Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota

Beatrice Katz Serota, Baroness Serota DBE (born Katz, * October 15, 1919, † 21 October 2002) was a British politician.

Life and work

Beatrice Katz grew up in London's East End. She was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Central Europe. From childhood she was named Bea or Bee. Your future husband Stanley Serota, whose family came from Russia, lived in the neighborhood. The couple married in 1942. Stanley Serota was a professional civil engineer.

Beatrice Serota received her training at the John Howard School and the London School of Economics, where she studied economics, became the first woman graduate and honorary professor was. In 1941, she joined the Civil Service and worked in the extremely important wartime Ministry of Fuel and Power (German: Ministry of Fuel and Energy ). In 1946 she left the ministry because she was pregnant with her son Nicholas Serota, the director of the Tate Gallery was later. Two years later, the daughter Judith was born, which became known as the organizer of the festival.

Serota was never a member of the House, but is known as a highly competent administrative official. She was especially popular in London. There she was just after the Second World War. Member of the Hampstead Borough Council ( comparable to the German district assembly ), then in London's city council as MP for Brixton and the Greater London Council (GLC ) for Lambeth There, she was the first ombudsman. Two years Serota worked with the Labour politician Richard Crossman in his tenure ( 1966-1968 ) as Lord President of the Council together, at a time when controversial issues such as abortion and contraception were dominant. She advocated for the legalization of abortion. From 1969 to 1970 she was under Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Minister of Health from 1976 to 1979 chairman of an advisory committee for the administration of justice. As the results of the consultations in 1978 were publicly - in some offenses was suggested to reduce the penalties - there was a big public debate.

Serotas important political concerns were the local and particular family policy. Especially their commitment to children in different positions and offices and their recognized expertise brought her a 1967 seat in the House of Lords. In her maiden speech in the House of Lords as Baroness Serota of Hampstead in Greater London she quoted - referring to illegitimate children and Adoption - Dorothy Archer from the radio series The Archers ". A baby is a baby and that's all that matters " (engl.: "A baby is a baby, and that's all that matters. " )

1992 Beatrice Serota Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire was.