Tania Long
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tania Long (April 29, 1913 – September 4, 1998) was an American journalist and
war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...
during
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 ...
.


Early life

Born on April 29, 1913, Tania Long was the only child of Irish journalist
Robert Edward Crozier Long Robert Edward Crozier Long (29 October 1872 in Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland—18 October 1938, Berlin), was a noted Anglo-Irish journalist and author. Biography Early life He was born at Ardmayle House, near Longfield and Fort Edward ...
and his Russian wife, Tatiana Mouravieff. After several years of living in Scandinavian capitals and attending the Lorenz Lyceum in Berlin from 1920 to 1924, Tania studied at the Ecole des Jeunes Filles at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
, near Paris, until 1927. From then until 1930, she was a student at the
Malvern Girls' College Malvern St James School is an independent school in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1893 as Malvern Girls' College, it was renamed Malvern St James following a merger in 2006 with St James's School in West Malvern. It continue ...
in England. In her post-graduate work at the Sorbonne in Paris (1930–1931) and at the Paris Ecole des Sciences Politiques, she specialized in history and economics. She received her journalistic training by observing and assisting her father.


Career


Early career

While studying in Paris, Tania met and fell in love with an American Merwin Mallory Gray, and after their marriage in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1932, they moved to New York City, where their son, Robert Merwin Gray, was born the following year. Around 1935, Tania became an
American citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...
. She began working as a reporter for the ''Newark Ledger'' the following year. Tania decided to stay in
Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...
, and worked for the ''
New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...
''.LLC, October 1997 letter from Tania Long Daniell. She noticed that people were disappearing from her apartment building. After about ten days, she left for Denmark. Tania spent two weeks in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
taking down by hand the news copy from the Polish front sent by Joseph Barnes, ''Herald Tribune'' correspondent. She was subsequently dispatched to Paris, where she received notification of her permanent assignment.


During World War II

However, in late September 1939, Tania was transferred to London, where a shortage of staff had developed due to the illness of the bureau chief, Ralph Barnes. It was supposed to be a temporary position but became permanent. In late 1939, Tania, by then divorced, met her future husband, Raymond Daniell, London correspondent for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Before meeting Tania, Ray had considered newspaper work in London "a man's job", but he wrote later that "she provided us with as much competition as any man in London." In September 1940, Tania covered the bombing of London, among other things.Current Biography, 1946, p. 357. By early 1940, it became evident that Hitler would invade the
Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
and France, and Tania got her family out of France to Ireland. At that time, all American civilians were ordered out of the European war zone by the United States government, which then sent three ships to Ireland to pick them up, taking Tania's son and mother to the United States. In February 1941, an article appeared in the ''New York Herald Tribune'': "The 19th annual Front Page Ball of the
New York Newspaper Women's Club The Newswomen's Club of New York is a nonprofit organization that focuses on women working in the media in the New York City metropolitan area. Founded in 1922 as the New York Newspaper Woman's Club, it included Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Rogers R ...
was held last night tthe
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, Art Deco landmark des ...
. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the wife of the President, was the special guest of honor. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of two awards ..by Mrs. Roosevelt for outstanding work by New York City newspaper women during 1940. The prize winners in the contest sponsored by the club were Miss Tania Long, war correspondent of the New York Herald-Tribune, and Miss Kay Thomas ..of
The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative Online newspaper, news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) onlin ...
."


Assigned job during World War II

On November 22, 1941, Tatiana Long and Raymond Daniell married in London. Tania left the ''Herald Tribune'' and joined ''The New York Times'' in February 1942. Remaining based in London for the duration 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 ...
, Ray and Tania returned twice to their home in
Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...
, where they had two months of vacation. Here, Tania was reunited with her son and mother. In 1944, Tania was asked to do a job for the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...
(forerunner of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
) and was assigned to the headquarters of the First Army in
Spa, Belgium Spa (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for spa, mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is ...
, which was already occupied by US forces. As war correspondents for ''The New York Times'', Tania and Ray followed the Allied forces into Berlin in 1945. Ray arrived there the day the Allies entered Berlin, and Tania followed the day after. During World Wars I and II, Tania and her parents' possessions, including the Long family papers and photos, had been stored in a downtown Berlin warehouse. Though the warehouse had been bombed, everything they owned was intact. With the termination of the war, Tania remained in Germany and assisted her husband in ''The New York Times'' coverage of the
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
. There, Long began to write about living conditions in post-war Germany, describing the "dangerous effect of fraternization by American troops in Germany on the American occupation policy."
Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
Robert P. Patterson Robert Porter Patterson Sr. (February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served as United States Under Secretary of War, Under Secretary of War under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of ...
honored war correspondents, including Long, at an event in Washington on November 23, 1946.


Post-war Britain

In 1946, ''The New York Times'' went front page on December 16: "Raymond Daniell reported from London that 'only politics, which has blighted so many royal romances, is delaying the announcement of the engagement of Princess Elizabeth, heiress to the British throne, and Prince Philip of Greece." Tania attended the
wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most weddin ...
on November 20, 1947, and on June 2, 1953, Tania Long and Ray Daniell carried out their final assignment as London correspondents of ''The New York Times'', with Ray writing the main story of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II while Tania covered the coronation ceremony in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. That same year, Ray and Tania were transferred to ''The Times'''s Canadian bureau in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
.


Later life

When Ray was assigned to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
in 1964, the Daniells moved to New York City, thus enabling Tania to pay frequent visits to her mother in
Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...
. In 1967, Tania and Ray returned to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. "Ottawa became his home by chance. Assigned here by the mighty New York Times in the early 1950s, he stayed on for 12 years before accepting an appointment to the paper's United Nations staff."''
The Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newspap ...
'', April 14, 1969, p. 6, "Obituary of Raymond Daniell".
Ray and Tania were in retirement together for two years until Ray died on April 12, 1969, at the age of 67. In late 1969, Tania began her second career (which lasted for ten years) as the publicist for the Music Department of the
National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...
in Ottawa. Tania's mother had come to Canada via Berlin, Brittany, and Connecticut and, just a few days short of her 94th birthday, fell ill with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
and died on March 29, 1978. In 1981, Tania's son, Robert Gray, died at the age of 46. Although he had been married, he had no children. Tania died on September 4, 1998.


Personal life

A long-time resident of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Tania Long was an activist who believed in
participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which Citizenship, citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their ...
. Tania enjoyed attending opera, ballet, and symphony concerts; her hobbies included reading, swimming, and gardening.


References


General references

* Article based on section of ''The Longs of Longfield'', privately published in Toronto in 1998 by Dale Martin Caragata.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Tatiana American women journalists The New York Times journalists 1913 births 1998 deaths People educated at Malvern St James 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American war correspondents of World War II Naturalized citizens of the United States New York Herald Tribune people The New York Times people