Christabel Bielenberg

Christabel Mary Bielenberg (née Burton, 18 June 1909 – 2 November 2003) was a British writer who was married to a German lawyer, Peter Bielenberg. She described her experiences living in Germany during the Second World War in two books: The Past is Myself and The Road Ahead (1992).

Early life Christabel Mary Burton was born in Totteridge, Hertfordshire, to Anglo-Irish parents. who had served with the distinction in the British army during the Boer Wars and World War I. She was one of the two boys and two girls born to the couple and was nicknamed Chrismary by her siblings.

Bielenberg was educated as a boarder at St Margaret's School, Bushey, Hertfordshire, had at least one season as a debutante and went to finishing school in Paris, France. in the hope of becoming a professional opera singer and to learn the German language. which required her to relinquish her British citizenship and take German citizenship. Peter took a job with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Berlin in February 1939 in an attempt to become closer to the centre of Nazi power. who was involved in the 20 July Plot against Hitler in 1944. Following the failure of the plot and as a result of his suspect political views and this close association with Trott, Bielenberg's husband was arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned in Ravensbrück concentration camp. He was held in the punishment block for male SS guards who were unwilling to follow their orders. He managed to slip away and went into hiding near his family in the Black Forest until the war ended.

Book adaptation Bielenberg's experiences during the Second World War were made into the BBC television drama serial Christabel (1988), adapted by Dennis Potter from her memoir. Elizabeth Hurley starred in the title role. The correspondence file relating to the Bielenberg bust is held in the archive of the Henry Moore Foundation's Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, Yorkshire, and the terracotta remains in the collection of the artist.