Anne Mary Lonsdale

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(née Menzies, first married name Griffin, born 16 February 1941) is a British

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

and was the third

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

New Hall, Cambridge New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

Life

Born Anne Menzies in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in February 1941, the only child of Alexander Menzies, a professor of physics at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, Lonsdale was educated at

Heathfield School, Pinner Heathfield School was a private day school for girls in Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. It merged with Northwood College in 2014 and the site was taken over by Pinner High School. History Heathfield was founded by Miss Gayford in 1900 ...

before winning a scholarship to read

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

in 1957. She then took a second degree in Chinese and taught classical Chinese literature before becoming a university administrator. Lonsdale was chairman of the Board of Camfed International (a

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

focused on education and job opportunities for girls in Sub-Saharan Africa), and is now chairman and honorary secretary of the

Council for Assisting Refugee Academics The Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) is a charitable British organisation dedicated to assisting academics in immediate danger, those forced into exile, and many who choose to remain in their home countries despite the serious risks they face ...

, a Trustee of the

European Humanities University be, Еўрапейскі гуманітарны ўніверсітэт , image_name = European Humanities University 2019 3.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption = , latin_name = , motto ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and of the

Open Society Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...

. Lonsdale travelled and worked extensively in America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and was active for many years in both European and Commonwealth university organisations. Outside the university, she was a Trustee of the British Association for Central and Eastern Europe, the Inter-University Foundation and the Moscow School of Social & Economic Sciences. From 1993 to 1996 she was Secretary-General of the

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

based in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, founded by

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

in 1991. She developed a major interest in environmental research and policy and was involved in the setting up of a Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at the CEU Budapest for students from all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

.United Nations Environment Programme: Who's Who of Women and the Environment
/ref> In 1996 Lonsdale was appointed as the third President of

, a position she held until 2008. In this period she also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Relations, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and was a member of the university's Council and a co-founder and Director of Cambridge in America, the

Cambridge Commonwealth Trust The Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust is an organization that offers scholarships to students from overseas and the Commonwealth (excluding the United Kingdom) who have been accepted for admission to the University of Cambr ...

and Cambridge Overseas Trust, a Trustee of the Cambridge Foundation, the Gates Cambridge Trust, the Newton Trust, and the Cambridge European Trust, and was Chairman of the Syndicate for the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...

. She is currently prorector of the governing board of the

Nazarbayev University Nazarbayev University (NU) is an autonomous research university in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Founded as a result of the initiative of the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2010 (June), it is an English-medium institu ...

.Nazarbayev University
/ref> in Kazakhstan. She serves on the advisory council of the UK Friends of the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...

. In 2004 Lonsdale was awarded the

for services to Higher Education.'Anne Lonsdale CBE', Murry Edwards College
/ref> She is Officier des Palmes Academiques (France) and Cavaliere del’

Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

. She married Geoffrey Griffin in 1962 but he died the same year. In 1964 she remarried

Roger Lonsdale Roger Harrison Lonsdale, FBA (6 August 1934 – 28 February 2022) was a British literary scholar and academic born in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was a Fellow and Tutor at Balliol College Oxford from 1963 to 2000, and Professor of Engli ...

; her second marriage ended in divorce in 1994.

External links

Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 1st July 2008 (video)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, Anne 1941 births People from Huddersfield Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Presidents of New Hall, Cambridge Fellows of New Hall, Cambridge British sinologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholars Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholars Cambridge Trusts Scholars People educated at Heathfield School, Pinner