Muriel Lester
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Muriel Lester (9 December 1883 – 11 February 1968) was a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
social reformer, international
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...
campaigner, writer and religious nonconformist. She was a founding member and secretary of the
International Fellowship of Reconciliation The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR m ...
(IFOR) and a member of the International Council of
War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 40 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 un ...
(WRI).


Early life

Lester was born at Gainsborough Lodge in
Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...
on 9 December 1883. Her father was Henry Edward Lester, a prominent
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
businessman, president of the Essex Baptist Union and chairman of West Ham school board. Her mother was Rachel Mary Lester (). Lester was their third daughter and enjoyed a relatively privileged upbringing. She was baptised into the Fillebrook Baptist Church in 1898, when she was 15. In
Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...
, Lester lived with her parents at The Grange. She was educated at the progressive day school Wanstead College, then attended St Leonard's School in
St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
, Scotland.


Kingsley Hall

Lester had the ability to study at University and contemplated studying at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, but instead chose to live in voluntary poverty and focus on social reform and philanthropy work. Lester visited a factory girls’ club in Bow, a poor district of the East End of London, with her father in 1902 and felt that she needed to help the poor. She became a social worker in the area, moved to live in the community and also lectured widely on poverty. She taught Sunday School at the local Baptist Church. Along with her sister Verona Doris Lester, Lester established
Kingsley Hall Kingsley Hall is a community centre, in Powis Road, Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It dates back to the work of Doris and Muriel Lester, who had a nursery school in nearby Bruce Road. Their brother, Kingsley Lester, die ...
on Botolph Road in Bow, in 1915. Kingsley Hall was named after her brother who died had young in 1914, leaving the sisters an inheritance which they used to set up the organisation. It was housed in a building that had formerly been known as Zion Hall and had been used by a "Strict and Particular Baptist congregation." The Lester sisters ran a nursery for local children from the building, converting it into London's first purpose-built children's nursery. Kingsley Hall expanded to also become a "People's House" where local residents could study, worship and enjoy social events. A second Kingsley Hall was opened in
Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...
in 1930. Lester later acquired a wooden house, Rose Cottage, which she renamed Rachel Cottage, and used as a holiday home for East End children. There is a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
to the Lester sisters on the cottage, 49 Baldwins Hill, Loughton, which they acquired after The Grange and Rachel Cottage were sold for flats. Lester also campaigned for basic provisions to be provided such as milk for children under five.


Pacifism


Early pacifism and vegetarianism

Lester was influenced by the writings of
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...
and his teachings of non-resistance. She shared his ideas with students at Loughton Baptist Union's Sunday School. After
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 ...
broke out in 1914, Lester campaigned against the war and said that: "the first casualty in every war is truth. War is as outmoded as cannibalism, chattel slavery, blood-feuds and duelling — an insult to God and man — a daily crucifixion of Christ." Lester also became a
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
as a child due to influence from the headteacher's wife at her school. She remained a strict vegetarian throughout her life. In her later years, she rejected a parcel of vitamin pills and liver capsules an American friend had sent her as they were not vegetarian.


Friendship with Gandhi

In early 1926, Professor Gangulee, the son-in-law of Indian poet and philosopher
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
and
Mrinalini Devi Mrinalini Devi ( born Bhabatarini Roy Choudhury; 1 March 1874 – 23 November 1902) was a translator and the wife of Nobel laureate poet, philosopher, author and musician Rabindranath Tagore. She was from the Jessore district, where her fathe ...
, spoke at Kingsley Hall. He was impressed with Lester's work and invited her to travel to India. Lester met
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
in 1926 during this first visit to India and they became close friends. She stayed at his
ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...
. During Ghandi's visit to England from September 1931, to attend the Second Imperial
Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences, organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in De ...
on India’s future in London, the government provided a suite of rooms at the
Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...
and a fleet of plush cars for him to use. Instead he rejected the arrangements and stayed at Kingsley Hall with his friend Lester for 12 weeks to live among the poor. He was accompanied by his secretary
Mahadev Desai Mahadev Haribhai Desai (1 January 1892 – 15 August 1942) was an Indian independence activist, scholar and writer best remembered as Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary. He has variously been described as "Gandhi's Boswell, a Plato to G ...
, his son
Devdas Gandhi Devdas Mohandas Gandhi (22 May 1900 – 3 August 1957) was the fourth and youngest son of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in the Colony of Natal and came to India with his parents as a grown man. He became active in his father's movement, spendi ...
and British supporter
Mirabehn Madeleine Slade (22 November 1892 – 20 July 1982), also known as Mirabehn or Meera Behn, was a British supporter of the Indian Independence Movement who in the 1920s left her home in England to live and work with Mahatma Gandhi. She devoted h ...
. Gandhi would sit cross-legged on the floor to receive important visitors. He was warmly greeted by East Enders and local children visited Gandhi and gave him toys for his birthday. Lester noted that he would gently place them on window sills and in carriages during his stay and took them back to India. Lester also accompanied Gandhi on his tour of earthquake-shaken regions in
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
, India, on his anti-
untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...
tour during 1934. He said Lester "manifested the gospel of reconciliation to people in daily life as did few others" and to her that: "of all my English friends, you are by no means the least." Kingsley Hall now houses the
Gandhi Foundation The Gandhi Foundation is a United Kingdom-based voluntary organisation which seeks to further the work of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi through a variety of educational events and activities. Aims and activities As part of its mis ...
voluntary organisation.


IFOR and international activism

Lester was a founding member of the
International Fellowship of Reconciliation The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR m ...
(IFOR), a Christian pacifist organisation. In 1933, she became Ambassador-At-Large and afterwards Traveling Secretary. In order to devote herself to the Fellowship, she turned over the running of Kingsley Hall to her sister. Lester supported the establishment of new chapters of IFOR across the world and undertook nine international tours in the 1930s, including to the Middle East, China and Japan. In Japan, Lester was known as the "Mother of World Peace." She spoke on her tours against war and the trade in arms and drugs, including the
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
trade. In 1937, Lester travelled with her nephew George Hogg in Japan, from where he continued to
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
and later the Chinese hinterlands. He became famous for saving 60 orphaned boys, marching them 1,100km to safety.During the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
(1936–1939), Lester remained an active pacifist. In Spanish pacifist
José Brocca José Brocca (Professor José Brocca Ramón, 1891 – 1950) was a pacifist and humanitarian of the Spanish Civil War, who allied himself with the Republicans but sought nonviolent ways of resisting the Nationalist rebels. His parents were Spanis ...
's book ''White Corpuscles in Europe'' (1939) the American writer Allan A. Hunter viewed the close of the Spanish Civil War and the opening of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
from across the Atlantic, and despite the desolate outlook in Europe saw some grounds for optimism in the work of humanitarians including Lester. Lester was pictured at the International Council of
War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 40 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 un ...
(WRI) meeting in the Netherlands in July 1938, standing fourth from the left of the photograph. Lester had a particularly large following in the USA, and contributed to the
Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...
's magazine ''Fellowship.'' She befriended members of the civils rights movement, such as
Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin ( ; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American political activist and prominent leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin was the principal organizer of the March on Wash ...
. The US government sent agents to report on Lester's speeches, such as in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1939. She also toured in Canada, where set met Canadian pacifist and socialist
Mildred Fahrni Mildred Fahrni (1900-1992) was a Canadian pacifist and socialist, who became friends with Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. She was a leader of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Fa ...
and invited her to work for six months at Kingsley Hall. In 1941, Lester's anti-war speeches on a tour of the Americas led to her detention in
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
. She was forcibly repatriated to Britain, was briefly imprisoned in
Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...
and had her passport confiscated. Back in London, with other peace activists she raised funds that the Kingsley Hall used for food, clothing and children's activities. Lester continued her pacifist work with IFOR after the end of World War II.


Later life

Lester retired from full-time work in 1954. In 1963 she became a Freeman of the Borough of Poplar on her eightieth birthday. When the American Catholic
Dorothy Day Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...
visited England whilst travelling to the Pax Conference of 1963, she was asked what she would like to do in London. She replied "the one thing I want to do is see Muriel Lester." Lester died on 11 February 1968 at her home, Kingsley Cottage, Loughton, Essex. She never married and never had children. She donated her body to science.


Legacy

Lester was recognized as one of the world's leading pacifists. The Nobel Prize organisation believes she may have been nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
at some point prior to the World War II. (Records of nominees were not kept prior to 1939.) The since renamed vegetarian Muriel Lester Cooperative House at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in Ann Arbour was named after her. In 2017, Lester was featured in the Clever Essex Campaign, which is aimed to "recognise Essex’s greatest ambassadors." The Muriel Lester Archive is held at the
Bishopsgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute in the Bishopsgate area east of the City of London. The institute was established in 1895. It offers a cultural events programme, courses for adults, historic library and archive collections, and a ...
, London.


Autobiographies

* ''It Occurred to Me'' (Autobiography), Harper Brothers, 1937 * ''It So Happened'', Harper Brothers, 1947


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated Diplomacy, diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usua ...


References


Further reading

* ''Ambassador of Reconciliation. A Muriel Lester Reader'', edited by Richard Deats, Santa Cruz (CA), New Society Publishers, 1991. * Jill Wallis, ''Mother of World Peace. The life of Muriel Lester'', Hisarlik Press, 1993. * Allan A. Hunter, (1939) ''White Corpuscles in Europe'' (foreword by
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...
), Chicago and New York, Willett, Clarke and Company, pp 49–58. * Devi Prasad, (2005) ''War is a Crime Against Humanity'' (foreword by George Willoughby), London, War Resisters' International, , pp 89, 522, 523. * ''The Match Girl and the Heiress'' (2014) by Seth Koven. A study of Nellie Dowell (1876–1923) and Muriel Lester.


External links


Quotes From Muriel Lester's book ''Entertaining Gandhi''

Archive
at the
Bishopsgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute in the Bishopsgate area east of the City of London. The institute was established in 1895. It offers a cultural events programme, courses for adults, historic library and archive collections, and a ...

Archive
at Swarthmore College Peace Collection
MURIEL LESTER, 1883-1968 Baptist Saint?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Muriel 1885 births 1968 deaths People from Leytonstone People from Loughton English Baptists 20th-century Baptists Baptist socialists English pacifists English Christian pacifists English Christian socialists Female Christian socialists British social workers British women activists