Vivienne Harris

Who was Vivienne Harris?

Vivienne Harris, MBE was a British businesswoman, newspaper publisher and journalist who co-founded the Jewish Telegraph in December 1950 with her husband, Frank Harris. The couple married in 1949.

Frank Harris, a freelance journalist, had relocated to Manchester from London. She and her husband co-founded the weekly Jewish Telegraph in the dining room of their home in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 1950. Vivienne Harris oversaw much of the newspaper's expansion from its origins as a four-page, weekly paper during the next sixty years, until 2011. Under Harris, the Jewish Telegraph expanded to four editions in four major British cities – Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Glasgow. Her husband and newspaper co-founder Frank Harris died in 1979. Their son, Paul, became group editor while Vivienne remained financial director and co-owner.

In June 1997, Harris was the recipient of the MBE for her contributions to journalism and to Greater Manchester. She remained the Jewish Telegraph's financial director until her death in 2011. Harris was active in numerous charitable organizations, including Save the Children, the Citizens Advice Bureau of Salford, the League of Jewish Women, St Ann's Hospice and the Jewish Day Centre.