Norman Bentwich
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Norman Bentwich
1883 - 1971
First British attorney general in mandatory Palestine; legal scholar and author.
An English Jew, Norman de Mattos Bentwich was born in London and educated at St. Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied classics. After qualifying in law, he entered the Egyptian Ministry of Justice in 1912 as inspector of Native Courts. During World War I he served in the Camel Transport Corps of the British Army in Egypt. In 1918 he became senior judicial officer in the British military administration in Palestine and, after the establishment of a civil administration in 1920, legal secretary (later termed attorney general). A lifelong Zionist, Bentwich was close to the moderate wing of the movement. As the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine escalated, his presence in the mandatory government became an embarrassment to the British. In 1929 he was slightly wounded in an assassination attempt. In 1930 he went on leave to England and a year later his appointment was "terminated." In 1932 he became professor of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the 1930s he played an active role in welfare efforts for German Jewish refugees. Bentwich was the author of more than thirty books on Judeo-Greek civilization, international law, and Israel.
Bibliography
Bentwich, Norman. My Seventy-seven Years: An Account of MyLife and Times, 1883 - 1960. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.
Bentwich, Norman, and Bentwich, Helen. Mandate Memories. London: Hogarth Press, 1965.
— BERNARD WASSERSTEIN
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Norman Bentwich
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Norman De Mattos Bentwich (originally Bentwitch) OBE MC (28 February 1883 – 8 April 1971) was a British barrister and legal academic best known for his work in the administration of Mandatory Palestine. During the British military administration of Palestine he served as Senior Judicial Officer, which continued in the civil administration after 1920 as Legal Secretary.[1] The title was soon changed to Attorney-General, a post he held until 1931.[1] A lifelong Zionist, Bentwich was close to the moderate wing of the movement. As the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine escalated, his presence in the mandatory government became an embarrassment to the British. In November 1929 he was slightly wounded in an assassination attempt, but recovered and conducted the defense of his would-be assassin.[1] In 1930 he went on leave to England and a year later his appointment was terminated.[1] From 1932 to 1951 he occupied the Chair of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[2] He was also President of the Jewish Historical Society.
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Education
- St. Paul's School
- Trinity College, Cambridge: First class in both parts of classical tripos, 1903-5; Members' Essay Prize, Whewell Scholarship for International Law and Yorke Prize.
Career
- Called to the bar (Lincolns Inn), 1908
- Ministry of Justice, Cairo, 1912–1915
- Major, Camel Transport, 1916–1918
- Legal secretary to military administration, Palestine, 1918–22
- First attorney-general in mandatory government of Palestine, 1922-30
- Recalled to Colonial Office, 1930–31
- Professor of International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1932 and 1945–1951
- Director of League of Nations High Commission for Refugees from Germany, 1933–1935
- British Ministry of Information and Air Ministry, 1939–45
Other positions
- Co-editor of the Jewish Review, 1910–1913 and 1932–1934
- Lecturer at Hague Academy of International Law, 1929, 1934 and 1955
- Vice-President, Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad
- Chairman, National Peace Council, 1944–1946
- Chairman, United Restitution Office, 1948–1971
- Foreign Office Committee on Restitution in British Zone of Germany, 1951
- President, Jewish Historical Society, 1960–1962
- Chairman, Friends of Hebrew University
- President of London North-Western Reform Synagogue, 1958–71
Books
- Hellenism
References
- Dictionary of National Biography
- Who was Who
- Gale Group Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopaedia: http://www.answers.com/topic/norman-bentwich
External links
- Works by Norman Bentwich at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Norman Bentwich in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Norman Bentwich, The Law of Private Property in War, with a Chapter on Conquest (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1907)] -- his Yorke prize essay from 1906.
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Gale Encyclopedia of the Mideast & N. Africa
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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