Sigrid Maria Elisabet Rausing

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(born 29 January 1962) is a Swedish philanthropist, anthropologist and publisher. She is the founder of the Sigrid Rausing Trust, one of the United Kingdom's largest philanthropic foundations, and owner of ''

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 ...

'' magazine and Granta Books.

Early life

Sigrid Rausing is the daughter of Swedish businessman Hans Rausing and his wife Märit Rausing. She has one sister, Lisbet Rausing and one brother, Hans Kristian Rausing. Her grandfather Ruben Rausing was co-founder of the Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak. Rausing grew up in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and studied History at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

between 1983 and 1986. She earned an MSc in

Social Anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in 1987, then continued with a PhD focusing on post-Soviet anthropology, and did her fieldwork on a collective farm in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, in 1993–94. In 1997, she was awarded a PhD in Social Anthropology from the Department of Social Anthropology at University College London, followed by an honorary post-doctorate in the same department.

Career

Writing

Rausing's monograph based on her PhD, ''History, Memory, and Identity in Post-Soviet Estonia: The End of a Collective Farm'', was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 2004. The book was preceded by a range of articles in scholarly journals, including ''Ethnologie Française''. Rausing writes occasional columns for 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 ...

'', and her articles on human rights have appeared in ''

The 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 ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. ''Everything Is Wonderful'', a personal memoir of her year in Estonia researching the remnants of the Estonian Swedish community, was published by Grove Atlantic in the US, and by Albert Bonniers Förlag in Sweden, in spring 2014. It was shortlisted for the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

's Ondaatje Prize. Rausing is also the author of ''Mayhem: A Memoir'' (2017), which shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize in 2018.

Publishing

In spring 2005, with her husband Eric Abraham and publisher Philip Gwyn-Jones, she founded the publishing house Portobello Books, and that autumn Rausing acquired ''

'', a literary journal, and its book publishing arm. She is now the publisher of both ''Granta'' magazine and Granta Books, including its imprint Portobello Books. In the 164th issue of ''Granta'' magazine, for which she had served as editor since 2013, she announced that Thomas Meaney would take over editorship beginning with the Autumn 2023 issue.

Recognition

In 2010, Rausing was made an Honorary Fellow of 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 February 2013, Rausing was judged to be one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by '' Woman's Hour'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. In January 2014, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

, from which she also received the Morrell Fellowship, and in June 2014, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. In January 2016, Rausing was the guest on BBC Radio 4's '' Desert Island Discs''. Her favourite music choice was Chopin’s " Études Op. 10, No. 1 in C major". Other choices were: " Hallelujah" by k.d. lang, " The Vatican Rag" by Tom Lehrer, " Bird on the Wire" by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, "The Last Goodbye" by

The Kills The Kills are an English-American rock music, rock duo formed by American singer Alison Mosshart, Alison "VV" Mosshart and English guitarist Jamie Hince, Jamie "Hotel" Hince. They are signed to Domino Recording Company, Domino Records. Their fi ...

, " I Get a Kick Out of You" by Ella Fitzgerald, and " Le Cygne (The Swan)" by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

. Her book choice was '' Mansfield Park'' by

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

and her luxury item was the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. In 2016, she was awarded by the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of her contribution to philanthropy and publishing. In 2020, Rausing was elected a Fellow of the

(FRSL), and in 2021 she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Literature (DLit) from

Philanthropy

Rausing set up the charitable trust the Sea Foundation in 1988. In 1996, she transferred the funds to the Ruben and Elisabeth Rausing Trust, named after her grandparents; the trust was renamed the Sigrid Rausing Trust in 2003, and by 2014 had distributed approximately £208.3 million to human rights organisations globally. In 2004, she was the joint winner of the International Service Human Rights Award, in the Global Human Rights Defender category. In 2005, she won a Beacon Special Award for philanthropy. In 2006, she was awarded the Women's Funding Network's "Changing the Face of Philanthropy" Award. Rausing is a judge on the jury of the Per Anger Prize for human rights defenders, and an emeritus board member of the Order of the Teaspoon, a Swedish organisation against political and religious extremism. She was the judge of the Amnesty International Media Awards in 2009 and 2010. She is an Emeritus member of the international board of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

and of the advisory board of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. She is a former trustee of Charleston, in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, the museum that is the former home of Duncan Grant and

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

. In 2012, she was a judge of the

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...

Media Awards. Rausing is a supporter of Hope Not Hate, a UK advocacy group that campaigns against racism and fascism. On 1 December 2018, the Sigrid Rausing Trust began a grant of £450,000 over three years to Hope Not Hate. By that point, Hope Not Hate had received £615,000 from the Sigrid Rausing Trust. In 2024, Rausing was appointed vice-president of the Charleston Trust.

Personal life

Rausing's first marriage to Dennis Hotz, a South African publisher and art dealer, ended in divorce. In 2003, she married South African-born TV, film and theatre producer Eric Abraham. They own Aubrey House in

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

, and the Coignafearn estate, in the Monadh Liath, in the Highlands of Scotland. In 2024, Rausing donated £150,000 to the Labour Party.https://donation.watch/en/unitedkingdom/2024/donors

Bibliography

As author

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As editor