Elizabeth Greenhill

Christine Elizabeth Florence Greenhill (4 May 1907 – 30 December 2006) was an English bookbinder. She did bookbinding following her encouragement from her sister to enrol on bookbinding classes until the Second World War broke out when she became a full-time air raid warden and thus had little time to do bookbinding. Greenhill returned to bookbinding soon after the war was over and served as honorary secretary of the Guild of Contemporary Bookbinders before being elected its president for a single term. The Bodleian Library has held two collections of boxes relating to her life and career in its Libraries Repository since 2009.

Early life and education She was born Christine Elizabeth Florence Greenhill into a wealthy family visiting Paris on 4 May 1907. Greenhill was the daughter of the hoteliers Charles Greenhill and Florence Roach. Her paternal grandfather was the German hotelier Karl Grunhold.

When the River Arno flooded in 1966, she flew to Florence twice to assist the British squad in a large, desolate hall at the Biblioteca Nazionale to repair thousands of books damaged by mud and water left from the floodwaters. Greenhill served as honorary secretary of the Guild of Contemporary Bookbinders from 1967 to 1974 before she was elected to a single term as the guild's first women president in 1975 and remained president until 1978. Greenhill retired from bookbindery in 1984 due to deteriorating eyesight.

Death On 30 December 2006, Greenhill died in a London nursing home at age 99. She was unmarried.

Approach and legacy Greenhill made more than 100 bindings in the colours of blue, green, mauve and purple. The Bodleian Library has held two collections of boxes relating to her life and career in its Libraries Repository since 2009. They include her works, personal correspondence and materials from 1935 to 1983.