David F. Kessler
| David Francis Kessler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 6, 1906 Pretoria, South Africa |
| Died |
November 24, 1999 Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire, England, U.K. |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Publisher, author |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse(s) | Matilda Kessler |
| Children | 1 son, 3 daughters |
| Parent(s) | Leopold Kessler |
David F. Kessler, OBE, (1906-1999) was a British publisher and author. He was the managing director of The Jewish Chronicle.
Early life
David Kessler was born on June 6, 1906 in Pretoria, South Africa.[1][2][3] His father, Leopold Kessler, was a friend of Theodore Herzl, an early proponent of Zionism, and a shareholder of The Jewish Chronicle.
Kessler graduated from the University of Cambridge, where he earned a bachelor's degree in law and economics.[1][2][3]
Career
Kessler started 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 hired John Maurice Shaftesley until 1958, when he hired William Frankel.[2]
Kessler was the author of 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 November 24, 1999.[1][2]
Works
- Kessler, David (1996). The Falashas: A Short History of the Ethiopian Jews. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 9780714646466. OCLC 33078505.
- Kessler, David (1996). The Rothschilds and Disraeli in Buckinghamshire. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, U.K.: Rothschild Waddesdon. ISBN 9780952780908. OCLC 54503723.
Further reading
- Crown, Alan D. (1998). Noblesse Oblige: Essays in Honour of David Kessler OBE. London: Vallentine Mitchell. ISBN 9780853033561. OCLC 38549790.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Paul, Geoffrey (December 1, 1999). "David Kessler". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Finkelstone, Joseph (November 29, 1999). "Obituary: David Kessler". The Independent. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- 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.