Nora Beloff was born on 24 January 1919 into a family of Russian Jews who settled in London shortly before the first world war. Her father started an export business in the City of London trading in chemicals and sundry products. Beloff read history at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She joined the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office (1941-1944) and was then sent to the British Embassy in Paris, (1944-1945). She then worked as a reporter for the Reuters News Agency in Paris (1945-1946) as well as at The Economist (1946-1948). During this period Beloff also did some freelance work for the Guardian. Beloff joined The Observer in late 1947 and worked initially as Paris correspondent and later went on to cover other roles including Washington, Moscow, and Brussels (1948-1978). In Paris she defied brutal intimidation to report French torture during the Algerian War. Other controversial or sensitive issues pursued by Beloff during her career include: exposing Trotskyist infiltration of the Labour party, reporting on persecution in Georgia following a trip to the Soviet Union; and fighting the trade union closed shop for journalists. Beloff succeeded Hugh Massingham to work as The Observer's political correspondent, becoming the first female political correspondent of a national newspaper (1964-1976). She then worked as a roving correspondent (1976-1978) and left The Observer in 1978. Following her retirement Beloff was engaged in research on international responsibilities for the conflict in former Yugoslavia and wrote several books. Beloff died on 12 February 1997.
From the guide to the Papers of Nora Beloff, 1941-1995, (Guardian News & Media Archive)
