Emery Reves

Emery Reves ( _hu. Révész Imre) (16 February, 1904- 4 October, 1981) was a writer, publisher, literary agent, and advocate of world federalism.

Biography

Youth

Reves was born in Bácsföldvár, Hungary, and educated in Berlin, Zurich, and Paris.

Publishing Career and Winston Churchill

In 1933 he founded a publishing company, the "Cooperation Publishing Service" known for its strong anti-Nazi stance. In 1937 he befriended Sir Winston Churchill, becoming his literary agent. When Churchill was elected Prime Minister, Reves was sent to New York to help build up the British propaganda organisation in both North and South America. After the war he purchased the rights to publish Winston Churchill's war memoirs outside Britain, and likewise Churchill's "History of the English-Speaking Peoples".

He is known for his publishing of the book "I Paid Hitler" (1941) where he said Fritz Thyssen was clearly, in his mind, "one of the men most responsible for the rise of Hitler and for the seeking of power by the National Socialists in Germany" [Fritz Thyssen, "I Paid Hitler", Hodder and Stoughton Ltd: London, 1941, pp. 14-15. (Forward by Emery Reves)]

The Anatomy of Peace and an Open Letter to the American People

He was the author of "The Anatomy of Peace", a 1945 book that helped popularize the cause of world federalism. Reves argued that world law was the only way to prevent war, and the fledgling United Nations Security Council would be inadequate to preserve peace because it was an instrument of power, rather than an instrument of law. His book was endorsed by Albert Einstein and numerous other prominent figures.

The cover of "The Anatomy of Peace" had an "Open Letter to the American People", signed by Owen J. Roberts, J.W. Fulbright, Claude Pepper, Elbert D. Thomas, and other dignitaries, which began::"The first atomic bomb destroyed more than the city of Hiroshima. It also exploded our inherited, outdated political ideas.":"A few days before the force of Nature was tried out for the first time in history, the San Francisco Charter was ratified in Washington. The dream of a League of Nations, after 26 years, was accepted by the Senate.":"How long will the United Nations Charter endure? With luck, a generation? A century? There is no one who does not hope for at least that much luck- for the Charter, for himself, for his work, and for his children’s children. But is it enough to have Peace by Luck? Peace by Law is what the peoples of the world, beginning with our selves, can have if they want it. And now is the time to get it."

Later life

From 1954 until his death, he was married to Wendy Russell, an American former fashion model who had been his companion since 1948. The couple established a home in the early 1950s in the Villa La Pausa, originally constructed for fashion designer Coco Chanel. In 1985, Reves's widow established the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art with a donation that stipulated the recreation within the museum of the 15,000-square-foot villa, especially for the display of the collection.

In 1991, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra commissioned a piece called "Anatomy of Peace" in Reves's memory; it was composed by Marvin Hamlisch and orchestrated by Richard Danielpour.

Works

*"A Democratic Manifesto". Jonathan Cape: London, 1943.
*"The anatomy of peace", Harper and Brothers, 1945.

References

External links

* [http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/View/Collections/Reves/index.htm The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art]
* [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=740 The www.winstonchurchill.org on Emery]
* [http://mek.oszk.hu/00300/00355/html/ABC12527/12968.htm Hungarian Dictionary of National Biography]