Mary Louise Cook (19 June 1901 – 27 March 1991) was an English humanitarian who, along with her sister

Ida Cook Ida Cook (24 August 190422 December 1986) was a British campaigner for Jewish refugees and, as Mary Burchell, a romance novelist. Ida Cook and her sister Louise Cook (1901–1991) rescued Jews from the Nazis during the 1930s. The sisters he ...

(1904–1986), helped Jews escape

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in the 1930s. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honoured as

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

in Israel. In 2010 she was recognised as a

British Hero of the Holocaust The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the government of the United Kingdom in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010, it was awarded to 25 individ ...

with her sister.

Early life and education

Cook was born on 19 June 1901 in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. She was christened Mary Louise Cook after her mother. She attended The Duchess's School in

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

Career

Louise and her sister,

, worked as typists in the

UK civil service In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by ...

Personal life

Cook and her sister Ida resided together. The two shared a love of opera and travelled to Austria and Germany to listen to performances. In order to hear Italian opera singer

Amelita Galli-Curci Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano. She was one of the most famous operatic singers of the 20th century and a popular recording artist, with her records selling in large numbe ...

perform in a full opera, Louise and Ida went without lunch and walked to work for two years, so as to be able to afford the trip from London to the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York City.

Humanitarian efforts

During the 1930s, the Romanian singer

Viorica Ursuleac Viorica Ursuleac (26 March 1894 – 22 October 1985) was a Romanian operatic dramatic soprano. Life and career Ursuleac was born the daughter of a Greek Orthodox archdeacon, in Chernivtsi, which is now in Ukraine, on 26 March 1894. Following tr ...

and her Austrian husband

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conducting, conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the Vienna New Year's Concert ...

, a conductor of operas, were involved in helping Jewish people involved in the opera to escape the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. The Cook sisters befriended Krauss, and they became involved with smuggling Jewish refugees' jewellery and other valuables out of Germany and Austria, so that the refugees could meet the financial requirements needed to emigrate. The Cook sisters also housed refugees in England and lectured and advocated for Jews who needed help. By 1939, the Cook sisters had assisted over two dozen refugees in escaping from

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Demise

Louise Cook died on 27 March 1991 in London.

Recognition and media coverage

Cook was recognized as

in 1964. She posthumously received the

in 2010. Louise and Ida Cook have been the subject of several articles and books, including Ida's memoir ''We Followed Our Stars'' (reissued as ''Safe Passage''), a 2007 essay in ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'' entitled ''Ida and Louise'', and Isabel Vincent's ''Overture of Hope: Two Sisters' Daring Plan that Saved Opera's Jewish Stars from the Third Reich''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Louise 1901 births 1991 deaths People from Sunderland British Righteous Among the Nations British Heroes of the Holocaust