Charlotte Robson
BORN LONDON, MAY 4, 1914. DIED LONDON, MARCH 15, 2013, AGED 98
AT THE age of 17, Charlotte Robson represented the Great Britain hockey team in the first Maccabiah Games of 1932. She became so enchanted with the country that she stayed on for four years, teaching young children in the Old City, and later, on a kibbutz.
Charlotte’s parents, Emanuel and Harriet Snowman, were at the epicentre of Anglo-Jewish life. Emanuel, who opened the London branch of Wartski, the antique jewellers, was a founder of the Jewish day school, director of Hampstead synagogue, a member of the Board of Deputies and mayor of Hampstead. Her mother Harriet, gracious and inspiring, was a founder of British WIZO.
Charlotte developed an early love of Israel and became fluent in Hebrew. She met her husband Joe, a doctor, while on holiday in St Annes, trying to order some fish for dinner. Overhearing her, Joe confessed that he commandeered the salmon and invited her to join him for dinner. They were engaged a week later.
During the Second World War, members of the Jewish Brigade — who called Charlotte by her Hebrew name, Aviva — made the couples’ home their own, sleeping on their dining-room floor in Edgware. Many, with whom she forged lifelong friendships, were to become prominent in the future state of Israel.
Moshe Sharett, who confessed to having a soft spot for Charlotte, visited the Robsons whenever he was in London, as did many others. Professor Moshe Brawer, Israel’s foremost geographer, and his wife Rina were married in their home. Recently, Charlotte was honoured at a dinner at the Israeli ambassador’s house for her services to Israel.
Looking back on her first visit to what was then Palestine, she wrote in the JIA Reporter: “I came f rom a s t r ong Z i onist family, but nothing prepared me for the reality of Israel. I remember parading through the streets of Tel Aviv, down Allenby street and along the sandy unmade road to the stadium near the Yarkon river, with tears streaming down my face and a heart bursting with pride… Israel may have changed dramatically since I first came as a teenager, but it is heartening to feel that the spirit and poetry of this wondrous land still burn as strongly as ever.”
She was a very active and supportive doctor’s wife, at first when Joe was a GP and then later when he gave up general practice and took rooms in Harley
Charlotte developed an early love of Israel and became fluent in Hebrew