Una Kroll
| Una Kroll | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Una Margaret Patricia Hill 15 December 1925 London, England |
| Died | 6 January 2017 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education |
St Paul's Girls' School Malvern Girls College |
| Alma mater | Girton College, Cambridge |
| Known for | missionary doctor, nun, priest, and campaigner for women's ordination |
| Spouse(s) | Leopold Kroll |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) |
George Alexander Hill Hilda Evelyn Pediani |
Una Margaret Patricia Kroll (15 December 1925 – 6 January 2017) was a British nun, missionary doctor, parliamentary candidate, priest, and campaigner for women's ordination.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Early life
Kroll was born in London,[6] and grew up in Paris, Latvia, and London.[2] Her father, George Alexander Hill (1892–1968), was from a family of timber merchants in the then Russian Baltic, and a British spy in both world wars, reaching the rank of brigadier.[1] Her mother Hilda Evelyn (née Pediani) was the daughter of an Italian tobacco merchant who had eloped from Constantinople with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple's niece, before settling in St Petersburg where they had seven children, the youngest of which was Hilda.[7] Hilda Pediani worked as a spy for the British and fell for "philandering" fellow spy George Hill, with Una conceived out of wedlock, and although her father bigamously married her mother before she was born, he left before she was two years old.[7]
Kroll was educated St Paul's Girls' School, Malvern Girls College, and Girton College, Cambridge, from where she graduated with a degree in medicine.[1]
Career
In 1974, she stood for Parliament in Sutton as an independent candidate on an equal opportunities platform.[6]
After she was widowed at the age of 61, she became a nun.[5]
In 1997, aged 72 and serving as a deacon in a Welsh parish, she was ordained as a priest by the then Bishop of Monmouth, Dr Rowan Williams.[6]
In 2008, she converted to Catholicism.[8]
Personal life
In 1957, she married Leopold Kroll, an American monk 25 years older than her who had brought her back to England from her work as a missionary doctor in Liberia after she fell ill.[5] They had the first of four children in 1958, and moved to Namibia in 1959, where they became active in the anti-apartheid movement and were expelled from the country within two years.[1]
Kroll died on 6 January 2017 at the age of 91.
Publications
- The Healing Potential of Transcendental Meditation, John Knox Press, 1974
- Flesh of My Flesh, London, Longman and Todd, 1975
- Lament for a Lost Enemy, SPCK Publishing, 1977
- Sexual Counselling, SPCK Publishing, 1980
- Trees of Life, Mowbray, 1997
- Living Life to the Full : A Guide to Spiritual Health in Later Years, CIP Group Ltd., 2006
- Bread Not Stones, London, Christian Alternative, 2014
References
- 1 2 3 4 Oestreicher, Paul (8 January 2017). "The Rev Dr Una Kroll obituary". Retrieved 31 January 2017 – via The Guardian.
- 1 2 "Una Kroll - a short biography". womenpriests.org. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ↑ "Dr Una Kroll, campaigner for women's ordination – obituary". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ↑ "The Anglican woman vicar who gave up her ministry to become a Catholic – CatholicHerald.co.uk". catholicherald.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- 1 2 3 Ward, Lucy (17 November 2014). "Una Kroll: ‘Public protest is still very important’". Retrieved 31 January 2017 – via The Guardian.
- 1 2 3 4 "Women's ordination campaigner Una Kroll dies at 91". Churchtimes.co.uk. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- 1 2 "Una Kroll". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ↑ "How a supporter of women’s ordination left the Anglican Church to become a Catholic". catholicherald.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2017.