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Ernst Jäckh, journalist and academic, was born in Urach, Germany. He promoted the German-Turkish Alliance (1908-1914), founded the German-Turkish Association (1912), and became professor of Turkish history at the University of Berlin (1914). Jäckh was a member of the diplomatic service during the World War I, and, with Freidrich Naumann, an organizer of the liberal movement in Germany (1902-1912). He helped found the German League of Nations and the Hochschule für Politik. Jäckh emigrated to Britain in the 1930s and held the position of international director of the New Commonwealth Institute until 1940 when he became a professor at Columbia University.

Ernst Jäckh was born in 1875 in Urach, Germany. He studied at the Universities of Breslau, Geneva, Munich, and Heidelberg, becoming an expert on Turkish and Middle Eastern matters. A journalist and academic, he promoted the German-Turkish alliance (1908-1914), founded the German-Turkish Association (1912), and became professor of Turkish history at the University of Berlin (1914).

During World War I Jäckh served as a member of the diplomatic service attached to the general head quarters, and afterwards was a member of the German delegation to Versailles, Genoa, Locarno, and Geneva.

Jäckh was an organizer of the liberal movement of Friedrich Naumann (1902-1912). In Berlin after World War I he helped found the German League of Nations Union and the Hochschule für Politik. As a result of his advocacy of German democracy and of German-British understanding it was necessary for him to emigrate to Britain when Hitler came to power. There he held the position of international director of the New Commonwealth Institute until 1940, when he became a professor at Columbia University. While at Columbia he helped found the Columbia Near and Middle East Institute, and in 1946 became a consultant to the Columbia School of International Affairs.

Jäckh died in New York City on August 17, 1959. He was the author of over twenty-one books and numerous articles, many of them dealing with Turkey and the Middle East.