Naomi Mitchison was a well-known and well-loved author many of whose books I read when I was younger. I had forgotten all about her until I was thinking about different people called Lois and remembered that her daughter, also an author is a Lois. Naomi, who was born in 1897, wrote over ninety books, stories and a play; what I didn’t realise until I looked her up was that she came from the Haldane family of Scotland who were famous and renowned in many different spheres including politics and science.
Naomi had an unusual childhood; her father was John Scott Haldane the eminent scientist, who moved from Edinburgh to Oxford where he lectured at the University. Naomi attended the famous Dragon School where she was the only girl; this must have had a great effect on her social attitudes and aspirations. She would have followed her father into the world of science except for the 1st World war; she abandoned her degree and became a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment)
Naomi married a friend of her brother and became Naomi Mitchison; she and her husband had seven children, one of whom was Lois. I have mentioned that Lois is quite an unusual name, and some of Lois Mitchison’s brothers and sisters had unusual names too: apart from Geoffrey and Denis, there were Murdoch (they were a Scottish family) and Avrion, there were sisters, Valentine and Clemency. Naomi was always very active politically and supported the ‘Stop the Seventy Tour’ campaign against the tour of the South African rugby team representing the hateful regime of Apartheid. I have an interest here because I too went on a rally against them in Manchester in 1969.
Naomi died in 1999 at the grand age of 101. I think maybe it is time I reread some of her books!
Lois Elsden 