- Baron Paul Julius von Reuter (1816-99), founder of the first news agency (now Reuters Group PLC), born in Kassel, C Germany, оf Jewish parentage.
Israel Beer Josaphat became a Christian and adopted his new name in 1844. He published political pamphlets, moved to Paris during the revolution (1848).
First a bank clerk, he started in 1849 a pigeon post service, which bridged a gap in the telegraph line between Aachen, Germany, and Verviers, Belgium and sent news items back to German newspapers via a pigeon carrier service (1850).
In 1851 he went to England, where he was later naturalized, and soon opened a news office in London. In 1858 he persuaded English newspapers to publish his foreign telegrams. He then extended his influence and soon had worldwide cable connections.
In 1865 he converted the Reuters agency into a joint stock company, and he was governing director until 1878.
He was named a baron by the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1871
