Renee Rachel Soskin JP (''née'' Beloff; 16 December 1916 – 8 July 1998) was a British teacher, company director and Liberal Party politician.

Background

Soskin was daughter of merchant Semion (Simon) Beloff (born Semion Rubinowicz) and his wife Maria (Marie) Katzin, who were Russian Jews who had moved to England in 1903. She was one of five children. She was a younger sister to Max Beloff the historian and member of the House of Lords. She was older sister to John Beloff the psychologist. Her sister Anne later married German-born Nobel Prize–winning

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological ch ...

Ernst Boris Chain Sir Ernst Boris Chain (19 June 1906 – 12 August 1979) was a German-born British biochemist best known for being a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin. Life and career Chain was born in Ber ...

in 1948. Her paternal great-grandmother was Leah Horowitz-Winograd, the sister of Eliyahu Shlomo Horowitz-Winograd and a descendant of the Hasidic master, Shmelke Horowitz of Nikolsburg (1726–1778). She was educated at King Alfred School, London, and the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

and trained for the stage. She married Moses G. Soskin.

Professional career

The Webber Independent School Soskin Drive Milton Keynes

She was a speech and drama teacher. She was a teacher of drama at the Royal Academy of Music. She was managing director of a City of London finance house. She became a Company Director of two companies. In 1970 she became the new proprietor of Bury Lawn Independent Day School a coeducational independent school first located in Newport Pagnell, then at The Knoll in Woburn Sands and ultimately at its present location in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. The school, now called the Webber independent school, is located in Soskin Drive, which was named after her.

Political career

She was a County of London Magistrate. In 1953, 1956 and 1959 she was a Liberal candidate for Town ward in the Hampstead Metropolitan Borough Council elections. She was Chairman of the

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

Liberal Association for four years. In 1958 she was first elected a Member of the Liberal Party Council. She was Liberal candidate for the Bedfordshire South division at the 1959 General Election. During the 1959 General election campaign she featured in a televised Liberal Party Election Broadcast. This additional exposure was not enough to help her win and she finished third. In 1961 she was elected Vice-President of the

Women's Liberal Federation The Women's Liberal Federation was an organisation that was part of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom. History The Women's Liberal Federation (WLF) was formed on the initiative of Sophia Fry, who in 1886 called a meeting at her house of fi ...

, serving until 1963. In 1964 she was Vice-Chairman of the Women's Liberal Federation. She was Liberal candidate for the

division at the

1964 United Kingdom general election The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on 15 October 1964, five years after the previous election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party, first led by Winston Churchill, had regained power. It resulted in the Conservatives, ...

. She was Liberal candidate again for Hampstead at the 1966 General Election. On both occasions she finished third.F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973

Election results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soskin, Renee Rachel 1916 births 1998 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at King Alfred School, London Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music British people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish British politicians Beloff family