Gabriele Annan
Gabriele Annan, Baroness Annan (née Ullstein, 1921–2013), was a German-born British author and literary and film critic, and the wife of the military intelligence officer, author, and academic Noel Annan, Baron Annan.
The Lady Annan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gabriele Ullstein 25 November 1921 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 12 November 2013 (aged 91) Eaton Square, London, England |
| Occupation | Author, and literary and film critic |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Newnham College, Cambridge |
| Spouse | Noel Annan, Baron Annan |
Early life
She was born Gabriele Ullstein, on 25 November 1921 in Berlin, the daughter of Louis-Ferdinand Ullstein (1863–1933), one of five Jewish brothers who owned a large newspaper, magazine, and book publishing business, and his wife Martha Ullstein, née Joel (1889–1974).[1] She was the only child from her father's second marriage, and until the age of 11, lived in a mansion in the Grünewald, now the British Ambassador's Berlin residence.[2]
She was educated at a progressive boarding school in England, and earned a degree in modern languages from Newnham College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Career
After the war, she was a member of the Cambridge Ladies ski team, shared a London flat with Mary Blewett, and worked in advertising, coming up with the slogan, "All the Boy Scouts at their Jamborees/eat lashings of Batchelors wonderful peas."[2]
Annan wrote literary criticism for The Spectator and The New York Review of Books.[2] She was an early advocate for the work of Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan and Alan Hollinghurst.[2]
She was a film critic for The Spectator and the Sunday Telegraph, until in 1987, they asked her for a review of the third Care Bears movie, 'The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland.[1]
Personal life
She met her future husband when she was a graduate student at King's College, Cambridge, the British military intelligence officer, author, and academic Noel Annan, Baron Annan (1916-2000).[1]
They married on 30 June 1950, and had two daughters, Lucy, born in 1952, and Juliet, born in 1955.[1]
Later life
She died on 12 November 2013, of heart failure, at her flat in Eaton Square, London, and was survived by her two daughters.[1]
References
- Cannadine, David (2004). "Gabriele Annan [née Ullstein], Lady Annan (1921–2013)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). OUP. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/108311. Retrieved 24 November 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- "Gabriele Annan: Cosmopolitan author who wrote literary criticism for". The Independent. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2017.