Margaret Feeny
{{Short description|Founder and first director of London's Africa Centre }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
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| honorific suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}
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| birth_name = Margaret Mary Feeny
| birth_date = 1917
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| death_date = {{death date and age|3 January 2012|1917|df=yes}}
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| known_for = Founder and first director of the Africa Centre, London
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Margaret Mary Feeny {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (1917 – 3 January 2012) was the founder and first director of London's Africa Centre charity, from 1963 to 1978.{{cite web |url=http://ftp.africacentre.org.uk/about-us/margaret-feeny-mbe/ |title=The Africa Centre — Margaret Feeny MBE |author=Trustees of the Africa Centre|website=Ftp.africacentre.org.uk |date=18 January 2012 |access-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305021125/http://ftp.africacentre.org.uk/about-us/margaret-feeny-mbe/# |archive-date=5 March 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
Biography
Margaret Feeny was born in 1917, the eleventh of twelve children of a businessman.{{cite web|url=http://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/default/files/Margaret-Feeny-eulogy.pdf |author=Tom Craigmyle|title=Margaret Mary Feeny, MBE (1917–2012) |website=Progressio.org.uk |access-date=9 March 2016}}
Feeny was General Secretary of the Sword of the Spirit, which became the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR),From Sword to Ploughshare. Sword of the Spirit to Catholic Institute for International Relations 1940–1980 by Michael Walsh and then Progressio.{{cite web|url=http://www.progressio.org.uk/blog/news/tribute-margaret-feeny|title=Tribute to Margaret Feeny |website=Progressio.org.uk |date=19 January 2012 |access-date=9 March 2016}} She conceptualized the Africa Centre, London, and organised support from both Africans and Britons to bring the idea to fruition.{{cite web|url=https://www.africacentre.org.uk/our-story|title=About Us {{!}} Our Story|publisher=The Africa Centre|location=London|access-date=17 April 2023}} The Africa Centre was registered as a charity in 1961, and in 1964 opened to the public at 38 King Street, Covent Garden,{{cite magazine|url=https://newafricanmagazine.com/28288/|title=London’s Africa Centre – a glorious history|magazine=New African|date=2 July 2022|access-date=17 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-return-of-the-africa-centre-in-london/|title=The Return of the Africa Centre in London|first=Niellah|website=Contemporary And (C&)|last= Arboine|date=27 September 2022|access-date=17 April 2023}} with Feeny as its first director. She remained in that role from 1963 until 1978.
In 1975, she moved to Bath, Somerset. She became a Social Democratic Party then Liberal Democrat councillor in 1994, and Mayor of Bath in 1996, but had a stroke while on official business to their twin town of Aix-en-Provence.{{cite news |url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/mayor-strong-character/story-14402241-detail/story.html |title=Former mayor was a strong character |newspaper=Bath Chronicle |date=12 January 2012 |access-date=9 March 2016 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She died in early 2012 aged 94 and her funeral took place at St John's Church, South Parade, Bath, on 18 January.{{fact|date=September 2023}}
References
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External links
Images of Margaret Feeney: [http://www.bathintime.co.uk/image/810190/margaret-feeney-2-february-1983 "Margaret Feeney, 2 February 1983"]; [http://www.bathintime.co.uk/image/810189/margaret-feeney-outside-the-guildhall-bath-1996 "Margaret Feeney outside the Guildhall, Bath 1996?"], Bath In Time (online images).
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Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors
Category:Mayors of Bath, Somerset