Cecil Kisch

British civil servant in the India Office

Sir Cecil Hermann Kisch

Born| 31 March 1884

Kolkata

Died| 20 October 1961

London

Nationality| English
Occupation(s)| civil servant and administrator

Sir Cecil Hermann Kisch, KCIE, CB (31 March 1884 – 20 October 1961) was a British civil servant in the India Office who rose to be Deputy Under-Secretary of State for India from 1943 to 1946. In later life, he became an author and historian, and had a long literary career.

## Early life and family

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He belonged to the Jewish Kisch family of Prague.[1] He was born on 31 March 1884 in Kolkata, India.[2] He was the son of Herman Michael Kisch and Alice Charlotte Kisch.[2]

His father Michael Kisch joined the Imperial Civil Service in 1873 and later became the deputy secretary to government of India, postmaster-general of Bengal as well as director-general of the post office in India.[1]

His brother Frederick Hermann Kisch became a British delegate to the Versailles peace conference after having fought in First World War.[1]

Cecil Kisch has been married twice, once to Myra Hannah Kisch and the other time to Rebecca Grace Kisch.[2]

He died on 20 October, 1961 in London, England.[2]

## Career

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He joined the General Post Office in 1907, then was appointed to the India Office in 1908. In 1917, he became a private secretary to Edwin Montagu, the then Secretary of State for India.[1]

In 1921, he was appointed as the finance department of the India Office and was the key driver behind numerous monetary reforms including the establishment of the Reserve Bank of India.[1]

He has represented India at the international monetary conference at Geneva in 1933 and later served on the supervisory finance committee of the League of Nations.[1]

## Works

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He contributed to works on colonial India and its monetary policies:[3][4][5]

* Central Banks; a Study of the Constitutions of Banks of Issue, with an Analysis of Representative Charters  (co-authored with W. A. Elkin, 1928)
* The Portuguese Bank Note Case; the Story and Solution of a Financial Perplexity (1932)
* The Principles and Problems of Federal Finance by B. P. Adarkar (foreword by C. H. Kisch, 1933)

He translated a number of works from the Russian language to the English language:[5]

* The Waggon of Life, and Other Lyrics by Russian Poets of the Nineteenth Century (with foreword by C. M. Bowra, 1947)
* Alexander Blok: Prophet of Revolution (1960) a study of his life and work, illustrated by translations from his poems and other writings

## Awards and honours

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At the 1919 New Year Honours, he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.[6]

He received his knighthood at the 1932 Birthday Honours and was awarded the Order of the Indian Empire.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g "Kisch". Encyclopedia.com.
2. ^ a b c d "Sir Cecil Herman Kisch, KCIE, CB". Geni.com. 17 May 2023.
3. ^ "Search Results | National Library of Australia". Catalogue.nla.gov.au.
4. ^ "Papers of Sir Cecil Kisch (1884-1961), India Office official 1908-46". Discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
5. ^ a b "Kisch, C. H. 1884-1961 (Cecil Hermann)". Worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
6. ^ Barry Jones. "Dictionary of World Biography". Library.oapen.org. Retrieved 27 October 2021.

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