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 ...

. Kessler became the managing director of ''

'' in London in 1935. In 1946, he dismissed the editor, Ivan Greenberg, who was deemed too divisive. Instead, he appointed John Maurice Shaftesley, who remained in the post until 1958, when he hired

William Frankel William Frankel (3 February 1917 – 18 April 2008) was the editor of the British weekly newspaper ''The Jewish Chronicle'' from 1958 until 1977. He wrote the books ''Friday Nights'' (1973), ''Israel Observed'' (1980), ''Survey of Jewish Affairs'' ...

. Kessler wrote two books. He was a founding member of the

Minority Rights Group Minority Rights Group (MRG) is an international human rights organisation, headquartered in London, with offices in Budapest and Kampala. The organisation's mission statement is to secure rights for ethnic, national, religious, linguistic mi ...

. He served as the chairman of the Falasha Welfare Association and the

Wiener Library The Wiener Holocaust Library () is the world's oldest institution devoted to the study of the Holocaust, its causes and legacies. Founded in 1933 as an information bureau that informed Jewish communities and governments worldwide about the pers ...

in London. He was awarded the OBE in the

1996 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1996 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other c ...

"for services to the Jewish Chronicle and to the Jewish community".

Personal life and death

Kessler had a wife, Matilda, a son, and three daughters. They resided in

Stoke Hammond Stoke Hammond (Old English: ''Stoche Hamon'') is a historical English village and civil parish in the north of the county of Buckinghamshire. It is one of the 53 "thankful villages" which lost no men in World War I, as first identified by the wr ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England, where he died on 24 November 1999.

Works

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References

1906 births 1999 deaths Writers from Pretoria Writers from Buckinghamshire British Jews Alumni of the University of Cambridge Publishers (people) from London Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century English businesspeople {{England-writer-stub

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

Works

Further reading

References