Dr Violet Marie Rose Conolly OBE; https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills (11 May 1899 – 11 January 1988) was an Irish

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and a traveller.

Early life and family

Violet Conolly was born at Fernville,

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home to ...

on 11 May 1899. She was the eldest of the six children of Thomas Conolly, a master builder, and Teresa (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

McQuaid). She had four sisters and one brother. She attended the Holy Faith Convent, Glasnevin, and the Loreto Abbey,

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside (Dublin), southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Dublin. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16, 16. It is between the Lo ...

. She graduated from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

with a BA in 1921. She moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

working as a teacher, and learning Russian and Italian in the evenings at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. Later she traveled to Spain, working there as a

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

, and then to Germany. Conolly traveled extensively internationally, and she was planning a trip to the

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just before her death. She lived in London for many years, but maintained her connections with Ireland, visiting family in Ireland frequently. Her brother, Thomas, was an expert in Irish constitutional law. Her sister Anne was married to politician Patrick McGilligan, and her sister Lillian was married to diplomat William Fay. Conolly died in London on 11 January 1988.

Career

From 1925 to 1930, Conolly worked for the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in Paris. Working for the Institute of Current Affairs, she was based in

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and

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from 1930 to 1932. While in Geneva, she attended the

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (, abbreviated IHEID), commonly referred to as Geneva Graduate Institute, is a graduate-level research university in Geneva, Switzerland dedicated to international relations, dev ...

. She began working as a researcher at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

in London from 1932, under Professor Arnold J. Toynbee. Conolly received a two-year Rockefeller scholarship, studying Persian at Berlin University, later touring the Middle East. She lived for a time in the Soviet Union studying economics, returning to Chatham House in 1938. That year, she spoke on Radio Éireann about "the foreign situation". She was appointed to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

in London, and it was her work there 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 ...

which led to her specialising in Soviet affairs. She was appointed head of the Soviet (Russian) section of the research department at the Foreign Office after the war. She held this position until she retired in 1965. From 1946 to 1947 and 1952 to 1953, she was an economic attaché to the British embassy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Conolly continued her research in economic matters after her retirement in 1965. The Foreign Office frequently consulted her on affairs relating to Soviet policy. Many of her publications became standard texts, including her 1933 ''Soviet economic policy in the East: Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Tana Tuva, Sin Kiang''. Encouraged to write a further volume, she wrote ''Soviet trade from the Pacific to the Levant'', published in 1935. For her research she combed through Soviet files and cross-checked with published statistics, monitoring the Soviet press "for the disclosures of the special correspondent who almost invariably let the cat out of the bag of fiction". She went on to write ''Soviet tempo, a journal of travel in Russia'' (1937), ''Beyond the Urals'' (1967), and ''Russia enters the twentieth century 1894–1917'' (1971). Theodore Shabad praised her "perceptive sifting of Soviet data" and her use of Soviet periodicals and regional papers. Her 1975 ''Siberia, today and tomorrow'' confirmed her as an authority on Siberian issues, leading her to be one of the 12 scholars invited to

University of Lancaster Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

for the founding conference of the British Universities Siberian Studies Seminar. She received an honorary D.Econ.Sc. in 1936 from the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

. She was awarded the Percy Sykes memorial medal from the Royal Central Asian Society in 1968, of which she was a member.

References

External links

*
Soviet Economic Policyi n the East: Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Tannu Tuva, Sin Kiang
', book online in

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format *
Soviet Tempo: A Journey of Travel in Russia
', book online {{DEFAULTSORT:Conolly, Violet 1899 births 1988 deaths Writers from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish women writers Foreign Office personnel of World War II Civil servants in the Foreign Office Officers of the Order of the British Empire Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni