The Board of Deputies of British Jews today paid tribute to Philip Guedalla, historian, biographer and essayist, who died yesterday at the age of 55. Dr. Israel Feldman, acting president of the Board, described Guedalla as “a great author, a distinguished member of the Jewish community. and a Zionist who had to his credit great work for the Zionist cause in past years.”
Educated at Rugby and Oxford, Guedalla became a barrister in 1913 and practiced law for ten years. During the last war he served on several government boards. He ran for Parliament several times after the war but was never elected. About 1923 he abandoned the practice of law to devote all his time to historical writings, which soon won him great repute. He was the author of numerous works on modern European history, especially the Napoleonic period.
Guedalla’s father was one of the early Zionists, and he followed in his footsteps. From 1924 to 1928 he was president of the British Zionist Federation. He was also active in non-Zionist Jewish activities and was at one time president of the Jewish Historical Society.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
