Ann Beaglehole (néeSzegoe; born 1948) is a New Zealand writer and historian. In the 1950s, her family emigrated from Hungary to New Zealand as refugees following the Hungarian Revolution. She earned a PhD in history and a master's degree in creative writing from Victoria University of Wellington, and has written extensively on the history of immigration to New Zealand, including the history of Jewish immigrants and refugees. In addition to a number of non-fiction history works, she has also written a semi-autobiographical novel about the experiences of a Hungarian Jewish refugee in New Zealand.
Life and career
Beaglehole was born in Siklós, Hungary, in 1948. Her family left Hungary in 1956 and moved to Wellington, New Zealand, in 1957, when Ann was eight, as refugees following the Hungarian Revolution.[2][3][4][5] Her family and background are Jewish, although she is not religious. During World War II her mother pretended to be non-Jewish and her father had to work as a slave labourer.[1][6] She has written: "While I have discarded most aspects of Jewishness, my feelings about the Jewish past—about the experiences of persecution, loss, displacement associated with it—remain strong."[6][7] She obtained a master's degree in history with distinction from Victoria University of Wellington, followed by a PhD in history and a master's degree in creative writing (studying under Bill Manhire).[2][8] She had three children through her marriage to David Beaglehole, which ended in divorce.[9][10][11]
She has written a number of historical books and essays, many of which are focussed on the experiences of refugees during World War II or refugees in New Zealand, particularly Jewish refugees. In Far from the Promised Land? Being Jewish in New Zealand (1995), co-authored with Hal Levine, she wrote about what it means to be Jewish in New Zealand. Reviewer Jack Shallcrass found it "informative" and "touching", with "the vivid immediacy of informed individual opinion and reaction".[12] Her semi-autobiographical novel, Replacement Girl (2002), tells the story of a young Jewish woman emigrating from Hungary to New Zealand as a refugee in the 1950s.[2][1] A review in The Nelson Mail said Beaglehole "writes with sensitivity towards her characters and her readers, and with honest humour".[13]
