Marghanita Laski British journalist, radio pundit and writer Date of Birth: 24.10.1915 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Marghanita Laski

Marghanita Laski was a British journalist, radio expert, and writer. She was born in 1915 in Manchester, England, to a Jewish family. Her parents, Neville Laski, Moses Gaster, and Harold Laski, were well-known intellectuals of their time.

Laski received her education at Lady Barn House School and St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. Later, she became a student at Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied English language.

Laski married publisher John Howard and later began her career in journalism. After the birth of her children, a son and a daughter, she started writing in earnest. In 1946, her novel 'Love on the Supertax' was published, followed by several more books edited by her. In 1949, her highly successful novel 'Little Boy Lost' was released. She was also well-known as a literary critic and wrote works on the works of Jane Austen and George Eliot. Laski was a familiar voice on UK BBC radio, appearing on programs such as 'The Brains Trust' and 'The Critics'. From 1951 to 1963, she hosted her own radio program called 'What's My Line'. In the 1960s, Laski reviewed science fiction for 'The Observer'. Additionally, she was one of the compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary.

In terms of her public activism, Marghanita Laski was a staunch atheist and a fervent supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Her play 'The Offshore Island' addresses the issue of the threat of nuclear war. Laski lived in her own house in Hampstead and passed away on February 6, 1988.

Among her other novels are 'The Village' (1952) and 'The Victorian Chaise-longue' (1953). She also authored over twenty different works, including non-fiction pieces.