Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere

The Right Honourable The Viscount Rothermere PC
Lord Rothermere
President of the Air Council
In office 26 November 1917 – 1918
Preceded by	The Viscount Cowdray
Succeeded by	The Lord Weir
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 27 June 1919 – 26 November 1940 Hereditary Peerage
Succeeded by	Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere
Personal details
Born	Harold Sidney Harmsworth (1868-04-26)26 April 1868 London
Died	26 November 1940(1940-11-26) (aged 72) Bermuda
Nationality	British
Spouse	Mary Lilian Share
Children	Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth (1894–1918) Vere Sidney Tudor Harmsworth (1895–1916) Esmond Cecil Harmsworth (1898–1978)
Parents	Alfred Harmsworth Geraldine Mary Maffett
Relatives	Cecil Harmsworth (brother) Alfred Harmsworth (brother) Leicester Harmsworth (brother) Hildebrand Harmsworth (brother) St John Harmsworth (brother)
Occupation	Publisher

Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, PC (26 April 1868 – 26 November 1940) was a leading British newspaper proprietor who owned Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is best known, like his brother Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Northcliffe, for the development of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror. Rothermere was a pioneer of popular tabloid journalism, and his descendants continue to control the Daily Mail and General Trust.

Two of Rothermere's three sons were killed in action during the First World War and in the 1930s, he advocated peaceful relations between Germany and the United Kingdom, and used his media influence to that end. He became known for his open support for fascism and praise for Nazi Germany and the British Union of Fascists. which contributed to the popularity of those views in the 1930s. After seeing his hopes dashed by the outbreak of the Second World War, he died in Bermuda.