List of British Jews

The first Jews arrived in Britain with the Romans but it wasn't until the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066 that organized Jewish communities first appeared. These existed until 1290 when the Jewish population was expelled by Edward I. (Hence plays such as The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice were written when England was essentially devoid of Jews.) Jews were readmitted in 1656 by Oliver Cromwell, and emancipation took place in 1858. In the late 19th century there was mass Jewish immigration from anti-semitic Russia, and the 1930s saw an influx of refugees from Nazism. The Jewish population peaked at 450,000, but has since declined due to low birth rate, intermarriage and emigration. The current population according to the 2001 Census is around 240,000 (though many experts consider this an underestimate), most of whom live in London. The following is a list of some prominent British Jews.

Writers

Authors

• Grace Aguilar, novelist & poet
• Lisa Appignanesi, novelist
• Alain de Botton, writer
• Anita Brookner, novelist
• Ian Buruma, Dutch-born journalist and writer
• Elias Canetti, novelist, Nobel Prize (1981) (Bulgarian-born)
• Jackie Collins, romantic novelist (Jewish father)
• Eleanor Farjeon, children's writer (Jewish father)
• Leonard Feather, jazz writer
• Antonia Forest, children's writer (Jewish father)
• Neil Gaiman, fantasy writer
• Linda Grant, novelist
• Basil Henriques
• Zoë Heller, author (Jewish father)
• Howard Jacobson, writer & broadcaster
• Aaron Judah, children's writer
• Judith Kerr, children's writer
• Matthew Kneale, writer (Jewish mother)
• Arthur Koestler, novelist & critic
• George Mikes, humorous writer
• Claudia Roden, food writer
• Bernice Rubens, novelist
• Will Self, novelist (Jewish mother)
• Muriel Spark, novelist (Jewish father)
• Leonard Woolf, writer & activist
• Helen Zahavi, novelist

Poets

• Danny Abse, poet
• Al Alvarez, poet
• Bryher, poet (probably Jewish father)
• Ivor Cutler, poet, humorist, musician
• Philip Hobsbaum, poet
• Jenny Joseph, poet
• Laurence Lerner, South African born British poet
• Denise Levertov, poet (Jewish father)
• Peter Levi, poet (born Jewish)
• Amy Levy, poet & novelist
• Mina Loy, poet (Jewish father)
• Isaac Rosenberg, war poet
• Siegfried Sassoon, war poet (Jewish father)
• Stephen Spender, poet & essayist (Jewish mother)

Playwrights

• Peter Barnes, playwright
• Ronald Harwood, playwright & screenwriter
• Patrick Marber, playwright & comedian
• Harold Pinter, playwright
• Jack Rosenthal, TV playwright
• Peter & Anthony Shaffer, playwrights
• Tom Stoppard, playwright
• Alfred Sutro, playwright
• Arnold Wesker, playwright

Journalists

• David Aaronovitch, journalist (Jewish father)
• Ian Buruma, Dutch-born author and journalist (Jewish mother)
• Nick Cohen, journalist
• John Diamond, journalist
• Jonathan Freedland, journalist
• Anthony Holden, journalist & biographer
• Fay Maschler, restaurant critic
• Nigella Lawson, journalist, cookery writer & broadcaster
• Bernard Levin, journalist & broadcaster
• Melanie Phillips, journalist
• Marjorie Proops, agony aunt
• Kimberly Quinn, publisher (UK-based)
• Claire Rayner, agony aunt