Who is Victor Gollancz from The Road to Wigan Pier and what is their importance?

Victor Gollancz (1893-1967) was a British editor and publisher, and socialist. Born in London and raised a Jew, Gollancz served in the British Army during the Great War. After the war Gollancz published magazines and books, forming his own publishing company in 1927. The text offers little biographical data for Gollancz, other than what he supplies in the foreword. Gollancz, along with Harold Laski and John Strachey, founded the Left Book Club in 1936 and shortly thereafter commissioned Orwell to write the text under consideration. The men also served as the editors for the book. Gollancz and the other editors were so perturbed by Orwell's critique of Socialists that Gollancz wrote a long foreword which attempted to apologize for most of Orwell's criticism. The foreword has been republished in most editions of the text.