Sir Basil Henry Blackwell (29 May 1889 – 9 April 1984) was born in Oxford, England. He was the son of Benjamin Henry Blackwell (1849–1924), founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford, which went on to become the Blackwell family's publishing and bookshop empire, located on Broad Street in central Oxford. The publishing arm is now part of Wiley-Blackwell. He was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford and Merton College, Oxford. He was the first person in his family to attend university.