Anna Dora Gaitskell, Baroness Gaitskell (''née'' Creditor; formerly Frost; 25 April 1901 – 1 July 1989) was a British Labour Party politician and the wife of Hugh Gaitskell, who led the Labour Party in 1955–1963.

Early life

She was born Anna Dora Creditor near

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, then part of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the eldest of four sisters and a brother. Her father, Leon Creditor was a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

scholar and writer. They emigrated to Britain in 1903 or soon after, arriving in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

, London. She was educated at Coborn High School for Girls in Bow, east London.William Rodgers: ''Gaitskell , (Anna) Dora, Baroness Gaitskell (1901–1989)'' rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 17 March 2013
/ref> She abandoned a career in medicine to marry Isaac Frost, a lecturer in physiology, on 15 March 1921. They had a son, Raymond, in 1925, but divorced in 1937.

Political career

She had joined the Labour Party at the age of 16. She met Hugh Gaitskell in

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...

, London. Gaitskell had taken a teaching post at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. They married at

Hampstead Town Hall Hampstead Town hall is a municipal building on Haverstock Hill, Hampstead, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History The facility was commissioned by the Vestry of St John who had previously met in the offices of the local workhouse. ...

on 9 April 1937. They had two daughters Julia, 1939, and Cressida, 1942. She was a delegate at the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

and member of the

All Party Committee for Human Rights All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * All (All album), ...

from 1977 to 1989. She was also Trustee of the Anglo-German Federation. She remained loyal to the Labour Party when most of her husband's supporters left to form the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. On 23 January 1964, she was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

with the title Baroness Gaitskell, of Egremont in the County of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

. Two years later she received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. She outlived Hugh Gaitskell by 26 years after his death in January 1963, living until July 1989 and the age of 88. She died at the Gaitskell home, 18 Frognal Gardens, Hampstead.

References

1901 births 1989 deaths Latvian Jews Jewish British politicians Labour Party (UK) life peers Place of birth missing Place of death missing Hugh Gaitskell Latvian emigrants to the United Kingdom Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom People from Stepney Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II {{Life-peer-stub