Mary Burchell, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Mary Burchell

British novelist who worked help Jews escape Nazi Germany

Date of Birth: 24-Aug-1904

Place of Birth: Sunderland, England, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 22-Dec-1986

Profession: writer, novelist

Nationality: United Kingdom

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Ida Cook (24 August 1904 – 22 December 1986) was a British campaigner for Jewish refugees and a romance novelist as Mary Burchell. Ida Cook and her sister Mary Louise Cook (1901–1991) rescued Jews from the Nazis during the 1930s.
The sisters helped 29 people escape, funded mainly by Ida's writing.
In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.Between 1936 and 1985, Ida Cook wrote 112 romance novels as Mary Burchell for Mills & Boon (many of which were later republished by Harlequin).
She helped to found, and from 1966 to 1986 was the second president of, the Romantic Novelists' Association.
In 1950 she wrote her autobiography, We Followed Our Stars, later re-edited and expanded as Safe Passage, which is currently in print.