David F. Kessler

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David Francis Kessler
Born6 June 1906
Pretoria, South Africa
Died24 November 1999 (1999-11-25) (aged 93)
Alma mater Leighton Park School University of Cambridge
Occupation(s)Publisher, author
SpouseMatilda Kessler
Children1 son, 3 daughters
Parent Leopold Kessler

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 .

Contents

Early life

David Kessler was born on 6 June 1906 in Pretoria, South Africa. [1] [2] [3] His father, Leopold Kessler, was a friend of Theodor Herzl, an early proponent of Zionism, and a shareholder of The Jewish Chronicle.

Kessler was educated at Leighton Park School in Reading before graduating from the University of Cambridge, where he earned a bachelor's degree in law and economics. [1] [2] [3]

Career

Kessler began his career by working for Antonin Besse, [3] an oil and shipping businessman with ties to the Royal Dutch Shell in Aden, Yemen. [1] He subsequently worked for the Palestine Potash Company, later known as the Dead Sea Works, in Jerusalem. [1] [2] [3]

Kessler became the managing director of The Jewish Chronicle in London in 1935. [1] In 1946, he dismissed the editor, Ivan Greenberg, who was deemed too divisive. [1] Instead, he appointed John Maurice Shaftesley, who remained in the post until 1958, when he hired William Frankel. [2]

Kessler wrote two books. [1] He was a founding member of the Minority Rights Group. [1] He served as the chairman of the Falasha Welfare Association and the Wiener Library in London. [1] [2] He became OBE in 1996. [1] [2]

Personal life and death

Kessler had a wife, Matilda, a son, and three daughters. [1] They resided in Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire, England, where he died on 24 November 1999. [1] [2]

Works

Further reading

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Paul, Geoffrey (1 December 1999). "David Kessler". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Finkelstone, Joseph (29 November 1999). "Obituary: David Kessler". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cesarani, David (1994). The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841-1991. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. p. 158. ISBN   9780521434348. OCLC   27146108.