World Jewish Congress

Greville Janner was born on July 11, 1928 in Cardiff. He was educated at St Paul’s School in London and during the war was evacuated to Canada, where he went to Bishop’s College School, Lennoxville, Quebec. He attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was President of the Cambridge Union and Chairman of the Cambridge Union Labour Club. He was also President of Trinity Hall’s Athletic Club. He had a Fulbright and Smith-Mundt scholarship to Harvard Law School. He was called to the bar in 1954 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1971.

In the House of Commons, Greville Janner represented Leicester North West (1970-74), then Leicester West until 1997 for the Labour Party.

He was President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main representative body of British Jewry, from 1978 to 1984, and has been a key international figure in efforts to seek compensation and restitution for Holocaust victims. He also chairs the Holocaust Educational Trust and is vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

He was instrumental in arranging the 1997 London Nazi Looted Gold conference. He was Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment from 1994-1996.

Greville Janner received a life peerage as Lord Janner of Braunstone in 1997 and since sits on the Labour benches in the British House of Lords.

In 1955, he married Myra Sheink from Australia, who died in 1996. He has three children and six grandchildren.

Lord Janner's hobbies include autograph collections, glass and other antiquities, swimming, speaking his nine languages and his family. He is a member of the Magic Circle and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

About the World Jewish Congress

Lord Janner of Braunstone QC