- George Weidenfeld
Sir Arthur George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld (born
September 13 ,1919 inVienna ) is a Britishpublisher ,philanthropist , and newspaper columnist.Weidenfeld attended the
University of Vienna and the city's Diplomatic College. Following Germany's annexation ofAustria in 1938, he emigrated toLondon and began work with the monitoring service of theBritish Broadcasting Corporation . By 1942 he was a political commentator for the BBC and also authored a weekly newspaper column.In 1948, Weidenfeld co-founded the publishing firm Weidenfeld & Nicolson with
Nigel Nicolson . The firm published several landmark titles, including Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita " and Nicolson's own controversial autobiography "Portrait of a Marriage ". In 1949 he served as political adviser and Chief of Cabinet toChaim Weizmann .Weidenfeld, who became a British citizen in 1946, was knighted in 1969 and created
Life peer as Baron Weidenfeld of Chelsea in the County ofGreater London in 1976. Further honors have included Honorary Fellow ofSt Peter's College, Oxford , Honorary Fellow ofSt Anne's College, Oxford and Honorary D.Litt. from theUniversity of Exeter .In 1985, Weidenfeld's publishing interests expanded to the United States, when he acquired the
Grove Press in partnership withAnn Getty (wife ofGordon Getty ). Grove later merged with the New York division of Weidenfeld & Nicolson to form Grove Nicolson. In 1991, Weidenfeld & Nicolson's UK branch was sold to theOrion Publishing Group and became Orion's main non-fiction imprint. In 1993 the US company, Grove Nicolson, merged with the Atlantic Monthly Press to formGrove/Atlantic Inc. Weidenfeld's responsibilities therefore no longer include day-to-day business operations, but he continues to work on attracting prestigious authors to his
imprint s. A notable coup for Weidenfeld & Nicolson came in 2005 when Weidenfeld arranged the publication of "Memory & Identity" byJohn Paul II . Weidenfeld also remains active as a columnist for theBerlin newspaper "Die Welt".In January 2006, the
Institute for Strategic Dialogue , originally founded as The Club of Threecite web |url= http://www.europaeum.org/content/view/111/123/ |title= Weidenfeld Institute for Strategic Dialogue |author=Europaeum |quote= ] cite web |url= http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/article2938990.ece |title= Bonfire of the vanities |author= Danny Fortson |work=The Independent |date=7 September 2007 |quote= …the Club of Three, which despite the sic|forboding name is a non-profit outfit dedicated to promoting "broader understanding of political, social and economic developments within and between the three countries." It does so by convening meetings in different European capitals of businessmen, academics and journalists from the UK,France andGermany . ] in the 1990s, was established with Lord Weidenfeld as its president. This network-based policy organisation works with global leaders in the private and public sectors to challenge the long-range threats to international and communal peace and to enhance Europe’s capacity to be a coherent and effective player.George Weidenfeld has served in many philanthropic capacities including Chairman of the
Ben Gurion University of the Negev (1996-2004), Governor ofTel Aviv University , Governor of theWeizmann Institute , Vice-Chairman of the EU-Israel Forum, and Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery (1988-95).
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