Karen Liebreich (born 1959),
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
, is an author, historian and gardener.
Biography
Liebreich was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, and educated at
Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls
Haberdashers' Girls' School is an independent day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Boys' School). The school was founded in 1875 by the Wo ...
. She studied History 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 = ...
and the European University Institute, before completing a PhD at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. She worked as the cultural assistant at the
French Institute in London, and then as a producer at 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 ...
and the
History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
, where she worked on historical documentaries. Between 2005 and 2009, she ran a historic kitchen garden in
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753 ...
,
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...
, and was the co-founder of Abundance London, a community garden and urban harvesting project. In 2013, she was awarded an MBE for services to horticulture and education From 2015 to 2018, working with Sarah Cruz also of Abundance London, she created the Chiswick Timeline, a vast, spectacular mural of historic maps of Chiswick from 1593 to the present day, covering almost 60 metres of the
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
bridge arches crossing
Turnham Green
Turnham Green is a public park on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, and the neighbourhood and conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being Old Chiswick, Little S ...
Terrace, including works of art by famous artists with links to Chiswick such as
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...
, with some specifically created for the mural by Sir
Peter Blake and
Jan Pieńkowski
Jan Michał Pieńkowski (8 August 1936 – 19 February 2022) was a Polish-born British author of children's books—as illustrator, as writer, and as designer of movable books. He is best known for illustrating the ''Meg and Mog'' picture book ...
. In 2020 she co-founded th
Chiswick Flower Market part of a project to reinvigorate the local High Road. She is a non-fiction author and occasional journalist.
Works
In 2004, Liebreich wrote ''Fallen Order'', an exposé of sexual abuse in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in the 17th century. While researching her doctorate, Liebreich discovered documents in the
Vatican archives
, seal = Seal of the Vatican Secret Archives.svg
, seal_width = 200
, seal_caption = Former seal of the Vatican Apostolic Archive
, logo =
, formed =
, jurisdiction =
, headquarters = Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican City
, coordinates ...
indicating that the
Piarist Order
The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...
, an order dedicated to providing education to poorer children, had covered up a sexual abuse scandal involving some of their priests. This scandal had subsequently contributed to the order's temporary suppression in 1646.
In 2006, Liebreich wrote ''The Letter in the Bottle'' about her research to identify the mother who wrote a
message in a bottle
A message in a bottle (abbrev. MIB) is a form of communication in which a message is sealed in a container (typically a bottle) and released into a conveyance medium (typically a body of water).
Messages in bottles have been used to send distres ...
to express her enduring grief over the death of her son at the age of 13.
The 2009 French translation received substantial media coverage in France
and was dramatised for a BBC Radio 4 ''
Afternoon Play
''Drama'' (formerly ''Afternoon Theatre'', ''Afternoon Drama,'' ''Afternoon Play'') is a BBC Radio 4 radio drama, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm. Generally each play is 45 minutes in duration and approximately 190 new plays are broadcast each ...
'' in December 2012.
In 2009, Liebreich wrote ''The Family Kitchen Garden'', based on her experiences restoring and preserving a historic kitchen garden in the grounds of Chiswick House.
In 2017 Liebreich published ''The Black Page – interviews with Nazi Film-makers'' based on her first-hand interviews conducted in the making of various BBC documentaries. An essay based on this on
Brunhilde Pomsel
Brunhilde Pomsel (11 January 1911 – 27 January 2017) was a personal secretary to Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany. She started work at the ministry's offic ...
,
Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
's secretary, was published by the ''
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
'' after the death of Pomsel in January 2017.
In 2018, after more than three years' work, the ''Chiswick Timeline''
[http://chiswicktimeline.org/] was formally opened, with an accompanying book.
In 2020, Liebreich published ''An Objective History'' detailing her family's experiences during the Second World War.
Bibliography
*''The Complete Skier: A Practical Guide for Skiers'' ()
*''Unexplained: Spine-Tingling Tales of Real Places Around the British Isles'' ()
*''Fallen Order: Intrigue, Heresy, and Scandal in the Rome of Galileo and Caravaggio'' ()
*''The Family Kitchen Garden: How to Plant, Grow, and Cook Together'' ()
*''The Letter in the Bottle'' ()
*''The Black Page'' ()
References
*
*
*
*
External links
BBC Interview with Liebreich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liebreich, Karen
Alumni of University College London
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
1959 births
Living people
British historians
British writers
Writers from London