David Kessler
(born June 1906) 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.
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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 (Charles Kessler), and three daughters.[1] They lived in Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire, England, where he died on 24 November 1999.[1][2]
Works
- The Falashas: A Short History of the Ethiopian Jews. 1996. Frank Cass . ISBN 9780714646466.
- The Rothschilds and Disraeli in Buckinghamshire. 1996. Rothschild Waddesdon . ISBN 9780952780908.
Further reading
- Noblesse Oblige: Essays in Honour of David Kessler OBE. 1998. Vallentine Mitchell . ISBN 9780853033561.
Affiliations
- Jewish Chronicle
- Kessler Foundation Resigned on 31 December 1991
Related
- Leopold Kessler (Zionist) - Father
- Charles Kessler (Kessler Foundation (UK)) - Son - born July 1952
- Michael Simon Kessler (Kessler Foundation (UK)) - born December 1972
- Marcus David Kessler - born June 1992
