Cristina Patricia Odone (born 11 November 1960) is an Italian-British journalist, editor, and writer. She is the founder and chair of the Parenting Circle Charity. Odone is formerly the Editor of '' The Catholic Herald'', Deputy Editor of the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

''. She is currently Head of the Family Policy Unit at the Centre for Social Justice.

Early life

Odone was born in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya, to an Italian father, Augusto Odone, and a Swedish mother. Her half-brother was Lorenzo Odone, after whom Lorenzo's oil is named. Odone's father was a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

official, which led to the family regularly moving. Odone went initially to Marymount School, then later to the National Cathedral School, Washington, D.C. After her parents' divorce, Odone moved to Britain to go to St Clare's, a boarding school in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Odone studied French literature and history at Worcester College, Oxford.

Journalist

Odone edited ''The Catholic Herald'' from 1991 to 1995. Odone later worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as an advisor to European companies. She resigned from ''The Catholic Herald'' to be able to finish her second novel, ''A Perfect Wife''. In 1996, Odone became the television critic for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', a position she held for two years. In 1998, Odone became deputy editor of the ''

''. Odone resigned in November 2004. For six years Odone was a weekly columnist for ''The Observer''. In 2005, Odone wrote and presented a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary directed by David Malone called ''Dispatches: Women Bishops''.Description of Dispatches programme
/ref> Following a dispute with Johann Hari while they were colleagues at the ''New Statesman'', Odone commented that pejorative changes were made to her

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entry. It subsequently became apparent that Hari was responsible, using pseudonymous sockpuppet accounts to make edits attacking Odone and his critics. A frequent contributor to radio and television debates, Odone is presently a columnist for ''The Daily Telegraph''.

Published works

Odone has written four novels: ''The Shrine'' (1996), ''A Perfect Wife'' (1997), ''The Dilemmas of Harriet Carew'' (2008) and ''The Good Divorce Guide'' (2009) She contributed to ''Why I am still a Catholic'' (2005).

Personal life

Odone is married to Edward Lucas, a writer for ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' magazine. The couple have one child; Lucas has two children from a previous marriage.

References

External links

Cristina Odone's blog
for

Cristina Odone
profile and list of Odone's articles for ''The Guardian''
New Statesman Archive: Cristina Odone
a list of Odone's articles for the ''New Statesman'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Odone, Cristina 1960 births Living people Writers from Nairobi People educated at St. Clare's, Oxford Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Italian women journalists 20th-century Italian women writers Italian Roman Catholics British magazine editors British newspaper editors British women magazine editors British women newspaper editors Italian expatriates in England Italian people of Swedish descent Kenyan women writers 20th-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian women writers 21st-century Italian novelists Italian newspaper editors Italian women newspaper editors Italian women magazine editors 20th-century Italian journalists 21st-century Italian journalists National Cathedral School alumni