Cristina Patricia Odone (born 11 November 1960) is an Italian-British journalist, editor, and writer. She is the Founder and Chair of the Parenting Circle Charity. Odone is formerly the Editor of ''

The Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...

'', Deputy Editor of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' and director of the Centre for Character and Values at the

Legatum Institute The Legatum Institute is a think tank based in London, UK, headed by Philippa Stroud, Baroness Stroud, a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Its stated aim is to advance the education of the public in national and international political ...

Early life

Odone was born in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...

, Kenya, to an Italian father, Augusto Odone, and a Swedish mother. Her half-brother was Lorenzo Odone, after whom

Lorenzo's oil ''Lorenzo's Oil'' is a 1992 American drama film directed and co-written by George Miller. It is based on the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, parents who search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), leading t ...

is named. Odone's father was a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

official, which led to the family regularly moving. Odone went initially to Marymount School, then later to the

National Cathedral School National Cathedral School (NCS) is an independent Episcopal private day school for girls in grades 4–12 located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by philanthropist and suffragist Phoe ...

, Washington, D.C. After her parents' divorce, Odone moved to Britain to go to St Clare's, a boarding school in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Odone studied French literature and history at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms ...

Journalist

Odone edited ''The Catholic Herald'' from 1991–95. Odone later worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as an advisor to European companies. She resigned from ''The Catholic Herald'' to be able to finish her second novel, ''A Perfect Wife''. In 1996, Odone became the television critic for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', a position she held for two years. In 1998, Odone became deputy editor of the ''

''. Odone resigned in November 2004. For six years Odone was a weekly columnist for ''The Observer''. In 2005, Odone wrote and presented a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary directed by David Malone called ''Dispatches: Women Bishops''.Description of Dispatches programme
/ref> Following a dispute with

Johann Hari Johann Eduard Hari (born 21 January 1979) is a British-Swiss writer and journalist who has written for ''The Independent'' and ''The Huffington Post''. In 2011, Hari was suspended from ''The Independent'' and later resigned, after admitting to ...

while they were colleagues at the ''New Statesman'', Odone commented that pejorative changes were made to her

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...

entry. It subsequently became apparent that Hari was responsible, using pseudonymous sockpuppet accounts to make edits attacking Odone and his critics. A frequent contributor to radio and television debates, Odone is presently a columnist for ''The Daily Telegraph''.

Published works

Odone has written four novels: ''The Shrine'' (1996), ''A Perfect Wife'' (1997), ''The Dilemmas of Harriet Carew'' (2008) and ''The Good Divorce Guide'' (2009) She contributed to ''Why I am still a Catholic'' (2005).

Personal life

Odone is married to Edward Lucas, a writer for ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' magazine. The couple have one child; Lucas has two children from a previous marriage.

References

External links

Cristina Odone's blog
for

Cristina Odone
profile and list of Odone's articles for ''The Guardian''
New Statesman Archive: Cristina Odone
a list of Odone's articles for the ''New Statesman'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Odone, Cristina 1960 births Living people Writers from Nairobi People educated at St. Clare's, Oxford Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Italian women journalists 20th-century Italian women writers Italian Roman Catholics British magazine editors British newspaper editors Italian expatriates in England Italian people of Swedish descent Kenyan women writers 20th-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian women writers 21st-century Italian novelists Italian newspaper editors Italian women editors Women newspaper editors Women magazine editors 20th-century Italian journalists 21st-century Italian journalists National Cathedral School alumni