Editing Victor Gollancz (section)

==Early life==
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Born in [[Maida Vale]], London, to a family of [[German Jews|German Jewish]] and [[Polish Jews|Polish Jewish]] backgrounds, Gollancz was the son of a wholesale jeweller and the nephew of Rabbi Professor Sir [[Hermann Gollancz]] and Professor Sir [[Israel Gollancz]]. His grandfather, Rabbi Samuel Marcus Gollancz, had migrated to the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century from [[Witkowo]], near [[Gniezno]] (then Gnesen in [[Prussia]]) to become [[cantor]] of the [[United Synagogue|Hambro' Synagogue]] in London.

After being educated at [[St Paul's School, London]] and taking a degree in classics at [[New College, Oxford]], he became a schoolteacher. Gollancz was commissioned into the [[Northumberland Fusiliers]] in October 1915, although he did not see active service. In March 1916, he transferred to [[Repton School]] [[Junior Officers' Training Corps]]. Gollancz proved to be an innovative and inspiring teacher; he introduced the first [[civics]] class to be taught at an English public school and many of his students went on to become teachers themselves, including [[James Harford]] and [[James Ralph Darling|James Darling]].<ref>Edwards, Ruth Dudley (1987), ''Victor Gollancz: A Biography'' (London: Victor Gollancz), pp. 106, 108 and 113.</ref> 

In 1917, he became involved in the [[Reconstruction Committee]], which was planning for post-war Britain. There he met [[Ernest Benn]], who hired him to work in his [[publishing]] company, [[Ernest Benn Limited]]. Starting with magazines, Gollancz then brought out a series of art books, after which he started signing novelists.