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Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough, GBE (6 January 1894 - 22 May 1971), née Stella Charnaud, was an English philanthropist who is best remembered as the founder and chairman of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), now known as Royal Voluntary Service. As Lady Reading, she was highly active in promoting Anglo-American relations, not only as the wife of a former US Ambassador, but also in her peacetime role helping to rebuild the British economy and find stimulating employment for women – both voluntary and paid. In addition to the WVS, she also established Women's Home Industries, a highly successful exponenent of British craft and cultural traditions in clothing and textiles, and also a prolific exporter to the United States and Canada. She served on boards of various cultural bodies, including the BBC Advisory Board and Glyndebourne, and was a keen early supporter of University of Sussex. In 1958, she became the first woman to take a seat in the House of Lords in her own right. A 1963 profile in ''The Observer'' said: "the W.V.S. has brought out in her the latent political talent and the strength of character that once induced someone to say of her that had she been a man she would have become Prime Minister". ==Early life and career== Stella Charnaud was born on 6 January 1894 in Constantinople (now Instanbul). Her father Charles Charnaud was a director of the tobacco monopoly of the Ottoman Empire. Her mother Milbah Johnson was from Lincolnshire and was Charnaud's second wife. The family lived on the Asian side of the Bosphorus at Moda.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Charnaud ) Stella">website=oxforddnb.com )〕 Due to poor health, much of Stella Charnaud's education was via private tutors. A 1963 profile provided more background on her childhood. She was the fifth of nine Charnaud children – four brothers and four sisters – and was precisely in the middle. Spinal troubles confined her to bed for "months and years", but she would later speak of its advantages – not least that she became a listening post for her siblings and half siblings. She said: "it was like being the spider in the middle of a large web". ''The Observer'' suggested it had taught her the art of diplomacy.〔 While she would later describe herself as "brung up", because of her lack of formal education, she combined study with the local Church of England chaplain with self study. She spoke fluent French and German and some Italian and Greek.〔 Her ''Times'' obituary said that during World War I, she worked for the British Red Cross Society, gaining experience that would inform her future work.〔 ''The Observer'' profile told her First War history somewhat differently, saying that she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment – then a volunteer nursing group directed by the Red Cross – but was demoted to pantry maid because of her tendency to faint at the sight of blood.〔 A profile from 1963 says Charles Charnaud had lost his money during the war and this meant Stella Charnaud looked for employment, initially working in a solicitor's office.〔 Her ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' entry says she began her training as a secretary in London in 1914, the year that war broke out.〔 In 1925, she was asked to join the Viceroy's staff in Delhi, India.〔〔 Initially, she served as secretary to the wife of the new Viceroy, Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, but soon rose to become chief of staff to the Viceroy. Later, she worked with him at Imperial Chemical Industries, of which he was president and at his London home in Curzon Street, Mayfair.〔 After Isaacs' wife died in 1930, Charnaud became his political hostess. The couple married on 6 August 1931 – he was 71 and she was 37 and ''The Observer'' profile noted that this alliance was greeted with "universal applause".〔〔〔 From this point on she became Marchioness of Reading – usually known as Lady Reading. A biography notes that while the transition from secretary to marchioness and wife of a man twice her age who was also foreign secretary (Rufus Isaacs held this role briefly between August–October 1931) might have been a formidable challenge for many women, she adapted easily to the role and gained widespread acceptance.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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