Howell Arthur Gwynne

Howell Arthur Keir Gwynne, CH (3 September 1865 – 26 June 1950) was a Welsh author, newspaper editor of the London Morning Post from 1911 to 1937.

Early life He was the son of Richard Gwynne, a schoolmaster and his wife Charlotte Lloyd, born at Kilvey; Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was his brother. He attended Swansea Grammar School.

Journalistic career

Gwynne began his career as a foreign correspondent in the Balkans, and then became the Reuters news correspondent in Romania. Early in his career, Gwynne was part of the group of journalists and writers including also Rudyard Kipling, Perceval Landon, Julian Ralph and F.W. Buxton who helped start a newspaper, The Friend, for Lord Roberts for the British troops in Bloemfontein, the newly captured capital of the Orange Free State during the Boer War. Kipling and Gwynne remained friends for the rest of Kipling's life. Gwynne was a strong supporter of the British war effort in the First World War, supporting conscription and championing Lord Kitchener as the military leader that Gwynne believed was best qualified to help Britain win the war. After the Russian Revolution, Gwynne became an outspoken opponent of Communism. Gwynne's relationship with Kipling remained close throughout the latter's life — he was a pallbearer at Kipling's burial in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey in 1936.

Gwynne died at his home in Little Easton, Essex on 26 June 1950.

Gwynne and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion In 1920, Gwynne caused controversy when he wrote an introduction to a book titled The Cause of World Unrest. Gwynne's introduction argued that there was a Jewish conspiracy to promote Communism. Gwynne cited the book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (later exposed as a forgery) in his introduction. While Gwynne did not take a stance on whether The Protocols were authentic or not, he did claim that "the Jewish Bolsheviks" in Russia were "carrying out almost to the letter" the program outlined in The Protocols. Gwynne's articles linking Jews and Communism resulted in him receiving a letter of complaint from the Jewish journalist Leopold Greenberg, who accused Gwynne of promoting Antisemitism.

Works The Army on Itself (1904) The Cause of World Unrest (1920) (editor), collection of a series of Post articles based on the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion The Will and the Bill (1923)