SONNTAG, JACOB

SONNTAG, JACOB (1905–1984), Ukrainian-born editor and author. The son of a bookbinder, Sonntag was educated in Vienna and elsewhere in Central Europe, fleeing to England in 1938. He devoted himself to Anglo-Jewish cultural affairs and made repeated attempts to found a periodical for Jewish writers and artists. Sonntag finally succeeded with The Jewish Quarterly, which he founded in 1953. Edited almost single-handedly, it provided the main periodical venue in England for intelligent discussion of Jewish issues and published the early works of a range of distinguished Anglo-Jewish writers, including dannie abse , jon silkin , and arnold wesker . It continued to be published after Sonntag's death. He also edited the anthology Caravan (1962). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online; R. Sonntag, "Jacob Sonntag: A Personal Memoir," in: S.W. Massil (ed.), The Jewish Year Book 2003, xiii–xviii. (William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)