orig. Israel Beer Josaphat
born July 21, 1816, Kassel, Electorate of Hesse
died Feb. 25, 1899, Nice, France
German founder of the news agency Reuters .
He was a bank clerk and partner in a small publishing concern before initiating a prototype news service in Paris in 1849, using electric telegraphy and carrier pigeons in his network. He moved to England in 1851 and opened a telegraph office serving banks, brokerage houses, and leading business firms. He steadily extended his commercial news service, acquiring his first subscribing newspaper client in 1858. Undersea cables enabled him to expand the service to other continents.