Elfrieden Bloom

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(nee Wenzel; 6 February 1914 – 20 May 2000) was a journalist, author and campaigner for the rights of deaf children.

Biography

Her parents were Robert and Emmy Wenzel, who were a German diplomat and a journalist. Growing up in New York, she graduated from Columbia University and subsequently studied at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Her two marriages were both to medical officers of the British Army. Her first husband died of pleurisy shortly after arriving in Malaya near the beginning of World War II. Days after her second marriage, to Philip Bloom, they were incarcerated as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

after the Japanese capture of Singapore, and suffered terrible conditions in captivity until their release at the war's end in 1945. Bloom's first daughter Virginia was born profoundly deaf, and Bloom devoted herself to overcoming the challenges of deafness for her daughter and for other deaf children. She became chair of the

National Deaf Children's Society The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) is a British charity dedicated to providing support, information and advice for deaf children and young people, their families and professionals working with them. The Society campaigns for improvement ...

in which role she served until 1965, and remained a vice-president for the rest of her life.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Freddy 1914 births 2000 deaths British women journalists British expatriates in the United States Immigrants to the United Kingdom Columbia University alumni Alumni of Trinity College Dublin