Arthur James Balfour

Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of Balfour, in full Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of Balfour of Whittingehame, Viscount Traprain, (born July 25, 1848, Whittingehame, East Lothian, Scotland—died March 19, 1930, Woking, Surrey, England), British statesman who maintained a position of power in the British Conservative Party for 50 years. He was prime minister from 1902 to 1905, and, as foreign secretary from 1916 to 1919, he is perhaps best remembered for his World War I statement (the Balfour Declaration) expressing official British approval of Zionism.