Clara Urquhart

Clara Urquhart formerly Baranov born Rosenberg (6 September 1907 Johannesburg, South Africa - 2 February 1986 London England) was the daughter of German immigrants, Carl Rosenberg (1872-1933) and Hannah Rosenberg born Cohne (1872-1935) of Johannesburg. At the age of 19, she married Monty Baranov (1896-1928), an ophthalmic surgeon in December 1926 in Johannesburg. Following his death, she inherited her husband's fortune and dedicated herself to supporting humanitarian causes. She married William Urquhart (1886-1950), a journalist, in 1934 in Johannesburg and they got divorced in 1941.

During World War Two, she was the head of the War Relief Department of the South African Red Cross Society. In this position, she also dealt with matters pertaining to South African prisoners of war. 'On the 22 November 1944 a silver plaque, suitably inscribed, was presented to Mrs Urquhart at a meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the South African Red Cross by the President of the Society, the Hon. Mr Justice O.D. Schreiner. He paid high tribute to her as head of the War Relief Department, and said that her work would be honoured not only in the ranks of the Red Cross, but in the homes of thousands of people all over the country. In 1944 Clara Urquhart resigned from the Red Cross and joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) which was founded in 1943 and became part of the United Nations in 1945. She was based in Geneva, Switzerland. She worked in the Displaced Persons Division as a Displaced Persons Specialist. In this organisation, too, she served with great distinction. In the 1950s she spend time in Lambaréné, French Equatorial Africa (Gabon) with the missionary, Dr Albert Schweitzer and subsequently published a book 'With Doctor Schweitzer in Lambarene' (1957). Following her move to London, England, she helped to organise the campaign for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for the African National Congress leader Albert Lithuli (1898-1967). He was awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the non-violent struggle against Apartheid and was the first person of African heritage to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She worked for Amnesty International which was founded in 1961 by Peter Benenson (1921-2005) The aims of the organisation were "to work impartially for the release of those imprisoned for their opinion, to seek for them a fair and public trial, to enlarge the Rights of Asylum and help political refugees to find work and to urge effective international machinery to guarantee freedom to opinion". She contributed to the organisation's finances, including a donation of ₤600 per year and the proceeds from her book - 'A Matter Of Life - David Ben Gurion, Kenneth Kaunda, Isaiah Berlin, Danilo Dolci, Bertrand Russell, Michael Scott, Albert Schweitzer, Salvador de Madariaga, Martin Buber, Robert Bolt and others'.

Sources: 1. Chapter XVIII The Women's Contribution. South African Jews in World War II. SA Jewish Board of Deputies 1950 page 161. 2. South African Prisoner-of War-Experience ruing and after World War II: 1939-c. 1950. Horn Karen, Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) Stellenbosch University 2012 page 107. 3. Chapter 7 In the Camps. Outcast Europe: Refugees and Relief Workers in an Era of Total War 1936-48. Sharif Gemie, Fiona Reid, Laure Humbert with Louise Ingram. Continuum International Publishing Group 2012 page 193. 4. Balkan Mission Weekly report to Washington no. 2. December 10 to 16,1944. Balkan Mission, Reports, Periodical UN Archives series 0527 BD 307 File S-1312-0000-0008. https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/7/7/b/77b869c4614dbd040c6899e26824ca6dfa0562a376bf044587028c453986f5f1/S-1312-0000-0008-00001.PDF 5. With Doctor Schweitzer in Lambarene. Urquhart Clara, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1957. 6. A Matter Of Life - David Ben Gurion, Kenneth Kaunda Isaiah Berlin, Danilo Dolci, Bertrand Russell, Michael Scott, Albert Schweitzer, Salvador de Madariaga, Martin Buber, Robert Bolt and others. Urquhart Clara, Little, Brown and Company, 1963. 7. The Crisis of Growth 1964-1968. Amnesty International and Human Rights Activism in PostWar Britain, 1945-1977. Tom Buchanan, Cambridge University Press 2020 pages 144-146.