Barbara Moore, born Anna Cherkasova (russian: Анна Черкасова; 22 December 1903 – 14 May 1977), was a Russian-born British engineer who attempted to gain celebrity status in the early 1960s for her long-distance walking and promotion of questionable health fads.

Biography

Moore was among the first generation of Soviet female engineers after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. In 1932, she became the Soviet Union's long-distance motorcycle champion. She immigrated to Great Britain in 1939, marrying an art teacher, Harry Moore. They later separated. She also used the name Barbara Moore-Pataleewa. In December 1959, she walked from Edinburgh to London. In early 1960, she walked from John o'Groats to Land's End in 23 days. She then undertook an 86-day, 3,387-mile walk from San Francisco to New York City, where she arrived on 6 July 1960. She was a vegetarian and a breatharian, believing it is possible for people to survive without food. She walked with only nuts, honey, raw fruit and vegetable juice for nourishment. In November 1944 the then-new Vegan Society held its first meeting, at the Attic Club, 144 High Holborn, London. Those in attendance were Donald Watson,

Elsie B. Shrigley Elsie Beatrice Shrigley (née Salling; 30 October 1899 – 13 May 1978), also known as Sally Shrigley, was an English vegan activist and a co-founder, along with Donald Watson, of The Vegan Society in 1944. She is credited, by some, as coining t ...

, Fay K. Henderson, Alfred Hy Haffenden, Paul Spencer and Bernard Drake, with Moore observing.Richard Farhall
"The First Fifty Years: 1944–1994"
iii (full names of members on following pages), published with ''The Vegan'', 10(3), Autumn 1994, between pp. 12 and 13. Moore held that people could live to be 200 years old by abstaining from smoking, drinking alcohol and sex. She claimed she had cured herself of leukemia by way of a special diet. To test her health theories, she planned to build a laboratory next door to her home in Frimley. She was soon drawn into a lengthy legal battle over a sewer and access roads for a nearby housing estate. She spent years and her life savings fighting her case, but ultimately lost in the High Court of Justice. She was jailed for contempt of court after she refused to accept the ruling. She died in a London hospital on 14 May 1977, bankrupt and near starvation because of her refusal to eat. Her John o'Groats to Land's End walk caught the attention of Harry Griffin, who advocated a revival of the

Bob Graham Round The Bob Graham Round is a fell running challenge in the English Lake District. It is named after Bob Graham (1889–1966), a Keswick guest-house owner, who in June 1932 broke the Lakeland Fell record by traversing 42 fells within a 24-hour period ...

as possibly a much sterner test of fitness.Roger Smith, foreword by A H Griffin (1982), ''42 Peaks: The story of the Bob Graham Round''

References

External links

Blacktown">Arrival of British doctor Barbara Moore, vegetarian, (to celebrate Blacktown, New South Wales, Blacktown
Centenary with a marathon walk from Albury to Blacktown), Mascot
Arrival of British doctor Barbara Moore, vegetarian, (to celebrate Blacktown Centenary with a marathon walk from Albury to Blacktown), Mascot

(includes photo of Moore on her John o'Groats to Land's End marathon in 1960) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Barbara 1903 births 1977 deaths Inedia practitioners Pseudoscientific diet advocates Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom Soviet women engineers Vegetarianism activists Walkers of the United Kingdom 20th-century women engineers