Kay Carmichael
{{short description|Scottish politician and activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Catherine MacIntosh Carmichael
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|11|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|12|26|1925|11|22|df=y}}
| education = PhD 2001
| alma_mater = University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
| party = Independent Labour
}}
Catherine MacIntoch "Kay" Carmichael (22 November 1925 – 26 December 2009) (née Rankin) was an influential figure in Scottish politics and an activist against nuclear submarines in Scotland.{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldchanging.gla.ac.uk/notable-people/?id=122|title=Glasgow University Notable People, Kay Carmichael|website=University of Glasgow|access-date=2017-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226032616/http://www.worldchanging.gla.ac.uk/notable-people/?id=122|archive-date=2018-02-26|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/kay-carmichael-lecturer-writer-and-government-adviser-1-784410|title=Scotsman newspaper obituary Kay Carmichael}}
Life
Carmichael was born at Shettleston, Glasgow on 22 November 1925. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and went on to hold the post of Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. At the age of 20 she joined the Independent Labour Party in Scotland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jan/12/kay-carmichael-obituary|title=Kay Carmichael|work=The Guardian|date=12 January 2010}} Her activism included "guerrilla raids" into Faslane Naval Base to plant flowers for which she was sentenced to two weeks in prison. Whilst a member of the UK Government’s Supplementary Benefits Commission in the late 1970s she chose to live for a short while on benefits in the Lilybank area of Glasgow. In 1977, BBC Scotland made a documentary based on her experiences. ‘Lilybank:The Fourth World’ was widely resented by residents,[https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/decades-before-the-scheme-another-scots-1062844 Decades before The Scheme, another Scots community suffered the TV treatment], Daily Record, 27 June 2010 decried as ‘poverty porn’ by academics while being praised for its ‘realism’ by others.
She was married to Neil Carmichael, Baron Carmichael of Kelvingrove, a Scottish MP who became a life peer and Member of the House of Lords in 1983: they divorced in 1987. Together they had one daughter.{{cite web |title=Carmichael of Kelvingrove, Baron, (Neil George Carmichael) |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-10195 |website=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=14 April 2019 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U10195|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1 }} She then married social policy expert David Donnison.[https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/david-donnison-social-policy-expert-whose-research-into-poverty-changed-the-lives-of-many-1-4737759 "David Donnison, social policy expert whose research into poverty changed the lives of many"], Duncan MacLennan and David Webster, The Scotsman, 11 May 2018
Books
- It Takes a Lifetime to Become Yourself: A Collection of Writings by Kay Carmichael, edited by David Donnison (Scotland Street Press, 2017) {{Cite web |title=Scotland Street Press {{!}} Bookstore {{!}} It Takes a Lifetime to Become Yourself |url=https://www.scotlandstreetpress.com/product/it-takes-a-lifetime-to-become-yourself |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=www.scotlandstreetpress.com |language=en}}
References
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Category:Scottish women activists
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Category:British anti–nuclear weapons activists
Category:English female criminals
Category:Politicians from Glasgow