Dame Ann Elizabeth Mary Leslie, DBE (born 28 January 1941) is a British journalist who writes for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''.

Education

Leslie was born in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

), where she spent her early years, attending an English-language school and " witnessed the killing trains of Partition". In 1950, her parents sent her to boarding school in England, where she attended the Presentation Convent School in

Matlock, Derbyshire Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated in the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The town is twinned with the French town of Eaubonne. The former spa resort of Matloc ...

, and

St Leonards-Mayfield School Mayfield School, previously St Leonards-Mayfield School, is an independent Catholic boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18. It is situated in the village of Mayfield in East Sussex. The current headmistress is Miss Antonia Beary. The s ...

, East Sussex. She went on, two years later, to attend

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

Career

Her first job in journalism was at the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1962. Leslie moved to the ''

'' in 1967. She has interviewed major film stars, entertainers, and political figures and has reported on numerous wars, civil conflicts and political stories in around 70 countries. At the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

/''

Press Gazette ''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...

'' launch of the Newspaper Hall of Fame, she was named as one of the most influential journalists of the last forty years. In David Randall's ''

The Great Reporters David Randall (April 1951 – 17 July 2021) was a British journalist and author of ''The Universal Journalist'', a textbook on journalism. He was assistant editor of ''The Observer'' until 1998, when he joined ''The Independent on Sunday'' and ...

'' (celebrating the 13 best British and American journalists of all time) she is profiled as "the most versatile reporter ever". She is a regular

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * Current Affairs (magazine), ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism * Current Affairs, former name for Behi ...

broadcaster on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

(''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'', ''

Any Questions? ''Any Questions?'' is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience". It is typically broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 8 p ...

'', ''

Dateline London ''Dateline London'' is a weekly BBC News discussion programme. A panel of four leading journalists, lecturers, and foreign correspondents discussed top news stories from an international perspective. The last episode made was on the 15th October ...

''),

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

, and international broadcasting organisations. Leslie was interviewed by

National Life Stories National Life Stories is an independent charitable trust and limited company (registered as the ‘National Life Story Collection’) based within the British Library Oral History section, whose key focus and expertise is oral history fieldwork. S ...

(C467/18) in 2007–8 for the 'Oral History of the British Press' collection held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

.National Life Stories, 'Leslie, Ann (1 of 6) National Life Stories Collection: 'Oral History of the British Press', The British Library Board, 2008
Retrieved 10 October 2017. Leslie was interviewed in the 2012 documentary '' The Diamond Queen'', about Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

Episodes in reporting

Significant events on which she reported include the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

, the failed coup against

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, and

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

's final walk to freedom. She has made secret interviews in Iran and North Korea. After a dangerous experience at a Zimbabwean ZANU farm, Leslie went back to the press hotel in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

where other reporters sent back stories without venturing out of the hotel. She called them Avon ladies; only interested in make-up (as in made up stories). Her memoir, ''Killing My Own Snakes'', was published in 2008.

Awards

Leslie has won nine

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...

and has won two

Lifetime Achievement Awards Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

. In 1999, she was awarded the James Cameron Award for international reporting. She was created a DBE on 30 December 2006, for her "services to journalism". In 2012, Leslie won the Outstanding Contribution to Journalism Award at the eighth annual

International Media Awards International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in London on 5 May 2012. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

References

;References ;Sources
Biographical article at theguardian.com

External links

Short biography upon becoming a Dame
(

, 30 December 2006)
BBC biodata on Leslie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Ann 1941 births Living people People from Rawalpindi Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford English journalists Daily Mail journalists Women war correspondents English television personalities Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Matlock, Derbyshire People educated at St Leonards-Mayfield School English expatriates in Pakistan BBC 100 Women