in august 2025, → Dame Stephanie Shirley passed away.

she was born Vera Stephanie Buchthal in 1933 in dortmund. her grandmother Rosa was the first woman on dortmund’s city council. in dortmund, there is a street named after her. Vera’s father was a lawyer and judge at the courts in dortmund and hamm, a city close to dortmund. 1933 was a very bad time for germany — especially for so-called “half-jews” like Vera and jews like Vera’s father. he lost his job and was imprisoned for a time. in the summer of 1939, the parents sent Vera and her older sister Renate on a train to england. this Kindertransport brought the nazis a lot of money and tore families apart.

Vera felt very comfortable with the english foster family. she quickly forgot her german and took the english name Stephanie Brook. as the only girl, she attended a boys’ school, because that was the only place mathematics was taught.

her first job was at the royal mail, where she worked as a programmer, but saw no opportunities for advancement for women. she founded a much-ridiculed women-only software company. success proved her right: the F. International Group was soon flooded with orders.

in 1963 her son Giles was born, severely autistic. when the software company went public, some of the women became millionaires overnight. the founder — knighted by the queen as Dame Stephanie — established a home for severely autistic children and adolescents, and invested money in autism research.

around 2017, when Dame Stephanie had heart surgery, I sent her a loaf of homemade bread. once, she gave me a bar of soap. the photo was taken in 2015 in her office, where we often sat for extensive talks — and tea. i did a radio special about her which is mainly in german. you find it → here.

a wonderful woman with a unique story.