Broker, jurist, and public servant. Born in London, the son of a poor Jewish storekeeper, Rufus Isaacs, after a dazzling career at the bar and several terms in Parliament, was named chief justice of England, the first Jew to attain that distinction. The following year he was ennobled and, as the First Marquess of Reading, took a seat in the House of Lords. From 1921 to 1926 he served as viceroy of India, again the first Jew to hold the post. Long interested in Zionist affairs, Lord Reading joined U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis in drafting an economic plan for Palestine. This plan was presented to the Zionist Conference in London in 1920. Elected president of the Palestine Electric Corporation in 1926, he visited Palestine and joined in the protests to the British cabinet after the 1929 riots in Palestine.