Kathleen Rosalind Muggeridge (née Dobbs;Albin Kreb

''The New York Times'', 15 November 1990. ''The Independent'' obituary (below) of Kitty Muggeridge appears to be the main source to identify her first name as 'Kathleen'. 8 December 1903 – 11 June 1994) was a British writer and translator. She was born in Château d'Oex,

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where her parents, the former Rosalind Potter (

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociology, sociologist, economist, feminism, feminist and reformism (historical), social reformer. She was among the founders of the Lo ...

's sister) and George Dobbs, were then living.

Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, Cripps first entered Parliament at a 1931 Bristol East by-election ...

was a cousin.Nicholas Flyn
Obituary: Kitty Muggeridge
''The Independent'', 20 June 1994 The family returned to England when hostilities in the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began. She attended

Bedales School Bedales School is a coeducational boarding and day public school, in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley in reaction to the li ...

and, briefly, in her early 20s, the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. In 1927, she married the journalist

Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was a conservative British journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, i ...

, and the couple eventually had three sons and a daughter. The Muggeridges were posted to the Soviet Union in 1932 by the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Then admiring the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

, the couple described it as "a wondrous development" but quickly became completely disillusioned when both saw what was happening in the country. Kitty's aunt,

, who, with her husband,

Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Geo ...

, had recently defended the Soviet Union in their book ''Soviet Communism: A New Civilization?'', called Muggeridge's ''Manchester Guardian'' articles "an hysterical tirade" but was more restrained in her private communications with the couple. With Ruth Adam, she wrote ''Beatrice Webb: A Life 1858–1943'' (1967), which although more a memoir than a scholarly book, was positively reviewed at the time. Her 1967 remark about the broadcaster

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

("he rose without trace") has been much quoted over the years. Like her husband, she became an admirer of the

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

-based nun

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

, about whom she wrote a book, ''Bright Legacy'' (1983), a work published the year after the couple had become

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

.Karl Schmud
"G.K. Chesterton and Malcolm Muggeridge: A balance of opposites"
Catholic Education Resource Center In that period, she translated two books by Jean Pierre de Caussade, the 18th-century French Jesuit priest. Following the death of her husband in 1990, Muggeridge lived with her son John and daughter-in-law in

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where she died in June 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muggeridge 1903 births 1994 deaths 20th-century British women writers 20th-century Roman Catholics British Roman Catholic writers Converts to Roman Catholicism People from Château-d'Œx British expatriates in Canada People educated at Bedales School