Margaret Susan Ryder, Baroness Ryder

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Margaret Susan "Sue" Ryder, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw CMG OBE (married name Cheshire ; born July 3, 1923 or 1924 in Leeds , Yorkshire ; † November 2, 2000 in Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk ) was a British philanthropist who was particularly interested in the promotion of the elderly , health care and nursing as well as war victims started and 1979 when Life Peeress became a member of the House of Lords under the Life Peerages Act 1958 .

Life

Used in World War II and founder of charities

Sue Ryder became involved after seeing the Benenden School, a private girls' school, in the home care of the sick and disabled in their hometown of Leeds, before it during the Second World War as a volunteer of the first aid organization First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps ) (FANY (PRVC)) entered. Soon afterwards she was assigned to the Special Operations Executive and worked in its Poland department on espionage , sabotage and military reconnaissance in occupied Europe .

Based on the experiences gained during the World War, she decided after the end of the war to erect a “living memorial” for the dead, refugees and other oppressed people. 1953 saw the establishment of the Sue Ryder Foundation for the Sick and Disabled ( Sue Ryder Care ), which today has centers in more than 100 countries. In 1957 she was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire for her services .

The work of her philanthropic projects in the fields of elderly, health and nursing as well as war victims grew after she married Leonard Cheshire in 1959 , who became the youngest colonel ( group captain ) during the Second World War and one of the most decorated pilots of the Royal Air Force (RAF ) and after the end of the war, based on his observations of the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also founded charities such as the Leonard Cheshire Disability . In some countries the work of the organizations is carried out by the Ryder Cheshire Foundation .

Member of the House of Lords, Honors and Awards

Memorial plaque on Skwer Susan Ryder in Gdynia
Sue Ryder Skwer in Warsaw

Over time, Sue Ryder has been awarded numerous domestic and foreign medals and, in addition to the Officer's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order in 1965, also received the medal of the Yugoslav flag with gold wreath in 1971. It was 1973, an Honorary Doctorate of Law ( Honorary Doctor of Law ) of the University of Liverpool awarded and in 1976 the dignity of a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and the Order of Merit of the Polish People's Republic .

Ryder became a Life Peeress with the title Baroness Ryder of Warsaw , of Warsaw in Poland and of Cavendish in the County of Suffolk , through a letters patent dated January 31, 1979 , a member of the House of Lords, of which she was a member until his death. The announcement of the award of the peer title was made on June 2, 1978.

In 1980 she was awarded the Polish Order of Smiles and another honorary doctorate in law from the University of Exeter . Another honorary Doctor of Law she got in 1981 from the University of London and in 1982 a Doctor of Literature ( Honorary Doctor of Litterature ) of the University of Reading . She received other honorary doctorates in law from the University of Leeds in 1984 , from the University of Kent ( Honorary Docot of Civil Law ) in 1986 and from the University of Cambridge in 1989 .

After her husband Leonard Cheshire was raised to life peer status as Baron Cheshire, of Woodhall in the County of Lincolnshire on July 17, 1991 , both were among the few married couples who held their own peers and thus memberships in the House of Lords.

Most recently, Baroness Ryder was appointed Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1992 and another honorary doctorate in law from the University of Essex in 1993 .

Publications

  • And the Morrow is Theirs , 1975
  • Child of My Love , autobiography , 1986

literature

  • Jürgen Zimmer: Sue Ryder - A woman goes her way , in which: Alive. Memorandum to commemorate the establishment of the St. Christopher Settlement Großburgwedel , first edition, Eigen-Verlag Bürgerinitiative Sue Ryder, Großburgwedel, Großburgwedel, 2014

Web links

Commons : Sue Ryder  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 47557, HMSO, London, June 2, 1978, p. 6285 ( PDF , accessed October 18, 2013, English).

Background literature

  • Una McGovern (Ed.): Chambers Biographical Dictionary . Chambers, Edinburgh 2002, ISBN 0-550-10051-2 , p. 1323
personal data
SURNAME Ryder, Margaret Susan, Baroness Ryder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ryder, Margaret Susan, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw (full name); Ryder, Sue (nickname); Cheshire, Margaret Susan, Baroness Cheshire (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1923 or 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Leeds , Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 2000
Place of death Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk