Wendy Elsa Greengross (29 April 1925 – 10 October 2012) was a British general practitioner and broadcaster. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' called her "a pioneering counsellor and one of the leading figures in fighting for equal rights for the disabled and the elderly".

Early life

Wendy Elsa Greengross was born on 29 April 1925, at 10 St Mary's Road,

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

, London, the daughter of Morris Philip Greengross, born Moisze Fiszel Gringross (1892–1970), a manufacturing jeweller, and his wife, Miriam Greengross, née Abrahamson (1899/1900–1968). Her father was mayor of

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

from 1960 to 1961, and her brother Sir Alan Greengross (born 1929) was a leading Conservative member of the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. Greengross was educated at

South Hampstead High School ) , established = as St. Johns Wood School , closed = , type = Independent day school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , head ...

from 1936 until she was evacuated to

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

, Hertfordshire, followed by

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

, where she qualified as a doctor in 1949, and in 1952 won a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to the Chicago Lying-in Hospital.

Career

Together with her husband, Greengross ran a large general practice in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, London. Opened in 1955, it was one of the UK's first group practices. She particularly promoted

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

, and they were the country's first GP practice to have a dedicated marriage guidance. Greengross worked as a GP for 35 years. Greengross received counsellor training from the

Marriage Guidance Council Relate is a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses. Relate also offers online services ...

(now Relate), and would go on to become its Chief Medical Adviser. In the late 1960s, Greengross started teaching pastoral care and counselling at

Leo Baeck College Leo Baeck College is a privately funded rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education. Based now at the Sternberg Centre, East End Road, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, it was founded by Werner van ...

. Greengross went into broadcasting in the early 1970s, joining the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

counselling programme '' If You Think You've Got Problems'', which ran for nearly eight years. She had her own television show on BBC1 in 1973, ''

Let's Talk it Over ''Let's Talk It Over'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Chester Morris, Mae Clarke and Frank Craven.Dick p.81 Plot summary A sailor rescues a young heiress who is apparently drowning. Little ...

''. From 1972 to 1976, Greengross was an

agony aunt An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

for '' The Sun'', but "felt the letters passed to her were more about titillation than education". Greengross wrote ''Jewish and Homosexual'', published in 1980, by the

Reform Synagogues of Great Britain Reform Judaism (formally the Movement for Reform Judaism and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005) is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relatively ...

, which "led the way towards equality within the British Reform and Liberal movements". Greengross published several sex education books, particularly focused on more marginalised groups, such as ''Sex and the Handicapped Child'' in 1980. Greengross was a founding member and chair of the organisation

Sexual Problems of Disabled People Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to: Biology and behaviour *Animal sexual behaviour **Copulation (zoology) **Human sexual activity **Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse ** ...

(SPOD), and a founder of the

Residential Care Consortium A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family reside ...

Selected publications

*''Sex in the Middle Years'' (1969) *''Sex in Early Marriage'' (1970) *''Entitled to Love: the Sexual and Emotional Needs of the Handicapped'' (1976) *''Sex and the Handicapped Child'' (1980) *''Jewish and Homosexual'' (1980) *''Living, Loving and Ageing'' (1989), with her sister-in-law

Baroness Sally Greengross Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

Personal life

In 1951, she married a surgeon, Alex Kates, and they had five children. Greengross had two daughters, Hilary and Polly, and three sons Nick, Richard, and Trevor (d. 1997). Greengross lived for many years in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentiet ...

, before a retirement flat in

Regent's Park Road Regent's Park Road is a street in the Primrose Hill area of London, England. Located in the London Borough of Camden, it runs in a curving crescent shape. For some of its route it follows alongside the eastern edge of Primrose Hill park and als ...

, where she died on 10 October 2012 of pneumonia. She was buried at

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Hertfor ...

's Jewish Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greengross, Wendy 1925 births 2012 deaths People from Golders Green People educated at South Hampstead High School Alumni of the UCL Medical School Pritzker School of Medicine alumni English Jews 20th-century British women writers English women journalists British women columnists The Sun (United Kingdom) people British general practitioners British advice columnists English journalists English television presenters English radio presenters Sex education advocates People from Hampstead Deaths from pneumonia in England BBC radio presenters BBC television presenters British relationships and sexuality writers Disability rights activists from the United Kingdom LGBT rights activists from the United Kingdom British birth control activists Jewish non-fiction writers Jewish physicians Jewish women British women activists Founders of charities British women radio presenters Sex educators Judaism and sexuality People associated with Leo Baeck College Journalists from London Reform Jewish feminists 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Women civil rights activists Fulbright alumni