Cristina Odone
Cristina Patricia Odone (born 11 November 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya) is an Italian journalist, editor, and writer living in the United Kingdom. She has written for several newspapers, and was formerly the editor of The Catholic Herald, and deputy editor of the New Statesman.
Early life and education
Odone was born of an Italian father, Augusto Odone, and a Swedish mother. She had a brother, Francesco, and a half-brother, Lorenzo, from her father's second marriage to Michaela Odone (and for whom Lorenzo's oil is named).
Odone's father was a World Bank official, which occasionally led to the family having to move to a different country. The family lived in Rome from 1962 to 1969, then moved to Washington, D.C., where they lived until 1977. Odone went initially to Marymount School, then later to the National Cathedral School. When her parents divorced, Odone moved to the United Kingdom to go to St Clare's, a boarding school in Oxford. Her father was stationed in the Comoro Islands from 1978 until 1981.
Odone studied French literature and history at Worcester College, Oxford.
Odone has Italian nationality, though she describes herself as an Italian-American.
Career
Early career
After university, Odone edited The Catholic Herald from 1991-1995. Odone later worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as an advisor to European companies.
Editor of The Catholic Herald
In 1991, Odone became the editor of The Catholic Herald. Odone resigned from The Catholic Herald in 1996 in order to be able to finish her second novel, A Perfect Wife.
TV critic
In 1996, Odone became the television critic for The Daily Telegraph, a position she held for two years. She later acknowledged that an interview that she gave prior to that hiring was her "greatest mistake". Just before she was hired, in response to a question from The Guardian, she had said, "Television? I never watch it." Days later, when Charles Moore, the editor of the Telegraph, asked her what she thought of television, Odone replied, "I love it". After being hired as television critic, The Guardian published the interview, which drew an initially angry response from Moore, who soon forgave her.
Author
Odone has had four novels published: The Shrine (1996), A Perfect Wife (1997), The Dilemmas of Harriet Carew (2008) and The Good Divorce Guide (2009) She contributed to Why I am still a Catholic (2005)
Deputy editor of the New Statesman
In 1998, Odone became deputy editor of the New Statesman.
Odone resigned in November 2004, reporting that she was leaving in response to an offer from Channel 4 television to present a programme about religion. She denied reports that the cause was a poor working relationship with editor Peter Wilby, culminating in a row over a cover depicting Tony Blair as Joseph Stalin. Her position was that she and Wilby had a good working relationship, and had both been victims of New Labour plots to destabilise the New Statesman, orchestrated by "the Blairites - from Peter Mandelson to Jackie Ashley and Johann Hari".
Odone stated that Jackie Ashley, the former political editor of New Statesman, told her that staff had a voodoo doll of Odone which they would stick pins into, and that she had been wished stomach cancer.
Presenter
Odone gave the Church of England's annual Tyndale lecture in 2002, entitled "Why the chattering classes are afraid of Christianity".
In 2005, Odone presented a Channel 4 documentary directed by David Malone called Dispatches: Women Bishops.
On 20 November 2006, Odone spoke at a national rally, which was titled, "Defend Freedom of Religion, Conscience, and Thought: End Attacks on Muslims", and sponsored by the and Liberty.
Columnist
For six years Odone was a weekly columnist for The Observer. Odone now writes in British newspapers from time to time, and is interviewed for radio and TV. As of 2010, she was a frequent writer for the Telegraph
Cristina Odone's recent booklet What Women Want for the Centre for Policy Studies has attracted widespread media comment, presenting data supporting the view that, for many women, going back to work after having children is a choice they are pressured into, rather than actively wanting.
2010 UK General Election
In April 2010, Odone clashed with members and supporters of the Liberal Democrat party, particularly Evan Harris, whom she labelled "Dr. Death" in her Daily Telegraph blog, in reference to his views on euthanasia. Odone subsequently described her critics as "[Liberal Democrat] Internet pests". She later said of her own voting intentions, "I’ve never voted Tory in any of the local elections that I’ve have been eligible for as an EU citizen; but this time round, I feel it my moral obligation to do so".
Personal life
At the age of 42 in April 2004, Odone married Edward Lucas, a writer for The Economist magazine. Odone has two stepsons from Lucas's previous marriage, and a daughter, Isabella, born to Odone and Lucas in 2003.
Sources
Further reading
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Odone
