Walter Zander

Walter Zander (8 June 1898, Erfurt – 7 April 1993, South Croydon) was a German-British lawyer, scholar and writer. He was Secretary of the British Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem 1944–1971, Governor of the University 1972–1993, Senior Associate Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford 1971–1988, and author of several books and articles, many of them about Israel and its international relations.[1][2][3]

Walter Zander
Born
Erfurt
Died
South Croydon
NationalityGerman/British
Alma materUniversity of Jena
Humboldt University of Berlin

The son of a prominent Erfurt lawyer, he studied at the Gymnasium, before being called up for military service in 1916. During World War I, he served as a non-commissioned officer in the German Army and was awarded the Iron Cross. After the war, he went on to study law, philosophy and economics in Jena and Berlin. After a brief period as an assistant to one of the leading lawyers in Berlin, he set up his own practice in the city. In 1929, he took a one-year leave from his practice to study economics at the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne University.

In 1931 he married Margarete (Gretl) Magnus, daughter of famous physiologist/pharmacologist, Professor Rudolf Magnus. They had three sons and a daughter, among them legal scholar Michael Zander and conductor Benjamin Zander.

As a Jew, he left Nazi Germany, emigrating with his family to the United Kingdom in 1937, where he set up a printing business in Slough.[4] Soon after, however, he was interned for ten months as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man during World War II. In the internment camp, he was one of those who started "a kind of university, which offered many different lectures on the most varied subjects ranging from theoretical physics to Greek philosophy and Russian for beginners" with his fellow prisoners.[5]

His writings in English are accessible at www.walterzander.info.

From 1944, for 27 years, he was Secretary of the British Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. After retiring he became a Senior Associate Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.[4]

Books
  • Soviet Jewry, Palestine and the West, London, Gollancz, 1947
  • Is This The Way?, London, Gollancz, 1948
  • Israel and the Holy Places of Christendom, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971

References
  1. Obituary by Sir James Craig, The Independent, 20 April 1993
  2. Address by Michael Zander
  3. Obituaries in The Times, 30 April 1993, The Guardian, 30 April 1993, The Daily Telegraph, 29 April 1993, and The Jewish Chronicle, 23 April 1993
  4. James Craig (20 April 1993). "Obituary: Walter Zander". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  5. Quote from Benjamin Zander's book, quoted by: "Remarks by Michael Zander, brother of Benjamin, on their father, Dr. Walter Zander". 8 May 1994. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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