A life of action
The life of Eleanor Rathbone (1872-1946) was the subject of the latest Roscoe lecture, delivered by Dr Susan Cohen at St George’s Hall to mark the start of a year in celebration of her life. An audience of over 1,000 were given an insight into the achievements of this extraordinary Liverpool citizen who, born into a life of wealth and privilege, used her influence and position in society to campaign for social justice and dedicated her entire life to the service of others.
An early suffragette, a champion of the poverty stricken, the founder of educational opportunities and later, the first female independent MP elected to parliament, she developed the family allowance system and worked tirelessly throughout the early part of the second world war to bring the plight of refugees in Nazi occupied Europe to the attention of the world.
Dr Susan Cohen is widely regarded as the leading academic authority on Eleanor Rathbone, she authored the book: 'Rescue the Perishing: Eleanor Rathbone and the Refugees' and is the co-founder of the ‘Remembering Eleanor Rathbone Group’ who are organising a wide range of events and activities across the UK during 2016 to celebrate and commemorate the 70th anniversary of Rathbone’s death in 1946.
You can download and listen to her lecture here
