Draft:Alexander Zanzer
{{Short description|Belgian economist, journalist and former Honorary Consul General of Mongolia}}
{{Draft topics|biography|europe}}
{{AfC topic|blp}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alexander Zanzer
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|2|11}}
| birth_place = Chișinău, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union (now Moldova)
| nationality = Belgian
| occupation = Economist, journalist, author, social entrepreneur
| years_active = 1990–present
| known_for = Co‑founder and Brussels bureau chief of Jewish News One; Honorary Consul General of Mongolia in Flanders
| notable_works = Sobor: Seal the Future; The Thunder Stone
| awards = Officer of the Order of Leopold II; Golden Medal of Mongolia
}}
Alexander Zanzer (born 11 February 1965) is a Belgian economist, journalist, writer and social entrepreneur.
He directed Belgium’s Royal Society of Jewish Welfare for more than two decades, served as Honorary Consul General of Mongolia in Flanders (2004–2011) and co‑founded the international television network Jewish News One (JN1).
Early life and education
Zanzer was born in Chișinău, then part of the Moldavian SSR, and later settled in Belgium.{{cite news |title=Alexander Zanzer – Representing the Historical Legacy of Barons |url=https://spacecoastdaily.com/2022/11/alexander-zanzer-representing-the-historical-legacy-of-barons/ |work=Space Coast Daily |date=23 November 2022 |access-date=22 April 2025}}
He earned a licence in international economic relations, an MBA and a PhD in development economics.
== Baronial lineage ==
Multiple independent historical accounts agree that **Israel‑Eli (Alexander) Zanzer**—grandfather of Alexander Zanzer—**was formally invested with the hereditary title “Baron Zanzer” by Bogd Khan in 1913**.{{cite news |title=Forgotten Jewish Life in Mongolia and Its Lost Noblemen |url=https://centrale.be/100-years-after-the-genocide-forgotten-jewish-life-in-mongolia-and-its-lost-noblemen/ |work=Centrale Royal Society of Jewish Welfare |date=27 March 2025 |access-date=22 April 2025}}{{cite web |title=100 Years After Genocide, Mongolia's Jewish Community Is Tiny |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6739893/jewish/100-Years-After-Genocide-Mongolias-Jewish-Community-Is-Tiny.htm |website=Chabad.org |date=9 January 2025 |access-date=22 April 2025}}
According to these sources, Zanzer played a pivotal role in establishing the *Mongol’Or* gold‑mining company and mediating foreign investment for Mongolia’s fledgling economy. In gratitude, the Bogd Khan granted him the **highest aristocratic rank open to non‑Mongolians**, styling him “Baron Zanzer”—a name purposefully echoing *Zanabazar*, the revered first Bogd Gegen.
Baron Zanzer survived the 1921 anti‑Jewish pogrom but later perished in the Holocaust. The family’s noble style, recorded in the ANU Museum’s Jewish Communities Database,{{cite web |title=Mongolia – Jewish Communities Database |url=https://dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e121280/Place/Mongolia |website=ANU Museum of the Jewish People |access-date=22 April 2025}} has been preserved by his grandson, Alexander Zanzer, who continues to use it in formal and literary contexts.
Career
=Royal Society of Jewish Welfare=
Since 1999 Zanzer has been director‑general of Belgium’s Royal Society of Jewish Welfare (Centrale), commenting frequently on communal security and social policy.{{cite news |last=Liphshiz |first=Cnaan |title=Can Belgium protect its Jews? A community has its doubts |url=https://www.jta.org/2016/03/25/global/can-belgium-protect-its-jews-a-community-has-its-doubts |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=25 March 2016 |access-date=22 April 2025}}
=Honorary Consul General of Mongolia=
=''Jewish News One'' (JN1)=
In 2011 Zanzer co‑founded Jewish News One, described by The Guardian as “the Jewish al‑Jazeera,” and served as its Brussels bureau chief and executive producer.{{cite news |last=Browne |first=Luke |title='JN1 won't become a propaganda station' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/27/jn1-tv-news-channel |work=The Guardian |date=27 September 2011 |access-date=22 April 2025}}
=Writing and publishing=
Zanzer’s books include:
- Honorary Consular Diplomacy (2012)
- The Thunder Stone: The Curse of the Empire Builders (2020)
- Sobor: Seal the Future (2021){{cite web |title=Alexander Zanzer – Author page |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7941443.Alexander_Zanzer |website=Goodreads |access-date=22 April 2025}}
Honours
Selected bibliography
- Honorary Consular Diplomacy. Brussels: Centrale, 2012.
- The Thunder Stone: The Curse of the Empire Builders. Antwerp: Zanzer Press, 2020.
- Sobor: Seal the Future. Brussels: Zanzer Entertainment, 2021.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.zanzer.eu}}
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{{Draft categories|
Category:Belgian people of Moldovan descent
Category:Recipients of the Order of Leopold II
Category:Jewish Belgian writers
}}