Esme Langley

Dr Esmé Ross-Langley (née George) born August 26, 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three . She died on August 20, 1991 in St Albans City Hospital; of complications following a stroke.

Education

She was the only child of Ivy George and spent a happy and active childhood in Preston, Lancashire. She especially enjoyed cycling and swimming;a childhood hero was Johnny Weismuller in the Tarzan films.At school Esmé loved languages, English in particular;she learned Latin, French and Germanand wanted to study Greek toobut there were no classes available to her at the time.Later she studiedItalian, Spanish,Swahili and Chichewa;just before her final illness, at the age of 72, she was studyingRussian.After passing her Matriculation (University entrance) in 1935Esmé abandoned formal education and at the age of 16 moved to London,found a boyfriend and through necessity learned how to live a frugal life.

World War II

Esmé served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II,teaching typing and shorthand. While grateful that her typing prowess kept her in work,she was irritated by employers who ignored her other skills. where he writes: I had a formidable secretary once, Esme Langley-Ross, with a formidable IQ, who was so on top of the job that she would...
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