Claude Montefiore
British Jewish leader and scholar (1858–1938)
Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore, also Goldsmid–Montefiore or just Goldsmid Montefiore (1858–1938), was the founding president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, an early anti-Zionist leader, and is credited as the intellectual founder of Liberal Judaism in the United Kingdom. A scholar of the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic literature and the New Testament, his work significantly influenced many aspects of modern Jewish religious thought, Jewish-Christian relations, and Anglo-Jewish socio-politics.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Claude Montefiore (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Jun 6, 1858, died Jul 9, 1938.1
About
Montefiore was President of the Anglo-Jewish Association and co-founded the anti-Zionist League of British Jews in 1917.
From Wikipedia’s article on Claude Montefiore, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- University of SouthamptonChair 1913 to 193415
Early life and education
- Date not recordedBalliol College3
- Date not recordedUniversity of Oxford3
- Date not recordedHochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums3
Montefiore obtained a first-class honours degree from Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1881. During this period of study, he came under the influence of Benjamin Jowett and T. H. Green.
In 1882, Montefiore was briefly enrolled in a Reform seminary school in Berlin. However, influenced by his studies in Anglican religious thinking and critical biblical studies at Oxford, he left the seminary school after six months, returning to London and dedicating himself to scholarly and philanthropic pursuits.
From Wikipedia’s article on Claude Montefiore (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: religious studies scholar, rabbi, philanthropist, Judaic scholar, theologian.7
- 1913 to 1934Chair, University of Southampton6
- Date not recordedFounded World Union for Progressive Judaism4
- Date not recordedFounded Liberal Judaism5
Personal life
- BornJun 6, 1858, London8
- DiedJul 9, 1938, Marylebone9 10
- CitizenshipUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom11
- ResidencePortman Square12
- SpousesThérèse Alice Schorstein 1886 to 188913 14; Florence Fyfe Brereton Ward 1902 to 193813
Claude Montefiore was born in London on 6 June 1858, the youngest son of Nathaniel Montefiore and Emma Goldsmid. He had three siblings: Alice Julia, Charlotte Rosalind, and Leonard. He was the great-nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore.
Montefiore's first wife was Therese Alice Schorstein, with whom he had one child, Leonard G. Montefiore. Therese's premature death in 1889 would inspire Montefiore to establish an endowment in her memory; the Therese Montefiore Memorial Prize. The prize is awarded each year to eligible students at Girton College, Cambridge, the school she had attended.
In July 1902, Montefiore married his second wife, Florence Fyfe Bereton Ward, in a ceremony that took place at the West London Synagogue. Florence held a position of Vice-Mistress at Girton College, after initially working in the college as a librarian.
Claude Montefiore died at his home in Marylebone on 9 July 1938.
From Wikipedia’s article on Claude Montefiore (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataClaude Montefiore on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaClaude Montefiore on Wikipedia
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- 15WikidataUniversity of Southampton, Chair
- 16Wikimedia CommonsClaude Montefiore photo by Christopher Williams, Public domain