Rose Rosenberg

Rose Rosenberg, CBE (1 September 1892 – 13 April 1966) was a Jewish English woman who served as the private secretary for statesman Ramsay MacDonald from 1923 to 1935. Prior to her employment with MacDonald, she worked in the National Council for Civil Liberties with those opposed to conscription and was the personal assistant of suffragette, Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda. She was known for her ability to keep secrets, monitoring those who wished to engage with MacDonald, and earned the nickname "Miss Rose of No. 10" from the international press. She was honored as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1930. In later life, she worked for the British publicity office of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and in various positions during World War II providing assistance.

Rose Rosenberg
CBE
1929
Born(1892-09-01)1 September 1892
Spitalfields, London, England
Died13 April 1966(1966-04-13) (aged 73)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Other namesRose Hoenig
Occupationadministrator
Years active1919-1950s

Early life

Rose Rosenberg was born on 1 September 1892 in Spitalfields, a parish of London, England to Rachel (née Rosenthal) and Isaac Rosenberg.[1][2] Both of her parents were born in Russia and were naturalized citizens of Britain.[1] At a young age, she began studying piano and wanted to become a professional musician.[2] Completing her elementary schooling, she enrolled at a commercial college and took university extension classes, learning shorthand and typing.[1] Family circumstances forced her to leave her studies at the age of fourteen.[2] Rosenberg joined the Women's Social and Political Union while still a teenager, working for women's suffrage and during World War I became a pacifist, assisting conscientious objectors with her knowledge of the various military acts.[3][4] She had been hired as an assistant to the director of the National Council for Civil Liberties and when he left for health reasons, she took over the post.[1] Simultaneously, at age seventeen, she became editor of a mining magazine and joined the Fabian Society. The following year, she became the private secretary of Lady Rhondda.[4][5][1]

Career

In 1919, she joined the general staff of the Parliamentary Labour Party[4][5] and in 1923 was hired by Ramsay MacDonald, the Labour Party leader, as his private secretary.[3][6] When MacDonald became Prime Minister (PM) she earned the nickname in the press as "Miss Rose of No. 10", after 10 Downing Street, headquarters of the Government of the United Kingdom. She remained at her post when he resigned the premiership in 1925 and became the leader of the opposition. From 1929[4] through MacDonald's second posting as PM, which ended in 1935, Rosenberg was the conduit for information between him and both the press and the House of Commons.[7]

Rosenberg maintained the correspondence of MacDonald, keeping the only other key to his confidential papers. She and his daughter Ishbel MacDonald became friends and together they tried to shield him from the pressures of office. In 1928, she became the first woman admitted to the House of Commons' Strangers' Dining Room and the following year accompanied MacDonald on a visit to the United States, the first time a sitting British PM had come to the US.[1] She was honored as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1930.[8] She served him until 1937[5] and left in June to serve as an executive at the British branch of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in charge of their publicity.[9][1]

On 2 October 1939, Rosenberg married Laszlo Hoenig, a Hungarian architect and interior designer, in Chelsea, London[10][11][12] Her husband opened a furniture showroom of his modernist designs in Mayfair.[1] During World War II, she worked with Lady Reading at the Women's Voluntary Service[11] for Civil Defence.[13] She also worked on the Committee of Friends of the Hebrew University and performed work with refugees.[1] She and Hoenig divorced in 1954 and she returned as a legal advisor to the National Council for Civil Liberties.[13]

Death and legacy

Hoenig died on 13 April 1966, in London.[14] She was remembered as the "power behind Ramsay MacDonald's throne" for her ability to maintain discretion and to navigate and manage communications conduits to and from the Prime Minister.[7] Though in later life she would give interviews about office procedures during her tenure with MacDonald, she refused to publish a memoir or divulge information on the personalities or business to which she was privy.[1]

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References

Citations
  1. Curthoys 2014.
  2. Zunser 1929, p. 7.
  3. Ody 1929, p. 23.
  4. The Pittsburgh Press 1930, p. 37.
  5. Klotts 1937, p. 5.
  6. Church 1924, p. 85.
  7. Illustrated London News 1966, p. 31.
  8. The Guardian 1930, p. 12.
  9. The Times 1937, p. 18.
  10. The Times 1939, p. 12.
  11. The Winnipeg Tribune 1939, p. 14.
  12. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1939, p. 30.
  13. The Times 1966, p. 14.
  14. Jewish Telegraphic Agency 1966.

Bibliography
  • Church, David M. (27 January 1924). "Premier Has Gentler Sex as Secretary". Tampa, Florida: The Tampa Tribune. p. 85. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Klotts, Dianna (18 June 1937). "Speaking of Women: Behind Great Men". Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. p. 5. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Curthoys, M. C. (September 2014). "Rosenberg [married name Hoenig], Rose (1892–1966)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 October 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Ody, Charles (3 October 1929). "MacDonald Brings Jewish Secretary with him to U.S." Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 23. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Zunser, Florence (18 October 1929). "Woman Who Keeps an Empire's Confidence". Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania: The Daily News. p. 7. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Lady Keeps Secrets". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 29 October 1939. p. 30. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Mrs. Rose Hoenig, Ex-secretary of Premier Macdonald, Dies in London". New York City, New York. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 15 April 1966. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  • "Mrs. Rose Hoenig" (56605). London, England: The Times. 14 April 1966. p. 14. Gale Document Number: CS236546702. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Gale.
  • "News in Brief" (47707). London, England: The Times. 10 June 1937. p. 18. Gale Document Number: CS304033994. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Gale.
  • "News in Brief" (48426). London, England: The Times. 3 October 1939. p. 5. Gale Document Number: CS86324547. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Gale.
  • "Ramsay MacDonald: A Misunderstood Prime Minister". London, England: Illustrated London News. 15 October 1966. pp. 30–31. Gale Document Number: HN3100408505. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Gale. …Rose Rosenberg who was his private secretary and who died a few months ago. It would be difficult to exaggerate her importance in his official life, for much more than his parliamentary private secretaries, she was his means of communication with opinion in the House of Commons. When any tricky or important matter arose, it was MacDonald’s Habit to say, "Rose, go and feel the pulse of the House." Se then went into the Lobby and talked with as many MPs as she could, also making a point of finding out the views of the lobby correspondents, as she was universally popular, with a deserved reputation for discretion, she was generally successful in carrying out her chief’s instructions; so that for 15 years, Rose Rosenberg was very definitely the power behind Ramsay MacDonald’s throne.
  • ""Perfect Secretary" Was Married in London Last Month". Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: The Winnipeg Tribune. 4 November 1939. p. 14. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Secrets of Premier Entrusted to Girl". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press. 27 July 1930. p. 37. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "The New Year Honours". London, England: The Guardian. 1 January 1930. p. 12. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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