Mitchison, Lady Naomi (1897-1999: novelist and poet

Lady Naomi Mitchison was born in Edinburgh on 01 November 1897 and died at her home at Carradale in Kintyre on 11 January 1999 . She was the daughter of the physiologist John Burdon Sanderson Haldane ( 1892-1964 ), and grew up in a progressive home as a freethinking feminist Fabian. She was a peace campaigner, and her interest in social and political affairs included birth control. She was a member of Argyll County Council, 1945-1965, and of the Highland and Island Advisory Council, 1965-1975 . A prolific author, her many books included some historical works and some novels, as well as various volumes of memoirs. She travelled widely, and because of her interest in African affairs she was made Tribal Adviser and Mother to the Bakgatla of Botswana in 1963 . She married Gilbert Mitchison ( 1890-1970 ), who was the Labour MP for Kettering Division, Northants, from 1945-1964 . He was created a life peer in 1964, and was a Government minister from 1964-1966 .

From the guide to the Papers of Lady Naomi Mitchison, 1897-1999, Scottish novelist and poet, 1976, (Stirling University Library)