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SUMMARY:Jewish Financiers in the City of London: Reality and Rhetoric\, 18
 30 – 1914 - Professor Ranald Michie\, Department of History\, University
  of Durham
DTSTART:20100607T160000Z
DTEND:20100607T180000Z
UID:TALK24041@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:D'Maris Coffman
DESCRIPTION:The association of Jews with the City of London is taken for g
 ranted. Jews have long been identified with the world of money and the Cit
 y of London has long been one of the leading financial centres of the worl
 d. One has only to mention the Rothschilds and the case is deemed to have 
 been proved for the 19th century. Embodied in any reference to the Rothsch
 ilds is a belief that the City of London was dominated by Jewish financier
 s who exercised enormous power through their wealth and the ability to inf
 luence markets.  However\, no attempt has been made to assess the number o
 f Jews active in the City of London and the particular role that they play
 ed at a time when it emerged as the dominant financial centre in the world
 . This paper presents no more than a few preliminary steps in this directi
 on. \n\nOf equal interest in this paper is an attempt to gauge the changin
 g popular perception of the Jewish financiers who inhabited the City of Lo
 ndon. Over the course of the 19th century many Jewish financiers became ac
 cepted members of British society\, acquiring large landed estates\, marry
 ing into the aristocracy\, and becoming confidants of royalty. Initially\,
  this growing acceptability of Jewish financiers in society appeared to be
  matched by a decline of anti-Semitic antagonism towards them\, judging fr
 om mid-19th century novels. However\, towards the end of the 19th century 
 and into the 20th this antagonism appeared to acquire renewed virulence\, 
 again judged from contemporary fiction. Why that happened is the second th
 eme of the paper and a number of explanations are suggested. \n\nThis pape
 r will be accompanied by a drinks reception.\n
LOCATION:Lucia Windsor Room\, Newnham College
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