Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore ( ; born 27 June 1965) is a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, television presenter and author of history books and novels, including '' Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar'' (2003), '' Jerusalem: The Biography'' (2011), '' The Romanovs 1613–1918'' (2016), and ''The World: A Family History of Humanity'' (2022).

Early life

Simon Sebag Montefiore was born in London. His father was psychotherapist Stephen Eric Sebag Montefiore (1926–2014), a great-grandson of the banker Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore, the nephew and heir of the wealthy philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore. Simon's mother was Phyllis April Jaffé (1927–2019) from the Lithuanian branch of the

Jaffe family The Jaffe family (Hebrew: יפה) is an Ashkenazi Jewish Rabbinic family originally from Dampierre, France. The family descends from the 12th century Tosafist, Elhanan Jaffe of Dampierre (died 1184). Members of the family have produced nume ...

. Her parents fled the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. They bought tickets for New York City, but were cheated, being instead dropped off at Cork, Ireland. In 1904, due to the Limerick pogrom, her father, Henry Jaffé, left the country and moved to

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England. Simon's brother is Hugh Sebag-Montefiore. Montefiore was educated at Ludgrove School and at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, where he was editor of the school newspaper, ''The Harrovian''. At the age of 17, he worked in South African gold mines, saying in 2023 "These were the last years of apartheid. I wanted to see its collapse first-hand." In the autumn of 1983 he interviewed UK prime minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

for ''The Harrovian''. He won an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

to read history at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).

Career

Montefiore worked as a banker, a foreign affairs journalist, and a war correspondent covering the conflicts during the fall of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Montefiore's book ''

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

'' was shortlisted for the

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

, the Duff Cooper Prize, and the Marsh Biography Award. '' Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar'' won History Book of the Year at the 2004

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

. ''Young Stalin'' won the ''

LA Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the large ...

'' Book Prize for Best Biography, the Costa Book Award, the Bruno Kreisky Award for Political Literature, Le Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique and was shortlisted for the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

. ''Jerusalem: The Biography'' was a number one non-fiction ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' bestseller and a global bestseller and won The Jewish Book of the Year Award from the Jewish Book Council. It also won a prestigious Chinese literary prize, the 10th Wenjin Book Prize, awarded by the National Library of China. Montefiore is also the author of the novels ''One Night in Winter'' and ''Sashenka''. ''One Night in Winter'' won the Political Novel of the Year Prize and was longlisted for the Orwell Prize. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

and a Visiting Professor of Humanities at the

University of Buckingham The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university#United Kingdom, private university in Buckingham, England, and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (U ...

Personal life

Montefiore lives in London with his wife, the novelist Santa Montefiore (née Palmer-Tomkinson), and their two children. The couple are friends of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

. Montefiore was appointed as a Trustee of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

in September 2021. He publishes as Simon Sebag Montefiore, but prefers to be addressed as Sebag Montefiore.

Films and TV drama series

Several of Montefiore's books are now being developed as either films or TV drama series. In February 2017,

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

announced that she was developing "Simon Sebag Montefiore's ''Catherine the Great and Potemkin''" with

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

. Also in early 2017, the film studio

Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Films (spelled as Lions Gate until 2005, and formerly Cinépix Film Properties until 1998) is a Canadian-American film production and distribution company founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on June 15, 1962. It was owned by Lionsga ...

announced it had bought Montefiore's ''Jerusalem: the Biography'' to make it into a long running multi episodic TV drama series which will be "character-driven, action-filled account of war, betrayal, faith, fanaticism, slaughter, persecution and co-existence in the universal holy city through the ages." Montefiore has likened it to

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

. The film scriptwriter and director

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

has been attached to the project to adapt the book for television, and he will also be acting as producer. In April 2016,

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...

announced that its animated division

Blue Sky Studios Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation animation studio, studio, which was active from 1987 to 2021. It was based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge, Michael F ...

, makers of the Ice Age series, had bought ''Royal Rabbits of London'', the children's series of books written by Montefiore and Santa Montefiore, to develop into an animated feature film. In July 2018 it was announced that the screenwriter Will Davies has been attached to the project to adapt the book for the screen. Also in July 2018, it was announced that

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat inste ...

had taken up an option on Montefiore's novel ''One Night in Winter'', in order to make a TV adaptation.

Reviews

The Romanovs

The book received several favourable reviews including ones by Olga Grushin,

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War. ...

and Stephen Kotkin. According to Kotkin, "No author on Russia writes better than Montefiore whose perceptiveness and portraiture here are frequently sublime ... a marvellous read and the last third from ''fin de siecle'' insanity to revolutionary cataclysm is dazzling." Swedish historian Dick Harrison criticized the book for inaccuracies.

''The World: a Family History of Humanity''

In 2022 Montefiore produced a world history: ''The World: a Family History of Humanity''. It received positive reviews. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' said: “Don't be put off by the doorstopper length: this is a riveting page-turner. The author brings his cast of dynastic titans, rogues and psychopaths to life with pithy, witty pen portraits, ladling on the sex and violence. An epic that both entertains and informs.” ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' noted that the book was “A monumental survey of dynastic rule: how to get it, how to keep it, how to squander it . . . Montefiore energetically fulfills his promise to write a 'genuine world history, not unbalanced by excessive focus on Britain and Europe.' In zesty sentences and lively vignettes, he captures the widening global circuits of people, commerce, and culture.” For ''

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 ...

'', Gerard DeGroot summed up the book as: "A history of the world from the Neanderthals to Trump. It's a rollicking tale, a kaleidoscope of savagery, sex, cruelty and chaos. By focusing on family, Montefiore provides an intimacy usually lacking in global histories. thas personality and a soul. It's also outrageously funny . . . an enormously entertaining book."

Fiction reviews

Montefiore's debut novel ''King's Parade'' was published in 1991. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' called the book "embarrassing" and "extremely silly". Montefiore has written a Moscow trilogy of fictional thrillers, set in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. These have received positive reviews. The first book, ''Sashenka'' (2008, was described by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' as "Spellbinding. ''Sashenka'' is a historical whodunit with the epic sweep of a Hollywood movie. Montefiore is a natural storyteller who brings his encyclopedic knowledge of Russian history to life in language that glitters like the ice of St Petersburg". The ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' praised "This superb novel. ''Sashenka'' is unforgettable. Inspiring. Montefiore proves a matchless storyteller, his prose harrowing and precise." ''One Night in Winter'' (2013) was described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as "A gripping thriller about private life and poetic dreams in Stalin's Russia... A gripping pageturner... Whether its subject is power or love, a darkly enjoyable read." The last novel in the trilogy, ''Red Sky at Noon'' (2017), was called "a deeply satisfying pageturner – mythic and murderous" by ''

'' and "brilliant on multiple levels ... offering historical accuracy, a fine empathy for his characters and a story that illuminates the operatic tragedy of Stalin's Russia" by ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

''.

Books

Simon Sebag Montefiore at Politics and Prose

;Non-fiction * ''Catherine the Great and Potemkin'' (2001) (originally published as ''The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin'') * '' Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar'' (2003) * ''Young Stalin'' (2007) * '' Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and Women'' (2008) * '' Jerusalem: The Biography'' (2011) * ''Titans of History'' (2012) * '' The Romanovs 1613–1918'' (2016) * ''The World: A Family History of Humanity'' (2022) ;Fiction * ''King's Parade'' (1991) * ''My Affair with Stalin'' (1997) * ''Sashenka'' (2008) * ''One Night in Winter'' (2013) * ''Red Sky at Noon'' (2017) ;Children's books (with Santa Montefiore) * ''Royal Rabbits of London'' (2016) * ''Royal Rabbits of London: Escape from the Tower'' (2017)

Television

*''Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City'', 3 part series, 8 December 2011 – 23 December 2011 *''Rome: A History of the Eternal City'', 3 part series, 5–19 December 2012 *''Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities'', 3 part series, 5 December 2013 – 19 December 2013 *''Blood and Gold: The Making of Spain'', 3 part series, 8 December 2015 – 22 December 2015 *''Vienna: Empire, Dynasty And Dream'', 3 part series, 8 December 2016 – 22 December 2016

CDs

*''Speeches that Changed The World''

DVDs

*Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City, BBC, 2011 *''Byzantium and the History of Faith''

References

External links

*
"By the Book" interview with the ''New York Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montefiore, Simon Sebag 1965 births Living people Academics of the University of Buckingham Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British Byzantinists English children's writers English historical novelists English people of Irish-Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Moroccan descent English Sephardi Jews Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Historians from London Historians of antiquity Historians of monarchy and royalty Historians of Russia Jewish English writers Novelists from London People educated at Harrow School People educated at Ludgrove School Simon Stalinism-era scholars and writers Television personalities from London