Jenni Murray

DBE
Murray in 2011
Born	Jennifer Susan Bailey 12 May 1950 (1950-05-12) (age 74) Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire , England
Occupation(s)	Journalist and broadcaster
Spouse(s)	Brian Murray (div.) David Forgham
Children	2

Dame Jennifer Susan Murray,

• 1996 – Woman's Hour, 50 years of British Women
• 2003 – That's My Boy
• 2003 – Is It Me, or Is It Hot in Here?: A Modern Woman's Guide to the Menopause
• 2009 – Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful 'Daughter'
• 2011 - Ten Poems About Dogs
• 2011 – My Boy Butch: The heart-warming true story of a little dog who made life worth living again
• 2016 - A History of Britain in 21 Women
• 2017 – Woman's Hour: Words from Wise, Witty and Wonderful Women[2]
• 2018 – A History of the World in 21 Women: A Personal Selection
• 2018 - Votes For Women!: The Pioneers and Heroines of Female Suffrage
• 2020 – Fat Cow, Fat Chance: The Science and Psychology of Size

She was brought up a Christian in the Church of England. At the age of 14, however, just before visiting Auschwitz concentration camp, her father revealed he was Jewish by birth from his mother Edith Field (originally Feld).^[5] Murray subsequently wrote on 21st December 2022 in The Daily Mail and on Twitter^[6] "Officially I have no claim to the Jewish faith, but I feel it deeply, and have done since the age of 14 when my father revealed to me what, until then, he had kept a closely guarded secret. I am not religious, but I feel my Jewish genes. They are part of my race. They took me to Israel in my early 20s, against the advice of my parents who were afraid for me, but I wanted to know more." She spent a year working at the Frank Meisler sculpture gallery in Jaffa. She has also written of her abhorrence of racism ".. young people need to understand the history of slavery and how it influences modern racism, they need to understand what lay behind the Holocaust and how it continues to affect the Jewish population."

Murray married her first husband Brian Murray aged 21; their marriage ended after six years.^[7] She later married David Forgham and the couple have two grown-up sons.^[8][7]

Murray has been criticised for her statements on

In December 2006 Murray announced, at the end of Woman's Hour, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.^[15] She informed her audience that her prognosis was good; she did indeed return early in 2007. She reported that the most emotionally upsetting moment was losing her hair, and used this as an item on the centrality of hair to definitions of femininity.^[16] In 2020 Murray announced that she would demonstrate proper self-breast examination techniques on The Real Full Monty on Ice television program, alongside Linda Lusardi and Hayley Tamaddon.^[17]

Murray has been vocal and visible in the media with regard to her own experience of menopause, HRT and the importance of raising awareness of this aspect of women's health in the workplace and more generally ^[18][19][20]

In 2008 she had a hip replacement following avascular necrosis.^{[citation needed]}

Murray had a sleeve gastrectomy in June 2015, and had lost over 4 stone (56 lb; 25 kg) by October that year.^[21]

Murray was appointed

In 2007 Murray was awarded a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) honorary degree from the University of St Andrews in recognition of Jenni Murray's major contribution to broadcasting, journalism and writing.^[24]

In March 2012 Murray was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Salford for contributions to the media industry and to the growing links between the University and its neighbours at Salford Quays.^[25]

On 5 November 2019 Murray was awarded a Doctor of Letters from the University of Chester, for outstanding contribution to journalism and broadcasting.^[26]

In November 2007 it was announced Murray had been named patron of British medical research charity Breast Cancer Campaign.^[27] She is also patron of the Family Planning Association, vice-president of Parkinson's UK and a supporter of Humanists UK.^[28]

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