Simon Sebag Montefiore | |
---|---|
Born |
London, United Kingdom |
27 June 1965
Residence | London, United Kingdom |
Nationality | British |
Education |
Ludgrove School Harrow School |
Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Author |
Spouse(s) | Santa Montefiore |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Stephen Eric Sebag Montefiore Phyllis April Jaffé |
Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (/ˌsaɪmən ˌsiːbæɡ ˌmɒntᵻfiˈɔːri/; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and award-winning author of popular history books and novels.
Simon Montefiore was born in London. His father was Stephen Eric Sebag Montefiore and his brother is Hugh Sebag-Montefiore. They are descended from a line of wealthy Sephardi Jews who were diplomats and bankers all over Europe and who originated from Morocco and Italy. At the start of the 19th century, his great-great-uncle, Sir Moses Montefiore, was an international financier who worked with the Rothschild family and who became a philanthropist. His mother, Phyllis April Jaffé, comes from a Lithuanian Jewish family of scholars. Her parents fled the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. They bought tickets for New York City, but were cheated, being instead dropped off at Cork, Ireland. Due to the Limerick boycott in 1904 his grandfather Henry Jaffé left the country and moved to Newcastle, England.