Sir Israel Gollancz, FBA, was a distinguished scholar of early English literature and a notable authority on Shakespeare. He held the position of Professor of English Language and Literature at King's College, London, serving from 1903 until his death in 1930.

Born in London on the 13th of July, 1863, Gollancz was the sixth of seven children to Rabbi Samuel Marcus Gollancz, the cantor of the Hambro synagogue, and his wife Johanna Koppell. His siblings included Sir Hermann Gollancz and he was the uncle of publisher Victor Gollancz. In 1910, he married Alide Goldschmidt.

Gollancz was a founding member and the first secretary of the British Academy from 1902 to 1930 and was part of the committee for a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which eventually evolved into the Royal National Theatre in London. He also directed the Early English Text Society and edited the "Temple" Shakespeare, a pocket-volume edition of the complete works that became the era's most popular edition of Shakespeare's works. In 1916, as the Honorary Secretary of the Shakespeare Tercentenary Committee, he also edited A Book of Homage to Shakespeare, an anthology of responses to Shakespeare from scholars, thinkers, and notable figures worldwide.

His scholarly works include an English translation of the medieval Christian allegorical poem Pearl, and contributions to the Dictionary of National Biography. Gollancz was knighted in 1919 for his contributions to literature. He delivered the British Academy's Shakespeare Lecture in 1922.

Sir Israel Gollancz passed away on June 23, 1930, in London and was buried at the Jewish cemetery in Willesden. In the year of his death, the British Academy held a commemorative conference in his honor, where a bust of Sir Israel was unveiled. The British Academy awards the Sir Israel Gollancz Prize for Early English Studies in his memory.