Albert Hyamson
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Albert M Hyamson OBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
27 August 1875 London |
| Died | 5 October 1954 (aged 79) London |
| Residence | UK and British Mandate of Palestine |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Swansea Grammar School, Beaufort College, St. Leonards |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Years active | 1895–1945 |
| Employer | Post Office, Palestine Administration, Ministry of Information |
| Organization | Union of Jewish Literary Societies, Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, Jewish Historical Society of England, Royal Historical Society, Palestine Exploration Fund, British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem |
| Movement | Zionism, Bi-nationalism |
| Spouse(s) | Marie Rose Lavey |
Albert Montefiore Hyamson, OBE (27 August 1875 – 5 October 1954) was a British civil servant and historian who served as chief immigration officer in the British Mandate of Palestine from 1921 to 1934.
Hyamson was born in London and educated at Swansea Grammar School and Beaufort College, St Leonards. He entered the Civil Service in 1895, where he initially worked at the Post Office. During the First World War, Hyamson was one of the most active Zionist writers in the UK. His work had been published by the Anglo-Zionist lobby group, the British Palestine Committee, the Zionist leadership in London and the British press. Lloyd George even claimed that one of Hyamson's articles in the New Statesman had stimulated his interest in Zionism.
In April 1917, Hyamson was made the editor of The Zionist Review (the newspaper published by the Zionist Federation). In October of that year Ze'ev Jabotinsky proposed a Jewish Bureau for the UK government's Department of Information, however as Jabotinsky was preoccupied with organising the Jewish Legion, the role fell to Hyamson. His work at the Bureau in December 1917 involved distributing news items that illustrated the British government's support for Zionism and the growing support for Zionism among the world's Jews. The main focus of his output was in America, where he distributed cables to two Jewish daily newspapers, The American Hebrew and American Jewish Chronicle. At the same time, Hyamson became a senior member of a new committee created by the London Zionist Federation designed to publicise the Zionist message. The Jewish Bureau in the Department of Information and the London Zionist Federation ran in close contact, with members of the Federation writing much of the material for the Bureau. This enabled the Department of Information to hide the official nature of its propaganda, and allowed Zionists to produce material to promote their movement. Examples of Hyamson's work for the Department of Information included Great Britain and the Jews, a pamphlet he wrote in response to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 that explained how the agreement was a part of a long tradition of British sympathy for the Jews. A film The British Re-conquering Palestine for the Jews, made after General Allenby had taken Jerusalem, which was sent to Jewish centres around the world. His book Palestine: The Rebirth of an Ancient People set out "the benefits the recent Jewish colonisation of Palestine has brought to the land". Hyamson also made Jabotinsky the official British journalist for Zionist affairs in Palestine.
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