Elisabeth Ratiu - A Life In Portraits

Posted
1st May 2011

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The images in this exhibition dedicated to Elisabeth Ratiu come from the Ratiu Archives and the personal collections of the Ratiu family, and were presented to the public for the first time in 2011. The exhibition was put together on the occasion of Elisabeth's 90th birthday, which she celebrated in the midst of her close family and friends.

Elisabeth Ratiu was born in the Pilkington family in 1921, in the north of England. She met Ion Ratiu as a young LSE student whose classes had been moved to Cambridge because of the war. Ion and Elisabeth married in 1945 and had two sons, Indrei and Nicolae.
During 55 years of marriage, Elisabeth immersed herself in the life, culture and customs of the Romanian people. In between raising Indrei and Nicolae, doing charity work and working in the sales department of Harrods, as well as mixing entrepreneurship and cookery, Elisabeth has also found the time to support Ion Ratiu in his efforts to bring the Romanian exile together in a cohesive community and an organisation that could oppose the communist dictatorship.

Elisabeth was the co-founder of the Ratiu Foundation (in 1979), together with Ion Ratiu. She was also a Trustee and Member of the Ratiu Foundation's Board. 




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