Christina Noble is an Irish children's rights campaigner, charity worker and writer, who founded the Christina Noble Children's Foundation in 1989.Moorhead, Joanna.
Christina Noble: the woman who transformed the lives of 700,000 children
" London, England: ''The Guardian'', February 13, 2016.Chonchúir, Sharon Ní.
Mama Tina: The Story of Christina Noble
" New York, New York: ''Irish America'', June/July 2015.

Biography

Noble was born on 23 December 1944, in

The Liberties The Liberties ( or occasionally ) is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, initially separate from the main city government, it is one of Dub ...

section of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. Her mother died when she was ten. She was sent to an orphanage and dishonestly told that her three siblings were dead. She escaped and lived rough in Dublin, where she was gang-raped, which left her pregnant. Her baby son was adopted, against her will. After discovering the state had lied about the death of her siblings, Noble located her brother in England and moved there to live with him after she reached 18. This is where she met and married her husband and had three children. She was a victim of domestic violence. In 1989, after her own children became adults, she visited

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and began to care for homeless children. This action was inspired by a recurring dream she had during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. This eventually led her to create the Christina Noble Children's Foundation. To date, she and the Foundation have helped over 700,000 children in Vietnam and Mongolia.

In film, TV, and radio productions

She appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' on 15 June 1997. She was the subject of the British

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

'' This Is Your Life'' in 2002 when she was surprised by

Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television presenter and newsreader. He hosted programmes such as '' Crackerjack!'', '' Ask Aspel'', ''Aspel & Company'', '' Give Us a Clue'', '' This Is Your Life'', '' Strange ...

at a fundraising fashion show and auction in central London. Noble was the subject of a 2014 documentary, ''In A House that Ceased to Be''. It charts her reunion with her remaining siblings after fifty-three years, one brother and two sisters, from whom she had been separated as a child. The 2014 feature film about her life, ''

Noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

'', was directed by Stephen Bradley. In an interview for the film with ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' she said, "I loved God and Jesus so much. I still do."

Awards

Despite being from Ireland, she was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE). She is a recipient of the 2014 Women of the Year Prudential Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Christina Living people 1944 births 20th-century Irish women writers 21st-century Irish women writers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Writers from Dublin (city) Recipients of the Friendship Order