Michele Renouf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lady Michele Renouf (née Mainwaring), (born 1946) is an Australian-born, British-based socialite. She is known for her support of Holocaust denial.

Contents

[edit] Life

Born Michele Mainwaring, she became a model, dancer and beauty contestant, winning the title of Miss Newcastle 1968. Having studied Fine Art at the National Art School, she also obtained diplomas in Art and Education and became a lecturer in Fine Art and Media Studies at Queensland University of Technology. In 1970, she took residence in London. Her first marriage was to psychiatrist Daniel Griznoff, who she claimed was descended from White Russian aristocrats. Based on that claim, she assumed the title Countess Griaznoff. She has stated that she "only used the title for charitable work."[1]

She and Griaznoff were divorced in 1990, and in 1991, she married Sir Francis Renouf, an international financier who had helped reconstruct Germany’s post war banking system. Following her marriage to Sir Francis, she became Lady Renouf. The marriage ended in divorce the same year, following Sir Frank's discovery that she had misrepresented her past and her title.[2] He later described the marriage as a "nasty accident."[1] In 1992, Renouf gained a diploma in Landscape Design. She designed an Elizabethan Knot and Maze Garden for the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and, in 1997, sponsored the building of its Wardrobe of Robes Room. From 1999 to 2001, she read for a post-graduate degree in Psychology of Religion at the University of London.

[edit] Holocaust denial

Renouf has become increasingly known in recent years for her support of prominent Holocaust deniers. Her interest in World War II and the Holocaust began in 2000, when she read a newspaper article on David Irving's libel case against historian Deborah Lipstadt. She attended the hearing and became impressed with Irving's case, saying "I found on Irving's side of the courtroom a solitary person representing himself, backed up by enormous forensic research and tremendously capable debate based on substance and fact... On the other side of the courtroom I saw 21-25 people with laptops connected it seems to the Israeli government."[2]

In the same year, she wrote a letter in support of Irving to the Evening Standard newspaper in London, signing it "Lady Renouf, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall." This was seen by some as an attempt to show that the Club itself supported Irving, leading to an unsuccessful attempt to expel her.[1] Irving had already been blacklisted by the club in 2001 after attending a function as Renouf's guest. She was eventually expelled from the club in 2003 after attempting to have Irving speak there. [3]

In 2006, Renouf travelled to Vienna to support Irving during his trial for denying the Holocaust, saying "I am here to free David Irving and free Austria from this totalitarian law." Arriving at the court, she called for "so-called Holocaust victims to be exhumed to see whether they died from typhoid or gas".[4] Renouf has also shown her support for other prominent Holocaust deniers, including Ernst Zündel and Robert Faurisson.[5]

She attended the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Iran in December, 2006.[6] In her address to the Conference, she described Judaism as possessing a "dangerously misanthropic tendency" and "fundamentally anti-Gentile narcissism."[7] The conference was widely described and criticised as a "Holocaust denial conference" or a "meeting of Holocaust deniers".[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Of the Holocaust, Renouf has said, "I do not doubt they were victims. Or that the term as chosen by international Zionism for these victims is a Holocaust (a religious term meaning a sacrificial burnt offering in a Covenantal bargain to gain a literal Zionist state of Israel)."[13] Although she says that she is not anti-Semitic, she has described Judaism as a "repugnant and hateful religion."[1] The European Jewish Congress has described her as an "anti-Semitic demagogue."[14]

Renouf has produced DVDs critiquing Israel, Zionism, and Holocaust denial prosecutions, including Jailing Opinions and Israel in Flagrante.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Bimbo" who rattled the old buffers club. The Age, December 3, 2002.
  2. ^ a b This beauty's a right one. Sydney Morning Herald, February 24, 2006.
  3. ^ Labour donor David Abrahams banned from taking beauty queen to club - because of her views on Holocaust. The Daily Mail, December 15, 2007.
  4. ^ Australian causes stir at Irving trial. Sydney Morning Herald, February 21, 2006.
  5. ^ a b Jailing Opinions - a DVD from Lady Michele Renouf Web site accessed on June 6, 2008
  6. ^ Iranian Holocaust Conference Will Showcase Deniers and Anti-Semites From Around the World; ADL Urges European Leaders to Speak Out. Anti-Defamation League, December 7, 2006.
  7. ^ Jailing Opinions
  8. ^ "Holocaust denial outrages Europe", The Washington Times, December 13, 2006.
  9. ^ "Holocaust deniers gather in Iran", Edmonton Journal, December 13, 2006.
  10. ^ "Holocaust deniers rebuked". Los Angeles Times, December 13, 2006.
  11. ^ "Canadian prof attends Tehran's gathering of Holocaust deniers", The Globe and Mail, December 13, 2006.
  12. ^ "Iran's great pretender", The Boston Globe, December 13, 2006.
  13. ^ Email from Michele Renouf February 25, 2006.
  14. ^ European Participants in the Tehran Holocaust Denial Conference. European Jewish Congress, December 12, 2006.

[edit] External links