Ann Lorraine Davies (2 October 1914 – 9 January 1954), also known as Ann Lindsay, was a British actress and translator. She translated

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

's controversial novel '' La Terre'' (1887; ''The Earth'') in the 1950s.

Life

Davies was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales, in 1914 to Sarah Ann and Morgan Davies, as one of three children. She went to school locally, before going on to University College, Cardiff in 1932. There she was vice-president of the Students Union and toured America in the 1936 Welsh Hockey team. Her degree was in French. She became a clerk at

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

whilst appearing as

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

(the Principal Boy) in the Unity Theatre's political version of ''

Babes in the Wood Babes in the Wood is a traditional English children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents ent ...

'', which lampooned

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

's appeasement policy and had Davies in a Russian uniform. The production ran for seven months and Montagu Slater credited the play with making political change. She volunteered to help

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

children and the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. Davies also had strong links to the communists, and one person described her as the party's "almost pin-up". She went to work for Randall Swingler, who was in partnership with Jack Lindsay; she had an affair with Swingler who was in an open marriage. In 1940, she was involved with organising the People's Convention that was proposed by the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

, on the arts and entertainment committee. The convention took place in Manchester in February 1941. She was named as secretary of Newport Communications, a company formed by Swingler to manipulate paper rations. Davies rose to lead the company. In October 1942, she also became the first woman to be president of the Unity Theatre. In 1943 she settled down with Lindsay; she took the name Ann Lindsay, but they never married. Her partner already had a wife he had left in Australia in 1926. After the war, they both toured Russia and nearby countries together. They moved from London to

Castle Hedingham Castle Hedingham is a village in northern Essex, England, located four miles west of Halstead and 3 miles southeast of Great Yeldham in the River Colne, Essex, Colne Valley on the ancient road from Colchester, Essex, to Cambridge. It develope ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in 1951, and she underwent surgery for breast cancer. From 1952 to 1953, she worked on her translation of

's novel '' La Terre'' (1887; ''The Earth''), which she completed on her deathbed. Having undergone further surgery to remove her ovaries following a re-occurrence of cancer, she died at their home in Castle Hedingham on 9 January 1954, aged 39.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Ann 1914 births 1954 deaths Actresses from Cardiff Welsh translators Translators of Émile Zola 20th-century British translators