Stella Churchill FRCS LRCP (1883–1954), was a British medical psychologist and

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

who specialised in the health of women and children.

Early life

She was born Stella Myers on 5 June 1883Obituary in The Times, 20 September 1954
/ref> in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the daughter of George Myers (b. 1841) and Flora Wertheimer (1851–1921). She was the great granddaughter of

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

Akiba Wertheimer, and great niece of German philosopher

Constantin Brunner Constantin Brunner (1862–1937) was the pen-name of the German Jewish philosopher Arjeh Yehuda Wertheimer (called Leo). He was born in Altona (near Hamburg) on 27 August 1862. He came from a prominent Jewish family that had lived in the vicinity ...

. Her brother Walter was an eminent physician and parasitologist, and her sister Violet was a classical singer. She married British diplomat Sidney Churchill on 31 October 1908 from whom she later separated. They had a son, George (b. 1910), and a daughter, Ruth Isabella (1912–1998), Her sister Violet married

William Algernon Churchill William Algernon Churchill (1865 – 23 December 1947) was an art historian and British diplomat. Family and early life He was born in Algiers the son of Henry Adrian Churchill (1828–1886) who was an archaeologist and British diplomat, and ...

, one of her husband's brothers.

Education

After Edgbaston High School she went to Girton College Cambridge to read Natural Science, graduating in 1905. Following her marriage in 1908 she went on to read medicine at the London School of Medicine for Women. She obtained a Diploma in Public Health in Cambridge in 1921.

Career

After qualifying as a doctor in 1917 she held junior posts at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, the

Victoria Hospital for Children The Victoria Hospital for Children, which later merged into St George's Hospital, was a hospital in Tite Street, London. History The hospital was established at Gough House in Tite Street as the South Western London Hospital for Children in Octob ...

, and th
Italian Hospital
before being appointed anaesthetist to the British Red Cross Hospital at Netley in 1918. She was Assistant Medical Officer for Health for Maternity and Child Welfare at Bermondsey from 1920–22, and First Assistant then Deputy Medical Officer for Health for St Pancras from 1922–24. She was a Fellow of the Maternity and Child Welfare Group of the Society of Medical Officers of Health and served as its President. She was a keen supporter of the Save the Children Fund and served on its council. She retired from public health service and became interested in medical psychology and was appointed psychotherapist to the Tavistock Clinic and the West End Hospital for Nervous Diseases. Churchill took a strong interest in

infertility Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal state ...

, sexually transmitted diseases, and eugenics and was a member of the Eugenics Society serving on its committee from 1931. She lived at Strand Green House, No 1

Strand-on-the-Green Strand-on-the-Green is one of Chiswick's four medieval villages, and a "particularly picturesque" riverside area in West London. It is a conservation area, with many "imposing" listed buildings beside the River Thames; a local landmark, the Ke ...

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, from about 1923–32 where her houseguests included the writer 'Elizabeth' Mary Beauchamp, author Margaret Kennedy who used Strand Green House in her book ''The Constant Nymph'', and sculpto
Joseph Armitage
She opened the first local child welfare clinic at Strand on the Green School.
/ref> She wrote many books on maternity and child welfare.Books by Stella Churchill
/ref>

Public life

From 1925–32 she represented South East Southwark on the London County Council. She was Parliamentary Labour Candidate for Hackney North in 1924 and for Brentford and Chiswick in 1929.

Death

She died on 16 September 1954 in Menton, France aged 71.

Bibliography

*''Nursing in the Home, including first aid in common emergencies'', Modern Health Books, 1925 *''The Hygiene Of Life And Safer Motherhood'', Edited by Sir W Arbuthnot Lane, plus Sir William Wilcox, Sir R Armstrong-Jones, Sir B Bruce-Porter; Dr E Sloan Chesser; Dr Stella Churchill; Dr Caleb W Saleeby; et al. 1925 *''Health Services and the Public'', Noel Douglas, London, 1928 *''On being a mother'', Gollancz 1936 *''The Adolescent and the Family'', London, The Cresset Press, 1949 *''Ailments of Childhood - A Vintage Article on Appendicitis, Colds, Fevers, Tuberculosis and Other Childhood Ailments'', Hughes Press

References

External links

Photograph of Dr Stella Churchill at The National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Stella 1883 births 1954 deaths British Jews British people of Polish-Jewish descent British psychotherapists Members of London County Council Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Labour Party (UK) councillors 20th-century British psychologists English eugenicists Jewish eugenicists Women councillors in England