George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld

Sir Arthur George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld, GBE (* September 13, 1919 in Vienna ) is a British journalist, publisher and diplomat Austrian- Jewish origin. He is also a columnist for the Berlin daily newspaper Die Welt. In 1949, he was political adviser to the Israeli Government and Head of the President Chaim Weizmann. He is British and since 1994, also again an Austrian citizen.

Life

Weidenfeld visited after Piaristengymnasium in Vienna, the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. After the annexation of Austria in 1938, he emigrated to London and began to work mainly for the " BBC Overseas Service " at the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC). From 1942 he was a political commentator for the BBC on European Affairs and wrote a weekly newspaper column.

In 1945 he founded, together with Nigel Nicolson the publisher " Weidenfeld & Nicolson ," for which he works to this day. In 1946 he became a British citizen. 1948, when the founding of the State of Israel, he became an adviser to the Israeli government, and in 1949 for a year Head of Cabinet of the first President of the new state, Chaim Weizmann.

In 1969, Weidenfeld was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Bachelor in the peerage, and thereby received the title "Sir". In 1976 he became a life peer with the title " Baron Weidenfeld of Chelsea in the County of Greater London ". In the New Year Honours List 2011, he was honored with the highest level of the Order of the British Empire, the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire ( GBE).

In recent years, Lord Weidenfeld was the focus of numerous honors for his efforts towards European integration. In April 2002 he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art 1st class and 2003, the Gold Medal for Service to the City of Vienna. Since 2006 he has been Chairman of the Israel Group in the House of Lords.

He was married four times.

Laying Generic activity

The publisher " Weidenfeld & Nicolson ," published in his early days some sensational titles, including Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and Nicolson's autobiography Portrait of a Marriage in which he described the open relationship of his parents. As a result, the publishing house specializing in the publication of important works of European history and biographies, including the memoirs of Charles de Gaulle, Konrad Adenauer, Harold Wilson, Golda Meir, Lyndon B. Johnson, Moshe Dayan, Henry Kissinger and Shimon Peres.

1985 expanded Lord Weidenfeld to the United States and bought together with Ann Getty publishing the " Grove Press ". " Grove Press " later merged with the New York branch of " Weidenfeld & Nicolson " under the name " Grove Nicolson ". 1991 was acquired by the " Orion Publishing Group " " Weidenfeld & Nicolson " in the UK, the name " Weidenfeld & Nicolson " was kept as a brand that publisher for his non-fiction and biographies, for George Weidenfeld was still in charge. 1993 merged his American company " Grove Nicolson " with the " Atlantic Monthly Press " to the " Grove / Atlantic Inc."

Lord Weidenfeld enabled it to withdraw from the publishing business days and care more about the contacts with renowned authors. Another milestone for " Weidenfeld & Nicolson " was in 2005 the publication of the biographical work Memory and Identity by Pope John Paul II Lord Weidenfeld also continued to work as a columnist for the Berlin daily newspaper Die Welt and the weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

In addition to his publishing activities, Lord Weidenfeld was involved in the creation and development of several universities. He was 1996-2004 President of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Governor of the University of Tel Aviv. He is Emeritus Governor of the Weizmann Institute. From 1992 to 1994 he was deputy chairman of the "University of Oxford Campaign " and from 1994 Vice- President of the " Oxford University Development Programme ". In 2000, the IJP ( International Journalists' Programmes ) named its traditional British-German scholarship program for journalists to Lord Weidenfeld.

Film

• The bridge builder Henry Kissinger, Fritz Stern and Lord George Weidenfeld. Jewish emigrants and reunification. Documentation, 43 Minutes, Germany, Book USA, Israel, England, Austria, Switzerland, 2010 and directed. Evi Kurz, Production: TLF TimeLineFilm GmbH Furth, first broadcast. ARD, September 29, 2010 In Interviews express themselves next to Kissinger, star and Weidenfeld, among others Helmut Schmidt, Angela Merkel, Hans -Dietrich Genscher, Richard von Weizsäcker, Timothy Garton Ash and Niall Ferguson. Table of Contents (PDF, 76 kB ) of the TLF TimeLineFilm GmbH