Helen F. Rappaport (née Ware; born June 1947), is a British author and former actress. She specialises in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and revolutionary

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 ...

Early life and education

Rappaport was born Helen Ware in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

, grew up near the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

in North Kent and attended

Chatham Grammar School for Girls Chatham Grammar School for Girls ("CGSG") is a girls grammar school with academy status and a mixed sixth form. In September 2017 it became a member school of the University of Kent Academies Trust (UKAT), joined with another secondary school ...

. Her older brother Mike Ware, born 1939, is a photographer, chemist, and writer. She has twin younger brothers, Peter (also a photographer) and Christopher, born in 1953. She studied Russian at

Leeds University , 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 , ...

where she was involved in the university Theatre Group and launched her acting career.

Career

Acting

After acting with the Leeds University Theatre Group she appeared in several television series including ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

'', ''

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazare ...

'' and ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

''. She later claimed to have spent '20 years in the doldrums as an out of work, broke and miserable actress'...

Writing

In the early nineties she became a copy editor for academic publishers

Blackwell Blackwell may refer to: Places ;Canada * Blackwell, Ontario ;United Kingdom * Blackwell, County Durham, England * Blackwell, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Blackwell (historic house), South Lakeland, Cumbria, England * Blackwell, Bolsover, Alfre ...

and

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and also contributed to historical and biographical reference works published by for example Cassell and

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

. She became a full-time writer in 1998, writing three books for US publisher ABC-CLIO including ''An Encyclopaedia of Women Social Reformers'' in 2001, with a foreword by

Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman (born June 6, 1939) is an American activist for civil rights and children's rights. She is the founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund. She influenced leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Hillary ...

. It won an award in 2002 from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

as an Outstanding Reference Source and according to the ''

Times Higher Education Supplement ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'', 'A splendid book, informative and wide-ranging'.

Mary Seacole

In 2003 Rappaport discovered and purchased an 1869 portrait of Jamaican nurse

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu E.N. (2012) Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands. ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British-Jamaican nurse and businesswoman who set up t ...

Albert Charles Challen Albert Charles Challen (8 October 1847 in Islington – 1 September 1881 in Camberwell) was a British artist. He is best known as the painter of a portrait of Mary Seacole in 1869, when she was around 65 years old and he was 22. The rediscov ...

. The picture now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. Mary Seacole features in Rappaport's 2007 book ''No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War'' which was praised by

Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels, including ''Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar' (2003), Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and ...

as being 'Poignant and inspirational, well researched yet thoroughly readable' and also received positive reviews in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

The Last Days of the Romanovs

Her 2008 book ''

Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...

: The Last Days of the

Romanovs The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...

'' received many positive reviews in both the UK and US where it became a bestseller.

Lenin

''Conspirator:

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

in Exile'' published in 2009 gained considerable publicity due to Rappaport's claim that Lenin died from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

and not a stroke.

Victorian cosmetics industry

Her 2010 book, ''Beautiful For Ever'' describes the growth of the Victorian cosmetics industry and tells the story of

Madame Rachel Sarah Rachel Russell or Leverson or Levison, best known as Madame Rachel (c.1814 – 12 October 1880), was a British criminal and con artist in Victorian-era London during the late 19th century. She operated a prominent beauty salon from which sh ...

who found both fame and infamy peddling products which claimed almost magical powers of "restoration and preservation".

Death of Prince Albert

''Magnificent Obsession'' was published on 3 November 2011, the 150th anniversary of its subject; the death of Prince Albert.

Birth of photography

''Capturing the Light: The Birth of Photography'', co-written with Roger Watson, tells the story of

Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later ...

and

Louis Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( , ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photog ...

. Both authors took part in an event during the Edinburgh Book Festival on 14 August 2013.

Caught in the Revolution

''Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 – A World on the Edge'' was published in 2016 in the UK, where it received many positive reviews.

Translating

Rappaport is a fluent Russian speaker and is a translator of Russian plays, notably those of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, working with

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

, David Hare,

David Lan David Lan is a South African-born British playwright, theatre producer and director and a social anthropologist. Career Born in Cape Town, he trained as an actor and gained a BA at the University of Cape Town. He has lived in London since 197 ...

and Nicholas Wright.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

*''

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

: A Biographical Companion'', 1999 ABC-CLIO *''An Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers'', 2001 ABC-CLIO *''

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

: A Biographical Companion'', 2003 ABC-CLIO *''No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

'', 2007

Aurum Press The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countri ...

*''

: The Last Days of the

'', 2008 Hutchinson *''Conspirator:

in Exile'', 2009 Hutchinson *''Beautiful for Ever:

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

- Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer'', 2010 Long Barn Books *''Magnificent Obsession; Victoria, Albert and the Death that Changed the Monarchy'', 2011 Hutchinson *''Capturing the Light: The Birth of Photography'', 2013 *''The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra'', 2014 *''Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 – A World on the Edge'', 2016 *''The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue the Russian Imperial Family'', 2018 St. Martin's Press *''After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War'', 2022 St. Martin's Press *''In Search of Mary Seacole: The Making of a Cultural Icon'', 2022 Simon & Schuster UK

Fiction

*''Dark Hearts of Chicago'' (2007, Hutchinson) - co-wrote with William Horwood

Family life

Rappaport has two daughters.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rappaport, Helen People from Bromley Alumni of the University of Leeds English television actresses Russian–English translators English translators English biographers English historical novelists 21st-century British novelists 21st-century English women writers Actresses from Kent English women novelists 21st-century biographers 21st-century British translators Living people 1947 births Women historical novelists English women non-fiction writers Women biographers