迪斯累利

迪斯累利(1804～1881年)

Disraeli, Benjamin

别名Dizzy

英国政治家和小说家，两度任首相（1868，1874～1880）。义大利犹太人後裔。幼年便受洗为基督徒，此举对他日後的政治生涯有重大影响（1858年以前，犹太教徒被排斥於议会之外）。《维维安.格雷》（1826～1827）是他第一部作品，後来还写了小说《康宁斯比》（1844）和《西比尔》（1845）。1837年他当选为保守党议员。1845年秋英国首相皮尔决定取消对进口谷物收保护性关税的「谷物法」。为此，迪斯累利发表了一系列雄辩的演说反对他。迪斯累利三次担任财政大臣（1852，1858～1859，1865～1868），在1867年改革法案的通过扮演重要角色。1868年短暂出任首相，再次担任此职务（1874～1880）时则致力於社会改革。他主张强硬的外交政策，解决了苏伊士运河公司的股份问题，并在柏林召开的欧洲会议上又取得对英国全面让步。1880年大选中保守党大败後，迪斯累利仍担任该党领袖，并完成了政治小说《恩迪米昂》（1880）。

English version：

1804～1881年

Disraeli, Benjamin

British politician and author who was twice prime minister (1868, 1874-80). Of Italian-Jewish descent, he was baptized a Christian as a child, which enabled his future career because until 1858 Jews by religion were excluded from Parliament. He first made his mark as a writer with Vivian Grey (1826-27); later novels included Coningsby (1844) and Sybil (1845). He was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1837. In 1845 he made a series of brilliant speeches against Sir Robert Peel and his decision to repeal the Corn Laws and became leader of the Parliament's Conservatives. He served three stints as chancellor of the exchequer (1852, 1858-59, 1865-68) and played a prominent role in passing the Reform Bill of 1867. He was prime minister briefly in 1868, then returned in his second ministry (1874-80) to promote social reform. An advocate of a strong foreign policy, he secured a triumph for imperial prestige with his acquisition of Suez Canal shares and won concessions for England at the Congress of Berlin. A trusted friend of Queen Victoria, he introduced a bill conferring on her the title Empress of India. After the Conservatives were defeated in 1880, he kept the party leadership and finished his political novel Endymion (1880).