The Baroness Rebuck | |
---|---|
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 18 September 2014 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Gail Ruth Rebuck 10 February 1952 |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | |
Children | 2, including Georgia Gould |
Education | Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle |
Alma mater | University of Sussex ( BA) |
Occupation | Publisher |
Gail Ruth Rebuck, Baroness Rebuck DBE (born 10 February 1952) is a British publisher and Chair of Penguin Random House UK. [1] She has served as a Labour member of the House of Lords since 2014.
Rebuck's Latvian-born Jewish grandfather, and her own father, were both in the London rag trade. Her mother was a Dutch Jew. [2]
At the age of four she was sent to the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, London, where she learned to read and write in French before she did in English. [3] She graduated with a degree in intellectual history from Sussex University in 1974. [4]
Rebuck worked for several independent publishers and ran a paperback imprint for Hamlyn, before putting her own funds into a new imprint, Century. After a merger with Hutchinson in 1985, Century Hutchinson was taken over by Random House UK in 1989. Rebuck was appointed chair and chief executive of Random House UK in 1991. [4]
Rebuck was fifth in a 2006 Observer list of the top people in the British books industry, [5] and at ninth place in a 2011 Guardian version of the list. [6] In February 2013, she was assessed as the tenth most powerful woman in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. [7] She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013. [8]
In February 2015, Rebuck succeeded Sir Neil Cossons as pro-provost and chair of council (the governing body) at the Royal College of Art (RCA); she joined the RCA council in 1999. [9]
She was married to Philip Gould, until his death in November 2011. They had two daughters: Georgia Gould, who currently serves as the MP for Queen's Park and Maida Vale (UK Parliament constituency), and Grace Gould. [10]
Rebuck was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours, [4] [11] and promoted to Dame Commander of the same Order (DBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. [12] [13]
In 2014, it was announced that Rebuck was to become a Labour peer in the House of Lords, following in the footsteps of her late husband. She was created a life peer on 18 September 2014, taking the title Baroness Rebuck, of Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden. [14]
The Baroness Rebuck | |
---|---|
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 18 September 2014 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Gail Ruth Rebuck 10 February 1952 |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | |
Children | 2, including Georgia Gould |
Education | Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle |
Alma mater | University of Sussex ( BA) |
Occupation | Publisher |
Gail Ruth Rebuck, Baroness Rebuck DBE (born 10 February 1952) is a British publisher and Chair of Penguin Random House UK. [1] She has served as a Labour member of the House of Lords since 2014.
Rebuck's Latvian-born Jewish grandfather, and her own father, were both in the London rag trade. Her mother was a Dutch Jew. [2]
At the age of four she was sent to the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, London, where she learned to read and write in French before she did in English. [3] She graduated with a degree in intellectual history from Sussex University in 1974. [4]
Rebuck worked for several independent publishers and ran a paperback imprint for Hamlyn, before putting her own funds into a new imprint, Century. After a merger with Hutchinson in 1985, Century Hutchinson was taken over by Random House UK in 1989. Rebuck was appointed chair and chief executive of Random House UK in 1991. [4]
Rebuck was fifth in a 2006 Observer list of the top people in the British books industry, [5] and at ninth place in a 2011 Guardian version of the list. [6] In February 2013, she was assessed as the tenth most powerful woman in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. [7] She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013. [8]
In February 2015, Rebuck succeeded Sir Neil Cossons as pro-provost and chair of council (the governing body) at the Royal College of Art (RCA); she joined the RCA council in 1999. [9]
She was married to Philip Gould, until his death in November 2011. They had two daughters: Georgia Gould, who currently serves as the MP for Queen's Park and Maida Vale (UK Parliament constituency), and Grace Gould. [10]
Rebuck was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours, [4] [11] and promoted to Dame Commander of the same Order (DBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. [12] [13]
In 2014, it was announced that Rebuck was to become a Labour peer in the House of Lords, following in the footsteps of her late husband. She was created a life peer on 18 September 2014, taking the title Baroness Rebuck, of Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden. [14]