Lord George Weidenfeld was honored with the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Theodor Herzl Award at a gala dinner at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on Tuesday. The award recognizes outstanding individuals who work to carry forward Herzl’s ideals for a safer, more tolerant world for the Jewish people.
The 95-year old statesman, scholar and publisher was presented with the award by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder, who said in his address: “There are some people in our world – just a few – who have the courage and the temerity to speak out when they see injustice. George Weidenfeld is one of these rare men.”
Introducing the Herzl Award laureate, Lauder recalled his own work with Weidenfeld to expose to the world former UN secretary general and later Austrian President Kurt Waldheim’s Nazi past, as well as Weidenfeld’s “constant efforts on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.”
George Weidenfeld was born in Vienna in 1919 and emigrated to London following Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938. During World War II, he worked with the BBC Overseas Service. In 1948 he co-founded the publishing firm Weidenfeld & Nicolson. In 1949 he was appointed Chief of Cabinet to Israeli President Chaim Weizmann. Weidenfeld was knighted in 1969 and was created a life peer in 1976.
Previous WJC Theodor Herzl Award recipients include Shimon Peres, Elie and Marion Wiesel, Henry Kissinger, and, posthumously, Ronald Reagan and Axel Springer.
