A simple expression for the aeroydynamic lift on an elliptical cylinder in a nonuniform, inviscid, free stream is derived. The derivation is exact for a flow with uniform vorticity and directed perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. The derivation is approximate for a general large scale flow, for which the force is calculated to first order in the derivatives of the initial free‐stream velocityUi(x,y,z).