Lisa Appignanesi (born Elżbieta Borensztejn; 4 January 1946) is a British-Canadian writer, novelist, and campaigner for free expression. Until 2021, she was the Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a former President of

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associat ...

and Chair of the

Freud Museum The Freud Museum in London is a museum dedicated to Sigmund Freud, located in the house where Freud lived with his family during the last year of his life. In 1938, after escaping Nazi annexation of Austria he came to London via Paris and s ...

London. She chaired the 2017 Booker International Prize won by

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...

. She is an Honorary Fellow of St Benet's Hall, Oxford and Visiting Professor in the Department of English at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and held a

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

People Award there for her public series on ''The Brain and the Mind''. Her book ''Mad, Bad, and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors'' won the 2009

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headqua ...

Award for the Public Understanding of Science, among other prizes. She has written for ''The New York Review of Books'', ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', as well as making programmes and appearing on the BBC.

Biography

Personal life and education

Appignanesi was born Elżbieta Borensztejn on 4 January 1946 in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...

, Poland, the daughter of Hena and Aaron Borensztejn. Following her birth, her parents moved to Paris, France, and in 1951 emigrated to

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada, where she grew up.Profile of Lisa Appignanesi, Crime Time Magazine. Retrieved 28 February 2009
She studied at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

in Montreal, where she was a features editor for ''

The McGill Daily ''The McGill Daily'' is an independent student newspaper at McGill University and is entirely run by students. Despite its name, the ''Daily'' has reduced its print publication to once a week, normally on Mondays, in addition to producing online- ...

''. In 1966, she earned her BA and in 1967 her MA degree (with a thesis on

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

) and married writer

Richard Appignanesi Richard Appignanesi (born December 20, 1940) is a Canadian writer and editor. He was the originating editor of the internationally successful illustrated '' For Beginners'' book series (since 1991 called the '' Introducing...'' series), as well ...

. After their marriage the couple moved to England, where she obtained a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

in 1970. During this period she spent some time in Paris and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and wrote the thesis that became the book ''Proust, Musil and Henry James: femininity and the creative imagination'', which was published in 1974. The couple had one son, film director

Josh Appignanesi Josh Appignanesi (born 1975) is a British film director, producer, and screenwriter. Appignanesi is best known for the feature film '' Song of Songs'' (2006), starring Natalie Press, which he directed, co-wrote and co-produced. The film won severa ...

; they separated in 1981 and divorced in 1984. Her later partner, then husband, was John Forrester, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge, with whom she wrote ''Freud's Women''. The couple's daughter, Katrina Forrester, is an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree A docto ...

of Government and Social Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. Lisa Appignanesi lives in London.

Academic work

After a year working as a writer in a Manhattan social research firm, Appignanesi returned to Britain to work as a European Studies lecturer at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

. She then lectured at New England College and in 1976 was one of the founders of the Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, which included

John Berger John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...

and

Arnold Wesker Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and oth ...

and launched the graphic ''Beginners'' series with titles on

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and Freud. In 1975 she published ''The Cabaret'', a history of

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

, a new edition of which came out in 2005 (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...

ICA

In 1980 she left academia to become Director of Talks and Seminars at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the I ...

(ICA) in London, where she stayed for ten years and helped the ICA talks programme gain a reputation as "an intellectual hothouse". While at the ICA she edited the ''Documents'' series, which included the books ''Postmodernism'' and ''Ideas from France''. She became Deputy Director of the ICA in 1986 and created the ICA-Television branch, which produced ''England's Henry Moore'' in 1988 and ''Seductions'' for

Channel Four 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 in ...

. She left the ICA in 1990 to write full-time.

Writing

In 1991 she published a best-selling novel, ''Memory and Desire''. A major study of Freud's life, ideas and his relations to women, ''Freud's Women'' (co-written with John Forrester) was published in 1992. As well as these she has written several other works of fiction, including thrillers. She has also written the award-winning ''Mad, Bad and Sad: Women and the Mind Doctors'' in 2008 and ''All About Love'' (2011). Appignanesi has co-written two films on

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

for French television, presented two series of radio programmes on

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

, presented the arts and ideas ''Nightwaves'' programme for

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

, contributed to a variety of programmes, including '' Saturday Review'', ''

Start the Week ''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular ...

'' and ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented ...

'', and written for the New Writing Partnership. Appignanesi has appeared as a cultural commentator on many television programmes, including the BBC's ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'' and ''

Late Review ''The Review Show'' was a British discussion programme dedicated to the arts which ran, under several titles, from 1994 to 2014. The programme featured a panel of guests who reviewed developments in the world of the arts and culture. History '' ...

''. She was General Editor of ''The Big Ideas'' series, published by

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distributed in the UK ...

, which includes ''Violence'' by

Slavoj Zizek Slavoj may refer to: *Karel Slavoj Amerling (1807–1884), Czech teacher, writer, and philosopher *Slavoj Černý (born 1937), Czech former cyclist * Slavoj Žižek (born 1949), Slovenian philosopher See also *Záboj and Slavoj, outdoor sculpture ...

and ''Bodies'', by

Susie Orbach Susie Orbach (born 6 November 1946) is a British psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer and social critic. Her first book, ''Fat is a Feminist Issue'', analysed the psychology of dieting and over-eating in women, and she has campaigned against m ...

. She worked as a fellow of the Brain and Behaviour Laboratory at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

, was a council-member of the ICA (2000–06) and was Chair of the

, London from 2008 to 2014. She has also written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', and ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

''. She is a former member of the Board of IMPRESS Project, the independent monitor for the UK Press. In 2004 she became the Deputy President of

and then President (2008–11). As part of her work with English PEN she edited ''Free Expression is No Offence,'' a collection of writings that formed part of English PEN's protest against what became the

Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which creates an offence in England and Wales of inciting hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion. The Act was the Labour Governm ...

and helped induce the British Government to amend the bill by inserting a robust clause protecting freedom of expression. Under her Presidency, English PEN launched its report on Libel Reform, "Free Speech is Not for Sale," helped to rid Britain of obsolete Blasphemy and Criminal Libel laws, as well as setting up the PEN PINTER PRIZE. Appignanesi was also voted one of Britain's Top 101 female public intellectuals. Appignanesi has been nominated for the

Charles Taylor Prize The RBC Taylor Prize (2000–2020), formerly known as the Charles Taylor Prize, is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation to the best Canadian work of literary non-fiction. It is named for Charles P. B. Taylor, a ...

, and the

Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Literary Prize The Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Literary Prize is an annual British literary prize inaugurated in 1977. It is named after the host ''Jewish Quarterly'' and the prize's founder Harold Hyam Wingate. The award recognises Jewish and non-Jewish writers r ...

for her family memoir ''Losing the Dead'', while her novel ''The Memory Man'' was short-listed for the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

and won the Canadian Holocaust Fiction Award. ''Losing the Dead'' describes how her parents managed to survive occupied Poland by passing as Aryans. ''Mad, Bad and Sad'' was short-listed for the Warwick Prize and long-listed for the

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

, amongst others, and won several awards. With

, she translated the work of

Nella Bielski Nella Bielski (1930s – 4 November 2020) was a Ukrainian-born French writer and actress. Bielski was born in Ukraine in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and died on 4 November 2020 in Antony a suburb of Paris. She studied philosophy at Moscow Stat ...

. The ''Year is 42'' won the

Scott Moncrieff Prize The Scott Moncrieff Prize, named after the translator C. K. Scott Moncrieff, is an annual £2,000 literary prize for French to English translation, awarded to one or more translators every year for a full-length work deemed by the Translators Asso ...

for Literary Translation. In 1987 she was made a

Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

. Appignanesi was appointed

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to literature. She became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

in 2015 and became the Chair of the

Council in 2016.

Selected works

Books

;as Lisa Appignanesi *''The Language of Trust'' (1973) *''Proust, Musil and Henry James: Femininity and the Creative Imagination'' (1974) *''The Cabaret'' (1975) *''Ideas from France'' (1986) (editor) *''Postmodernism'' (1988) (editor) *''The Rushdie File'' (1989) (edited with

Sara Maitland Sara Maitland (born 27 February 1950) is a British writer of religious fantasy. A novelist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency. Life and career Sarah (later "Sara") Louise Maitland was born in London ...

) *''Memory and Desire'' (1991) *''Freud's Women'' (1992) (co-author: John Forrester) (new edition 2005) *''Dreams of Innocence'' (1994) *''A Good Woman'' (1996) *''The Things We Do for Love'' (1997) *''Losing the Dead: A Family Memoir'' (1999) *''The Dead of Winter'' (1999) *''Sanctuary'' (2000) *''Paris Requiem'' (2001) (new edition 2014) *''The Cabaret'' (2004) *''Kicking Fifty'' (2004) *''The Memory Man'' (2004) *''Free Expression is No Offence'' (2005) *''Unholy Loves'' (2005); published in the UK as ''Sacred Ends'' (2014) *''Simone De Beauvoir'' (2005) *''Mad, Bad and Sad: Women and the Mind Doctors'' (2008) *''All About Love: Anatomy of an Unruly Emotion'' (2011) *''Fifty Shades of Feminism'' (edited with Rachel Holmes and

) (2013) *''Trials of Passion: Crimes in the Name of Love and Madness'' (2014) *''Everyday Madness ''(2018) ;As Jessica Ayre * ''Not to Be Trusted'' (1982) * ''One-Man Woman'' (1982) * ''Hard to Handle'' (1983) * ''New Discovery'' (1984)

Book reviews

References

External links

Lisa Appignanesi Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appignanesi, Lisa 1946 births Living people 20th-century British novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century British novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Academics of the University of Essex British Jewish writers British television producers British women television producers British women novelists Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian women novelists Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Jewish Canadian writers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Polish emigrants to Canada Polish emigrants to France Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Presidents of the English Centre of PEN The New York Review of Books people Writers from Montreal Writers from Paris