Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Andrew Roth
open-in-new
<h2 id="background">Background</h2> <p>Roth was born to Hungarian parents in <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York City</a> and attended <a href="/facts/City_College_of_New_York/pAP1n6fw">City College of New York</a>, <a href="/facts/Columbia_University/Hlf1gw53">Columbia University</a>, the <a href="/facts/University_of_Michigan/6e1Ea5xh">University of Michigan</a> and <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a>. He studied the history of east Asia. </p><p>He was the son of orthodox Jews; fifty of his relatives were murdered in the <a href="/facts/Holocaust/vGQsAb2y">Holocaust</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> He took UK citizenship in 1966.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="career">Career</h2> <h3>Amerasia case</h3> <p>During 1940, Roth was a researcher at the <a href="/facts/Institute_of_Pacific_Relations/HrvlvhqY">Institute of Pacific Relations</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>During <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, Roth served as a lieutenant with the US <a href="/facts/Office_of_Naval_Intelligence/9HFxz6V3">Office of Naval Intelligence</a> (ONI). The Navy sent him to <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a> to study Japanese. Upon learning of his membership in the <a href="/facts/Communist_Party_USA/HzjqxVkv">Communist Party USA</a>, the Navy promoted him to liaison with the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_State/WsB5FMBT">United States Department of State</a> due to a shortage of Japanese linguists.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>In June 1945, Roth and five others were arrested during an FBI investigation into the leaking of documents to the journal <i><a href="/facts/Amerasia/JSC5jFbI">Amerasia</a></i>. He was subsequently cleared.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h3>United Kingdom</h3> <p>Roth was a journalist and <a href="/facts/Foreign_correspondent/5Y6jFQQU">foreign correspondent</a> in twenty countries before settling in the United Kingdom in 1950. He was <a href="/facts/Correspondent/5Y6jFQQU">political correspondent</a> for the <i><a href="/facts/Manchester_Evening_News/vezrqsED">Manchester Evening News</a></i> from 1972 to 1984, contributed to the <i><a href="/facts/New_Statesman/BFMIHm4W">New Statesman</a></i> from 1984 to 1997 and was an obituarist and contributor to <i>The Guardian</i> from 1996.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> He contributed five articles to the <i><a href="/facts/Dictionary_of_National_Biography/QCm9t1Sn">Dictionary of National Biography</a></i>. </p><p>From 1953, he published <i>Parliamentary Profiles</i> which featured biographies of MPs, MEPs and Lords, which became a regularly updated multi-volume publication. He was best known for this publication, which <i><a href="/facts/The_Daily_Telegraph/aHa5nNw5">The Daily Telegraph</a></i> called a "Westminster institution".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> He continued updating this publication to 2010, and it with its research documents and notes, including about half a million press cuttings, is now archived at the <a href="/facts/Bishopsgate_Institute/KdQvTPBE">Bishopsgate Institute</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p><p>From 1955, he produced a weekly <i>Westminster Confidential</i> newsletter, particularly used by embassies and foreign correspondents in London.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> The newsletter made the first report linking <a href="/facts/Secretary_of_State_for_War/7KDDbp3d">Secretary of State for War</a> <a href="/facts/John_Profumo/7CXGHK2w">John Profumo</a> with <a href="/facts/Christine_Keeler/bd4yBNLa">Christine Keeler</a>, which developed into the <a href="/facts/Profumo_affair/H6DCjym7">Profumo affair</a> political scandal.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> He continued this publication until his death.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> </p><p>In 1961, he called for the creation of a <a href="/facts/Register_of_Members%2527_Interests/noPYPHfP">Register of Members' Interests</a> in the foreword of his publication <i>The Business Background of MPs</i>, noting that 330 MPs held 490 company directorships.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="death">Death</h2> <p>Roth died of prostate cancer at the age of 91. He was survived by his third wife, Antoinette Putnam, a son, Neil, a daughter, Terry, and three grandchildren.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="works">Works</h2> <ul><li><i><a href="/facts/Dilemma_in_Japan/YWYS5zFU">Dilemma in Japan</a></i> (1946)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a></li> <li><i>Parliamentary Profiles</i> (multiple editions and volumes, 1953-2010)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a></li> <li><i>The Business Background of British MPs</i> (seven editions, 1959-80)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a></li> <li><i>Heath and the Heathmen</i> (1972)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a></li> <li><i>Infamous Manhattan</i> (1996)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28"><sup>28</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2> <ul><li><i><a href="/facts/Enoch_Powell/rc0TPPt9">Enoch Powell</a>: Tory Tribune</i> (London, 1970) <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9780356031507</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Edward_Heath/uduKQcHs">Heath</a> and the Heathmen</i> (Routledge, 1972) <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-7100-7429-8</li> <li><i>Sir <a href="/facts/Harold_Wilson/0CU8qKJ4">Harold Wilson</a>: Yorkshire Walter Mitty</i> (Macdonald & J, 1977) <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-356-08074-9</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130927175308/http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/Library/Library-and-Archive-Collections/Labour-and-Socialist-History/Roth-Andrew">The Andrew Roth Archive at Bishopsgate Institute</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130927175304/http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/Library/Library-and-Archive-Collections/Parliamentary-Profiles">The Parliamentary Profiles Archive at Bishopsgate Institute</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Andrew Roth's parliament profiles". The Guardian. London. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2010. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/series/profiles" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/series/profiles</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Klehr, Harvey; Radosh, Ronald (1996). The Amerasia Spy Case. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 3 (arrest), 44-5 (bio). ISBN 9780807822456. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="9780807822456" target="_blank">9780807822456</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andrew-roth" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andrew-roth</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Aitken, Ian (12 August 2010). "Andrew Roth obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Klehr, Harvey; Radosh, Ronald (1996). The Amerasia Spy Case. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 3 (arrest), 44-5 (bio). ISBN 9780807822456. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="9780807822456" target="_blank">9780807822456</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Who's Who. A & C Black. January 2007. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Klehr, Harvey; Radosh, Ronald (1996). The Amerasia Spy Case. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 3 (arrest), 44-5 (bio). ISBN 9780807822456. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="9780807822456" target="_blank">9780807822456</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Klehr, Harvey; Radosh, Ronald (1996). The Amerasia Spy Case. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 3 (arrest), 44-5 (bio). ISBN 9780807822456. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="9780807822456" target="_blank">9780807822456</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>McSmith, Andy (22 August 1999). "Tory ex-MP dons McCarthy's mantle to stalk a 'Commie' at Westminster". The Observer. London. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/aug/22/theobserver.uknews3" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/aug/22/theobserver.uknews3</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"Parliamentary Profiles (Andrew Roth)". Jisc Archives Hub. GB 372 PPA. Retrieved 1 May 2021. <a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/251f2e30-2d50-38e7-9ff3-cd43b3aeb1d4" target="_blank">https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/251f2e30-2d50-38e7-9ff3-cd43b3aeb1d4</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"Parliamentary Profiles Archive". Bishopsgate Institute. Retrieved 1 May 2021. <a href="https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/collections/parliamentary-profiles-archive" target="_blank">https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/collections/parliamentary-profiles-archive</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Aitken, Ian (12 August 2010). "Andrew Roth obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Aitken, Ian (12 August 2010). "Andrew Roth obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Aitken, Ian (12 August 2010). "Andrew Roth obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Burns, John F. (16 August 2010). "Andrew Roth, 91; American-Born Chronicler of British Politics". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/world/17roth.html?_r=0" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/world/17roth.html?_r=0</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Roth, Andrew (1946). Dilemma in Japan. Gollancz. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hrFjtwAACAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=hrFjtwAACAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>"Andrew Roth". The Daily Telegraph (Obituary). 13 August 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/7941729/Andrew-Roth.html</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>"Parliamentary Profiles (Andrew Roth)". Jisc Archives Hub. GB 372 PPA. Retrieved 1 May 2021. <a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/251f2e30-2d50-38e7-9ff3-cd43b3aeb1d4" target="_blank">https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/251f2e30-2d50-38e7-9ff3-cd43b3aeb1d4</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>Aitken, Ian (12 August 2010). "Andrew Roth obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2017. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/aug/12/andrew-roth-obituary</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>Roth, Andrew (1972). The Business Background of British MPs. Parliamentary Profile Services. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aqobAQAAMAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=aqobAQAAMAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Roth, Andrew (1972). Heath and the Heathmen. Routledge. ISBN 9780710074287. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="9780710074287" target="_blank">9780710074287</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:28"><p>Roth, Andrew (1996). Infamous Manhattan. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 9780806517018. Retrieved 19 March 2020. <a href="9780806517018" target="_blank">9780806517018</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>