Leonard Jacques Stein OBE (12 December 1887 – 23 April 1973), was a British political candidate, writer, barrister, Zionist activist, and President of the

Anglo-Jewish Association The Anglo-Jewish Association (AJA) is a British organisation. It was formed in 1871 for the 'promotion of social, moral, and intellectual progress among the Jews; and the obtaining of protection for those who may suffer in consequence of being Je ...

Background

He was the son of Philip Stein and Matilda Beaver of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He was educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. In 1910 he was

President of the Oxford Union Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rule ...

. In 1928 he married Sarah Kitay of Paterson,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, USA. They had one son (and one son deceased). In 1953 he was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

.‘STEIN, Leonard Jacques’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 9 April 2014
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Professional career

In 1912 Stein received a

Call to Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. He served in the Army from 1914 to 1920 (Staff-Captain, Palestine Military Administration and subsequently on Political Staff, EEF, 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 ...

and at General Headquarters in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

from 1918 to 1920). He was Political Secretary of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

from 1920 to 1929. He was Honorary Legal Adviser to the

Jewish Agency for Palestine The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jews, Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). ...

from 1929 to 1939. He was President of the Anglo-Jewish Association from 1939 to 1949. He was President of the

Jewish Historical Society of England The Jewish Historical Society of England (JHSE) was founded in 1893 by several Anglo-Jewish scholars, including Lucien Wolf, who became the society's first president. Early presidents of the JHSE included Hermann Adler, Michael Adler, Joseph Ja ...

from 1964 to 1965.

Political career

Stein was firstly Liberal candidate for the

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

division of Kent at the 1922 General Election. This was a safe Unionist seat that a Liberal had not won since 1857. The Unionists held the seat. He was then Liberal candidate for the

Kensington North Kensington North was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Ki ...

division of London at the 1923 General Election. This was a Unionist seat and not a good prospect either as the Liberals had come third in 1922. However, he did manage to increase the Liberal share of the vote; He did not contest the 1924 General Election. He was then Liberal candidate for the Bermondsey West division of London at the 1929 General Election. This was a Labour seat that the Liberals had last won in 1923. He might have entertained hopes of regaining the seat, however the Unionists who had not run a candidate in 1923, chose to intervene. As a result, Labour comfortably held the seat; He did not stand for parliament again. After the split in the Liberal Party in 1931 he was active in the National Liberals as Vice-Chairman of their London organisation."Mr Leonard Stein." Times ondon, England25 Apr. 1973: 20. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

Publications

*Edition of the Vicar of Wakefield, 1912
The truth about Palestine : a reply to the Palestine Arab delegation
1922 *Zionism, 1925, republished in new edition, 1932 *Syria, 1926 *(Joint) Tax Avoidance, 1936 *The National Defence Contribution, 1937 *The Excess Profits Tax, 1940 *The Balfour Declaration, 1961 *Weizmann and England, 1965 *(Joint Editor) Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann, Vol. I, 1968

References

External links

Stein's 1929 election campaign
in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''
Stein's Obituary
in ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:STEIN, Leonard Jacques 1887 births 1973 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Jewish British politicians Presidents of the Oxford Union Members of the Inner Temple Officers of the Order of the British Empire