When she was ill one of her first thoughts was that she wouldn't see her grandchildren. It was an incredible source of sadness for her, which is why she wanted to live on in her writing for them. She worried how I would cope without her." Paton, Graeme (6 October 2008). "Oval Harkness table plan to stop pupils hiding in class". The Daily Telegraph. London . Retrieved 5 September 2013. His most important single contribution was the publication in 1967 of his book The Human Guinea Pigs: Experimentation on Man. During the preceding 15 years, he had become increasingly concerned by unethical experiments on human beings, often without the full knowledge of the patient. The book caused a sensation when it was published. It detailed experiments on children and inmates of mental and penal institutions, whose lives were often damaged for what he believed were the career enhancements of the medics involved. The end, he said, did not justify the means. The book was widely reviewed. Arthur Koestler, author of Darkness at Noon reviewed it famously in the New Statesman. He was scathing about the experiments described in the book as “carried out on children, on pregnant women, mental defectives, on patients before and after an operation” and those with incurable diseases. Other edited books include Ruling Performance, with Professor Peter Hennessy and Conservative Century, with Professor Stuart Ball. He has written a number of booklets on education, including Private and Public Education: The Divide Must End (2000); [36] Partnership not Paternalism (2001); An End To Factory Schools (2010); [37] The Politics of Optimism (2012); and School United (2014). His 2011 Cass Lecture was published as 'Why Schools? Why Universities?' [38] He also founded two journals, Contemporary British History (as Contemporary Record) and Twentieth Century British History. During his time at Brighton College, Seldon wrote Brave New City: Brighton & Hove Past, Present, Future, an analysis of the city of Brighton and Hove focused principally on its buildings. [39] Work in education [ edit ] In the summer of 20ll, she was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour. Anthony was working on a book about Gordon Brown's tenure at 10 Downing Street at the time. After publication he promised that he would not write about another prime minister. However, unable to resist, he found himself writing about David Cameron, with his "ever forgiving" wife poised to read the proofs. She also began to write more and self-published a series of poems. In one, Prayer, she writes to her late father, the doctor and medical ethicist who investigated and exposed experimentation on humans in medicine, describing him as "now too far away to heal me". She asks him: "Stir your spirit to remind me what it is to live." Anthony told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that if he could take one luxury item if he were stranded, it would be his wife's poetry. She also worked on one last book, The Whistle blower, a biography of her father that will be published next year.

The book is very Joanna," says Anthony. "Strong and direct. It's powerful because it's about a phenomenal figure fighting against a powerful establishment. Her father was a strict Jewish man who didn't like me to begin with, which is why I converted to Judaism." Working in London in the Fifties and Sixties, Pappworth was rejected from jobs because of his religion. His campaign against medical testing did nothing to further his popularity. Joanna "revered him".a b "Dr Anthony Seldon: Truly happy people are made, not born". The Independent. London. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022 . Retrieved 5 September 2013. Clarence-Smith, Louisa (17 February 2023). "Epsom College appoints Sir Anthony Seldon as new headteacher after Emma Pattison tragedy". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 18 February 2023. Sir Anthony married Sarah Sayer, a former French teacher at Wellington College, last year.

His latest project is for Joanna. After her diagnosis she decided to write a biography of her late father, Dr Maurice Pappworth. She wanted it to be published this year to mark the 50th anniversary of his campaign to stop medical experiments on humans, and now Anthony is overseeing the final edits and publication, which is scheduled for this autumn. Butter, Susannah (27 January 2017). "Sir Anthony Seldon on his late wife: 'She was spectacular, ferociously intelligent - I was in awe of her' ". Evening Standard . Retrieved 9 February 2018. Seldon is the author or editor of more than 45 books on contemporary history, politics and education. He was the co-founder and first director of the Centre for Contemporary British History, is the co-founder of Action for Happiness, [6] is a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, [7] and is on the board of a number of charities and educational bodies.

Author, poet and teacher, who was the forbearing wife of the public school headmaster and writer Sir Anthony Seldon.

Despite the chronic pain, Seldon retained her positive mindset. "I start each morning when I get out of bed with the words 'I am grateful' in Hebrew," she said. I prayed as a young man for a wife I could love all my life and who would make me happy. In Joanna, my prayers were answered 100 times over. She had the best mind of anyone I’ve known and won the top first in her year at Oxford, where she took her doctorate. I loved her courage, honesty, vulnerability, brilliance, beauty, kindness and innocence.” Ever selfless, when the opportunity arose for Anthony to become master of Wellington in Crowthorne, Berkshire, she supported his decision to move. A parent at the school observed: "It was clear and evident to us all at Wellington that given Anthony's legendary work rate and manic enthusiasm for all aspects of college life, he could only have sustained his extraordinary efforts over ten years with the support and counsel of an extraordinary partner." In 1986 Seldon co-founded, with Professor Peter Hennessy, the Institute of Contemporary British History, a body whose aim is to promote research into, and the study of, British history since 1945. Seldon is a co-founder of Action for Happiness [6] with Richard Layard (Baron Layard), and Geoff Mulgan. He is also a patron of The Iris Project, [55] which runs literacy schemes through Latin in schools in deprived urban areas and of DrugFAM, [56] which supports families affected by a loved one's abuse of drugs or alcohol. Seldon was born in Stepney, [10] the youngest son of economist Arthur Seldon (born Abraham Margolis), who co-founded the Institute of Economic Affairs and directed academic affairs at the think tank for 30 years. [1] His father was the child of Jewish immigrants who fled antisemitic pogroms in Russia. [11]

Seldon, Anthony (2007). Blair's Britain, 1997–2007. Cambridge University Press. p.708. ISBN 978-0521709460. Folded on to a yellow sofa in his office at the university, prints by Klee and Matisse on the walls, Anthony is a neat figure who stands on his head every morning as part of his yoga practice. Former pupils invited to help school celebrate centenary". Edenbridge Chronicle . Retrieved 5 July 2020. Joanna called her funeral "my last lesson plan" and wrote an "ethical will" for her children, with advice on how to make the most of their lives.

My wife’s last tribute

Seldon, Anthony (2010). Churchill's Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951–1955. Faber and Faber. p.694. ISBN 978-0571272693. Seldon, Anthony (2005). The Blair Effect, 2001-5. Cambridge University Press. p.496. ISBN 0521678609. Sir Anthony said: “She had an incurable cancer for several years, enduring frequent long periods in hospital with incredible grace and courage, but eventually she could no longer prevail against it. In March 2023, he replaced Emma Pattison as head master of Epsom College, following her murder. [17] History, politics and other writing [ edit ]