Arthur Balfour, 1848-1930

Balfour, an English politician and diplomat who served as the British prime minister from 1902 to 1905, was the foreign secretary in November 1917 when he sent a letter to Lord Rothschild that became known as the Balfour Declaration. The brief statement announced the British government’s support for establishing a Jewish national home in Palestine, which the British army captured a month later.

Photo: George Charles Beresford, National Portrait Gallery