Lily Shepherd Tobias (1887–1984) was a Welsh writer and activist for suffrage, labour, peace, and a Jewish national home in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. She wrote four novels, short stories, and plays. Tobias was born in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

immigrants. She campaigned for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, the rights of

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s, and

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...

. She was a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

, joining first the Foundation of Women Zionists of Great Britain, and later the

Women's International Zionist Organization The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Diaspora. Histor ...

. In the 1930s, Tobias moved to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. In 1984, she died in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

Early life

Lily Shepherd was born in

, to Tobias Shepherd (born Tevia Rudinsky) and Chana Beila Shepherd. She grew up in

Ystalyfera Ystalyfera is a former industrial village and community in the upper Swansea Valley, on the River Tawe, about northeast of Swansea. It is an electoral ward and a community in the unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, comprising a r ...

in the

Swansea Valley The Swansea Valley (; ) is one of the South Wales Valleys. It is the valley from the Brecon Beacons National Park to the sea at Swansea of the River Tawe in Wales. Administration of the area is divided between the City and County of Swansea, Nea ...

. Her parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants, and the family spoke

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

at home. Her father had a business selling wallpaper and glass decor items. Her brothers Isaac, Solomon, and Joseph were all arrested and jailed as

s during

World War I 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 ...

. Another brother, Moss, was arrested and jailed for lying about his age to avoid military service.

Career

Tobias wrote articles for ''Llais Llafur,'' a Welsh socialist newspaper, in 1904. campaigned for

, conscientious objectors, the rights of working people and a Jewish national home in Palestine. She served on the executive council of the Foundation of Women Zionists of Great Britain, and was active in the

while she lived in Palestine. Tobias wrote four novels and a collection of short stories. Her adaptation of

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's ''

Daniel Deronda ''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society of ...

'' for the stage, the first such adaptation, was performed in London in 1927 and 1929, the later cast including

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...

Marie Ney Marie Ney (18 July 1895 — 11 April 1981) was a British character actress who had an acting career spanning five decades, from 1919 to 1969, encompassing both stage and screen. Early life Ney was born in London, and as a young child, went with ...

, and Esme Percy. Her novel ''My Mother's House'' (1931) is about a Jewish Welshman who moves to Palestine. ''Eunice Fleet'' (1933) is about conscientious objectors during World War I. "Miss Tobias's imagination... is young and exuberant and romantic," commented a reviewer about ''Tube'' (1935), a novel set on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. "But she can write individual scenes on occasion surprisingly well, and some of her character drawing would not disgrace a more realistic story." Two of her novels have been reprinted by Honno Press, which also published a biography of Tobias by Jasmine Donahaye in 2015.

Published works

* ''The Nationalists'' (short stories) * ''My Mother's House'' (1931) * ''Eunice Fleet'' (1933) *''Tube'' (1935) *''The Samaritan'' (1939)

Personal life

Lily Shepherd married Philip Valentine Tobias in 1911, and the couple emigrated to

in the 1930s. She was widowed in 1938, when Philip Tobias was fatally stabbed. She lived for a time in South Africa. She died in 1984, aged 96 years, in

, Israel. Tobias's nephews included poet

Dannie Abse Daniel Abse Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE FRSL (22 September 1923 – 28 September 2014) was a Welsh poet and physician. His poetry won him many awards. As a medic, he worked in a chest clinic for over 30 years. Early years ...

, psychoanalyst

Wilfred Abse David Wilfred Abse (15 March 1915 – 4 November 2005) was a Welsh psychiatrist. Abse was born in Cardiff and was the brother of poet Dannie Abse (1923–2014) and politician Leo Abse (1917–2008). During and after World War II, he served in ...

, and Labour MP

Leo Abse Leopold Abse (22 April 1917 – 19 August 2008) was a Welsh lawyer and politician. He was a British Labour MP for nearly 30 years, noted for promoting private member's bills to decriminalise male homosexual relations and liberalise the divorce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobias, Lily 1887 births 1984 deaths 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh women writers Welsh women novelists Jewish British writers Welsh Jews Welsh suffragists British women in World War I People from Swansea British people of Polish-Jewish descent British Zionists British people in Mandatory Palestine Jewish suffragists Welsh women short story writers 20th-century British Jews