The Woman Who Saved the Children
A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb
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‘To succeed in life you must give life’
Eglantyne Jebb 1876-1928
Eglantyne Jebb did not give life in the traditional way by becoming a mother. Despite social expectations she never married and was not fond of children, the ‘little wretches’ as she called them. Instead Eglantyne dedicated her life to the promotion of children’s welfare and rights from a strategic distance, and in doing so helped to save the lives of millions of starving European and Russian children after the First World War. She also permanently changed the way that the world regards and acts towards children. Her legacy found in both the work of the world’s largest independent development agency, Save the Children, and the recognition of children’s rights as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history, now helps to protect the lives and support the life chances of millions more children around the world.
‘The Problem is not money, but attitude of mind…
The world is not ungenerous, but unimaginative and very busy.’
Eglantyne’s short life was full of humour and tragedy, passion and pain. While exuding confidence and energy, she was prone to debilitating depressions. She was beautiful, intelligent and exciting to be around, but often difficult to know… The loss of her brilliant young brother, the pain of her failed romances – and her steadfast refusal to accept poverty, war-crimes, or post-war European starvation, guided her transition from aspiring romantic novelist to human rights activist.
Her journey from the drawing rooms of Shropshire to social work and public arrest in Trafalgar Square changed the mindset of a generation. Defying the law and the conservative ideas of her colleagues, she evolved the temporary post-war Save the Children Fund into a permanent and pioneering development agency. She won over the Pope and the miners, the British aristocracy and the Bolshevik government, and even the fledgling League of Nations, until her vision had enshrined children’s universal human rights and responsibilities in international law.
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Eglantyne died aged just fifty-two, and was immediately lauded as a saint, but although her work permanently changed the way the world treats children, her all too human story has now been forgotten. While children's universal human rights are yet to be realised, Eglantyne's achievement in putting them on the world's agenda is powerful testament to her rare combination of personal courage, eccentric charisma and humane vision that caught the imagination of a generation.
'Clearly there is no inherent impossibility in saving the children of the world.
It is only impossible if we make it so by our refusal to attempt it.'
The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb is published by in April 2009 to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Save the Children and the 20th anniversary of the UN Convenion on the Rights of the Child. All author royalties donated to Save the Children.
