Nora Beloff

Leah Nora Beloff (24 January 1919 – 12 February 1997) was an English journalist and political writer. She worked for The Observer for three decades, from 1948 to 1978, and became a political correspondent in 1964, making her the first woman in such a role for a British newspaper.

Early life Beloff was born in Kensington, London to Semion (Simon) Beloff (born Semion Rubinowicz) and Maria (Marie) Katzin. Her parents were of Russian–Jewish background, and her siblings included the historian Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, the psychologist John Beloff, the biochemist Anne Beloff-Chain and the headmistress Renee Soskin. Her paternal great-grandmother was Leah Horowitz-Winograd, the sister Eliyahu Shlomo Horowitz-Winograd and a descendant of the Hasidic master, Shmelke Horowitz of Nikolsburg (1726-1778). She attended King Alfred School and read history at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, graduating in 1940.

Career After graduating from Oxford, Beloff worked for the British Foreign Office in 1941, joining its political intelligence department. She moved to Paris in 1944 to work for the British embassy, and stayed in Paris after World War II to work for Reuters. and then The Observer as a Paris-based correspondent.

Personal life and death Beloff was married to Clifford Makins, a sports editor for The Observer, from 1977 until his death in 1990.