Anita Leslie (1914–1985)
Author of Lady Randolph Churchill: The Story of Jennie Jerome
About the Author
Works by Anita Leslie
Cousin Clare 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- King, Anita Theodosia Moira Rodzianko
- Birthdate
- 1914-11-21
- Date of death
- 1985-11-05
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Oranmore Castle, Galway Bay, Ireland
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
Castle Leslie, Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland
Galway, Ireland - Occupations
- biographer
novelist
ambulance driver
autobiographer - Relationships
- Leslie, Shane (father)
Leslie, Desmond (brother)
Churchill, Lady Randolph (great-aunt)
Sheridan, Clare (first cousin once removed)
Churchill, Winston S. (first cousin once removed)
Churchill, Randolph S. (second cousin) (show all 9)
Eden, Clarissa (second cousin)
King, William (husband) (4)
Dawson-Damer, Mary Georgiana Emma (ancestor) - Organizations
- Mechanised Transport Corps (WWII)
- Awards and honors
- Croix de Guerre (1945)
- Short biography
- Anita Leslie, born in New York City, was the eldest of three children of a wealthy Anglo-Irish landowning family. Her parents were Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet, known as Shane Leslie, a first cousin of Winston Churchill, and his wife Marjorie Ide. She spent her childhood in the 1920s between their estate in Ireland, a house in London, and schools and convents in various parts of Europe.
During World War II, she volunteered as a mechanic and ambulance driver for the Mechanised Transport Corps and served in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. She also drove ambulances with the Free French Army in northern France in 1944-1945, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. After a brief first marriage to Paul Rodzianko, in 1947 she married William King, a former Royal Navy officer, with whom she had two children. She and her husband took up farming and were avid fox hunters. The couple lived at Oranmore Castle, a 15th-century Norman keep on Galway Bay, Ireland. She wrote a biography of her grand-aunt Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, based largely on family papers and discussions with her grandmother, Leonie Jerome Leslie, who was Jennie's sister. Her 14 books also included biographies of Sir Winston's grandfather, Leonard Jerome; Churchill's son, Randolph; Mrs. Fitzherbert, mistress of King George IV; Madame Tussaud; and Francis Chichester; as well as Edwardians in Love (1972). Her autobiography, The Gilt and the Gingerbread, was published in 1981.
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Reviews
Lists
Women in War (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 15
- Members
- 253
- Popularity
- #90,475
- Rating
- 3.3
- Reviews
- 3
- ISBNs
- 26
She must have been a very dynamic woman. Evidence, beyond having produced a man the value and caliber of Winston Churchill, can be found in the kind of acceptance she had among the peerage in England and her sustained appeal and energy until her unexpected death brought on my a fall. She was a huge influence on her sons and is largely responsible for Winston Churchill's attitude and abilities.
After the death of Winston's father, Randolph, she married twice...both times to men seriously younger than herself. The first was Winston's age and the second even younger than her son. In both instances, there appears to have been true and lasting devotion.
I could not help thinking about Edith Wharton's tales of American women seeking titled husbands in England. Perhaps the life of Jennie Churchill helped flush those tales and give them life. I enjoyed reading about her life and the early life of Winston Churchill as well. It made me realize how much I do not know about this man for whom I have always had so much admiration.… (more)