Sir Andrew Shonfield, a prominent economist, editor, writer and academician, died here last Friday at the age of 63 and was buried today in the Liberal Jewish Cemetery. At the time of his death he was a professor of economics at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy and had homes in London and Florence.
Sir Andrew, who was knighted in 1978, was a son of the late Rabbi Victor Schonfeld, a noted Hebrew scholar and pedagogue who founded and was spiritual leader of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations in Britain. Sir Andrew attended the Nitra Yeshiva in Czechoslovakia as a youth and completed his education at Oxford University. Although not an Orthodox Jew, he was regarded as a Talmudic scholar.
He was the author of several books on economics, among the best known of which is “Modern Capitalism” published in 1966 which was recognized as an authoritative work on economic issues related to the broader needs of society.
Shonfield was associated with the Royal Institute of International Affairs from 1961-1977 and served for a time as its chairman. He was also a member of the Social Science Research Council and of the Tri-Lateral Commission. During his career he was economic editor of the Observer and foreign editor of the Financial Times.
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