Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota

Beatrice Katz Serota, Baroness Serota DBE (born Katz, born October 15, 1919 , † October 21, 2002 ) was a British politician .

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Beatrice Katz grew up in the East End of London . She was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Central Europe . From childhood she was called Bea or Bee . Her future husband Stanley Serota, whose family came from Russia, lived in the neighborhood. The couple married in 1942. Stanley Serota was a civil engineer .

Beatrice Serota trained at the John Howard School and the London School of Economics , where she studied economics , became the first woman to graduate and became an honorary professor . In 1941 she entered the public service and worked in the Ministry of Fuel and Power , which was extremely important for the war effort . In 1946 she left the Ministry because she was pregnant with her son Nicholas Serota , who later became director of the Tate Gallery . Two years later the daughter Judith was born, who became known as the organizer of festivals.

Serota was never a member of the British House of Commons, but is known as a very competent administrative officer. It was particularly popular in London. Shortly after the Second World War, she became a member of the Hampstead Borough Council (comparable to the German district assembly ), then in the London City Council as a member of Brixton and in the Greater London Council (GLC) for Lambeth . There she was the first ombudswoman . Serota worked for two years with the Labor politician Richard Crossman during his tenure (1966 to 1968) as Lord President of the Council , at a time when hot topics such as abortion and contraception were dominant. She spoke out in favor of legalizing abortion. From 1969 to 1970 she was Minister of Health under Prime Minister Harold Wilson and from 1976 to 1979 she chaired an advisory commission for the administration of justice. When the results of the deliberations became public in 1978 - for some crimes it was suggested that the sentences be reduced - there was a great public discussion.

Serota's main political concerns were local and family politics in particular . In particular, her commitment to children in various positions and offices and her recognized competence earned her a seat in the House of Lords in 1967 . In her maiden speech in the House of Lords as Baroness Serota of Hampstead in Greater London , she quoted - with reference to illegitimate children and adoption - Dorothy Archer from the radio series The Archers : “ A baby is a baby and that's all that matters. "(German:" A baby is a baby, and that's all that matters. ")

In 1992 Beatrice Serota Dame became Commander of the Order of the British Empire .

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personal data
SURNAME	Serota, Beatrice Serota, Baroness
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Serota, Beatrice Katz Serota, Baroness (full name); Katz, Beatrice (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British politician
DATE OF BIRTH	October 15, 1919
DATE OF DEATH	October 21, 2002