Leonore ("Leni") Pontecorvo's memoirs
- Reference:GB 248 UGC 198/9/3/3
- Dates of Creation:c1985-1986
- Name of Creator:
- Physical Description:13 files, 7 items
Scope and Content
It would seem that Leni was encouraged to record her memoirs by her daughter, Lisa in 1985-1986, just before her death in 1986 aged 82. They focus on Leni's early memories; her schooling and education; meeting her future husband Guido Pontecorvo; moving to Edinburgh to marry him in 1939 and moving to Glasgow on her own when he was interned on the Isle of Man during the war. She also discusses life in Glasgow in the 1950s and 1960s; the various trips she went on with Guido to Europe; the United States and India and their time spent at their beloved chalet in St Luc in the Swiss Alps. There are typescript written memoirs and also the recordings on cassette tape.
These memoirs are a wondeful resource for people interested in the life of a University Professor in the mid twentieth century and also provide good background information and personal anecdotes about Pontecorvo's working life and his research trips.
Arrangement
The memoirs have been split into "chapters" and have been arranged in numerical order. Its is likely that the titles refer to the number and side of each cassette tape. For example chapter 1A would be cassette 1 side A and so on.