Elizabeth Jane Tilberis (née Kelly; 7 September 1947 – 21 April 1999) was a British fashion magazine editor of Manx and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ancestry. Tilberis was born in

Shirehampton Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city. It originated as a separate village, retains a High Street with a parish church and shops, and is still thought of as a village by many of it ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1947Harpers editor dies at 51 , UK news , The Guardian
Retrieved 2018-02-10. and attended Malvern Girls College. She then went to

Leicester Polytechnic De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ta ...

to study fashion where she was expelled for having a man in her room.Avril Mollison. Obituary, ''The Independent'', 23 April 1999. She then tried to go to Jacob Kramer Art College in Leeds. Andrew Tilberis was an art tutor and looked over her portfolio for admission. He was unimpressed with her work, but Liz gave him a speech about why she wanted to attend and won him over (and later married him). In 1967, ''British Vogue'' held a contest requiring three essays. Liz was the runner-up and began an internship there, making tea, picking up dress pins, and ironing for fashion shoots for 25 pounds per week.

Beatrix Miller Beatrix Molineux Miller, CBE (29 June 1923 – 21 February 2014) was a British fashion and cultural magazine editor. She was editor of ''Queen'' from 1958 to 1964, and editor of ''British Vogue'' from 1964 to 1985. Early life Miller was born on ...

, then editor-in-chief, noticed how pleasant and enthusiastic Liz was, and promoted her to fashion assistant in 1970. In 1971 she married Andrew Tilberis, whom her father forbade her to marry because "he was a foreigner". They remained married for almost 30 years until her death. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Liz began fertility treatments to try to conceive. They were not successful and she adopted sons Robert in 1981 and Christopher in 1985. After 20 years at ''British Vogue'', she was offered a lucrative job in New York City as part of

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

's design team in 1987. She sold her house, packed up, and was about to leave for the United States.

Anna Wintour Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...

, the then-editor, suddenly called Liz into her office, and informed her that she was moving to New York to become the new editor of '' House & Garden''. Wintour offered her job to Tilberis, who accepted. Its circulation began to rise under her leadership and she said, "My staff are respectful rather than frightened."

New York

In 1992, Tilberis moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and took the helm of fashion institution ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

''. In December 1993, she was diagnosed with

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

at age 46. She strongly believed that her use of fertility drugs caused the disease. She spent the next seven years at ''Bazaar'' balancing chemotherapy and revitalizing the 125-year-old magazine.Obituary
salon.com; retrieved 6 February 2015. Tilberis served as President of the

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on ovarian cancer research, advocacy and patient support. The organization was formed in January 2016 when the former not-for-profit organization Ovarian Cancer Res ...

from 1997 until her death in 1999. She escorted

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

on one of her last visits to

, even though Tilberis herself was undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

treatments for her cancer. Diana would telephone and write Tilberis to give her words of comfort and encouragement, until her own death in a car accident on 31 August 1997.

Death

Tilberis died on 21 April 1999 in

from ovarian cancer. Tributes to her were in the June and July 1999 issues of Bazaar. She is survived by her husband, Andrew Tilberis, and their two adopted sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilberis, Liz 1947 births 1999 deaths British magazine editors British Vogue English expatriates in the United States Deaths from ovarian cancer Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Harper's Bazaar People from Shirehampton Alumni of De Montfort University People educated at Malvern St James