Corinna Jane Adam (31 January 1937 – 8 March 2012), also known by her married name Corinna Ascherson, was a British journalist, particularly for the New Statesman, The Guardian, and The Observer. According to her obituary in The Times, Adam was "admired for her shrewd and well-observed reporting on a wide range of subjects, not least of court cases relating to questions of freedom of expression and human rights."[1]
Corinna Jane Adam | |
|---|---|
 Corinna Adam | |
| Born | 31 January 1937 Hampstead, London, England |
| Died | 8 March 2012 (aged 75) Kentish Town, London, England |
| Other names | Corinna Ascherson |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist (New Statesman, The Guardian, The Observer) |
Early life edit
Adam was born on 31 January 1937 at 40B Rosslyn Hill, Hampstead, London, the daughter of Kenneth Adam (1908–1978), a journalist and the first director of BBC Television, and his wife, Ruth Augusta Adam, née King (1907–1977), a feminist writer.[2] Adam was educated at Ashford Girls' School, followed by a degree from Cambridge University in economics (having changed subject from French and Spanish) having studied at Girton College, Cambridge.[2]
Career edit
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Adam wrote on a wide range of subjects for the New Statesman rising to associate editor, The Guardian, and The Observer.[2][1]
Working for the New Statesman, her closest friends were "the three Marys", Mary Kenny, Mary Holland, and Mary Morgan.[3]
Personal life edit
On 20 November 1958, she married fellow journalist Neal Ascherson at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London.[2] They had two daughters, Marina, a musician (born 1960), and Isobel, a criminal barrister (born 1964).[2] They separated in 1974, and divorced in 1982.[2][3] She began a 30-year relationship with fellow New Statesman journalist Anthony Howard, but Howard never left his wife.[2]
Later life edit
Adam died on 8 March 2012, in a fire at her home in Rhyl Street, Kentish Town, north London, and was survived by her two daughters.[2] Eight fire crews fought the fire, which "may have been started by a lit cigarette".[3]
References edit
- ^ a b "Corinna Ascherson". The Times. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2017. (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f g h West, Patrick (2016). "Adam [married name Ascherson], Corinna Jane (1937–2012)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). OUP. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/104780. Retrieved 24 November 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ a b c "Rhyl Street flat blaze victim, Corinna Ascherson, an idealistic socialist once one half of 'journalism's golden couple' - Camden New Journal". archive.camdennewjournal.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
External links edit
