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David Pryce-Jones | |
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| Born | 15 February 1936 Vienna, Austria |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Occupation(s) | Author, commentator |
| Parent(s) | Alan Payan Pryce-Jones Therese Fould-Springer |
| Relatives | David Shukman (son-in-law) |
David Eugene Henry Pryce-Jones FRSL (born 15 February 1936) is a British conservative author and commentator.
Pryce-Jones was born on 15 February 1936, in Vienna, Austria. [1] He was educated at Eton and earned a degree in history at Magdalen College, Oxford. [2]
He is the son of writer Alan Payan Pryce-Jones (1908–2000) by his first wife (married 1934), Therese "Poppy" Fould-Springer (1914–1953) of the Fould family. [3] Therese was a daughter of Baron Eugène Fould-Springer, a French-born banker who was a cousin of Achille Fould, and Marie-Cecile or Mitzi Springer, later Mrs Frank Wooster or Mary Wooster, [4] whose father was the industrialist Baron Gustav Springer (1842–1920) son of Baron Max Springer. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] She also had a brother, Baron Max Fould-Springer (1906–1999), and two sisters Helene Propper de Callejón (1907–1997), wife of Spanish diplomat Eduardo Propper de Callejón and grandmother of actress Helena Bonham Carter, and Baroness Liliane de Rothschild (1916–2003). [10]
His parents married in 1934 in Vienna, where Pryce-Jones was born. His mother's Jewish background made it unwise to remain in Vienna and the family moved to England at the end of 1937. [11] In 1940, a four-year-old Pryce-Jones was stranded with his nanny in Dieppe, Normandy and was rescued from the invading German army by his mother's brother-in-law Eduardo Propper de Callejón. [12] He acknowledged his uncle-by-marriage's efforts in saving his own life when Propper de Callejón retired from Spanish diplomatic service.[ citation needed ]
Pryce-Jones is a first cousin of Elena Propper de Callejón, wife of late banker Raymond Bonham Carter and mother of actress Helena Bonham Carter. Another cousin is Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, only son of the better known Baron Élie de Rothschild.[ citation needed ]
Pryce-Jones did his National Service in the Coldstream Guards, in which he was commissioned in 1955, promoted lieutenant in 1956, and served in the British Army of the Rhine. In 1956, Pryce-Jones lectured the men under his command about the necessity of the Suez War, but admits that he did not believe what he was saying. [13] At the time, he believed that the Islamic world would soon progress after decolonization, and was disappointed when this did not happen. [13] He has worked as a journalist and author. He was literary editor at the Financial Times 1959–61, and The Spectator from 1961 to 1963.[ citation needed ]
Pryce-Jones is a senior editor at National Review magazine. He also contributes to The New Criterion and Commentary , and for Benador Associates. He often writes about the contemporary events and the history of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and intelligence matters.[ citation needed ]
In his 1989 book The Closed Circle, Pryce-Jones examined what he considered to be the reasons for the backward state of the Arab world. [13] A review described the book as more of an "indictment" than an examination of the Arab world. [13] In Pryce-Jones's opinion, the root cause of Arab backwardness is the tribal nature of Arab political life, which reduces all politics to war of rival families struggling mercilessly for power. [13] As such, Pryce-Jones's view is that power in Arab politics consists of a network of client–patron relations between powerful and less powerful families and clans. [14] Pryce-Jones considers as an additional retarding factor in Arab society the influence of Islam, which hinders efforts to build a Western style society where the family and clan are not the dominant political unit. [14] Pryce-Jones argues that Islamic fundamentalism is a means of attempting to mobilize the masses behind the dominant clans. [15]
In his book, Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews, he has accused the French government of being anti-Semitic and pro-Arab, and of consistently siding against Israel in the hope of winning the favour of the Islamic world. [16] The book's premise has been likened to Bat Ye'or's Eurabia theory, [17] which has been praised by Pryce-Jones as "prophetic". [18] The American diplomat Philip Gordon gave a highly unfavorable review of Betrayal in Foreign Affairs, describing the book as a French-bashing "polemic" disguised as a work of history. [16] Gordon accused Pryce-Jones of hypocrisy, noting that he took successive French governments to task for supporting Middle Eastern dictators like President Saddam Hussein of Iraq while failing to note that both the United States and the United Kingdom have also supported Middle Eastern dictators. [16] Gordon wrote that Pryce-Jones's claim that French President Jacques Chirac was guilty of "perfidy" towards the West by opposing the Iraq War in 2003 was unfair, writing in 2007 that much of what happened in Iraq since 2003 appeared to justify Chirac's predictions of a debacle if the United States invaded. [16]
Pryce-Jones wrote a biography, Evelyn Waugh and His World (1973). It was rather notorious for digging up conflict among the married Mitford siblings, with Pamela accusing Jessica of revealing private correspondence concerning their sister the Duchess of Devonshire. The 1976 biography Unity Mitford: A Quest followed, despite alleged efforts by some of Unity Mitford's sisters to prevent Pryce-Jones from doing his research and publishing the book. [19]
He married Clarissa Caccia, daughter of diplomat Harold Caccia, Baron Caccia, in 1959.[ citation needed ] They have three surviving children, (one deceased, Sonia: 1970–1972), Jessica, Candida and Adam, and live in London.[ citation needed ] Jessica is married to the BBC journalist David Shukman. [20] [21]
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award and an International Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and nine Golden Globe Awards.
Unity Valkyrie Freeman-Mitford was a British socialite, known for her relationship with Adolf Hitler. Both in Great Britain and Germany, she was a prominent supporter of Nazism, fascism and antisemitism, and belonged to Hitler's inner circle of friends. After the declaration of World War II, Mitford attempted suicide in Munich by shooting herself in the head. She survived but was badly injured. She was allowed safe passage back to England but never recovered from the extensive brain damage. She died from meningitis related to the bullet in her brain.
The Rothschild family is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, who established his banking business in the 1760s. Unlike most previous court factors, Rothschild managed to bequeath his wealth and established an international banking family through his five sons, who established businesses in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, and Naples. The family was elevated to noble rank in the Holy Roman Empire and the United Kingdom. The family's documented history starts in 16th century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, built by Isaak Elchanan Bacharach in Frankfurt in 1567.
Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Zionism, his large donations lent significant support to the movement during its early years, which helped lead to the establishment of the State of Israel – where he is simply known as "The Baron Rothschild", "HaBaron", or "Hanadiv Hayeduah".
Zikhron Ya'akov is a town in Israel, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Carmel mountain range overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, near the coastal highway. It was one of the first Jewish settlements of Halutzim in the country, founded in 1882 by Romanian Jews, who in 1883 received support from Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and renamed their town in honor of his father, James Mayer de Rothschild. In 2021 it had a population of 23,857.
Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family. He was the first Jewish member of the House of Lords not to have previously converted to Christianity. The current holder of the title is Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, who inherited the barony in 1990.
Achille Marcus Fould was a French financier and politician who was four times minister of finance between 1849 and 1867. A major figure of the Second French Empire, his politics have been described as "conservative by instinct, liberal by reflection."
Raymond Henry Bonham Carter was a British banker and a member of the prominent Bonham Carter family.
Baron David René James de Rothschild is a French banker and a member of the French branch of the Rothschild family. Since 2018, he is supervisory board chairman of Rothschild & Co and chairman of Rothschild Continuation Holdings, a Swiss holding company.
Eduardo Propper de Callejón was a Spanish diplomat who is remembered mainly for having facilitated the escape of thousands of Jews from Occupied France during World War II between 1940 and 1944.
Harold Anthony Caccia, Baron Caccia, was a British diplomat who rose to become Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1962 to 1965.
The Palestine Jewish Colonization Association, commonly known by its Yiddish acronym PICA, was established in 1924. It played a major role in purchasing land and building Jewish settlement in Palestine and later the State of Israel until the association disbanded in 1957.
Élie Robert de Rothschild was the guardian of the French branch of the Rothschild family banking dynasty. He followed his father as a partner in the family bank, de Rothschild Frères, and ran the Château Lafite-Rothschild premier cru claret vineyard from 1946 to 1974.
John Sutro was a British film producer. He produced seven films between 1941 and 1951. He was a member of the jury at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Fould family is a family of French Jewish descent known for success in banking. It was founded by Beer Léon Fould, a wine-dealer's son from Lorraine, who moved to Paris in 1784 to establish a banking business. The name comes from the Hessian city of Fulda.
Lt-Col. Alan Payan Pryce-Jones TD was a British book critic, writer, journalist and Liberal Party politician. He was notably editor of The Times Literary Supplement from 1948 to 1959.
Baron James Gustave Jules Alain de Rothschild was a French banker and philanthropist.
Robert Philippe Gustave de Rothschild was a French banker, philanthropist and polo player.
The Stern family is a Jewish French banking family originally from Frankfurt. It traces back to Samuel Hayum Stern (1760–1819), who in the 1780s became a wine merchant in Frankfurt.
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