Diana Collins

Dame Diana Clavering Collins DBE (née Elliot; 13 August 1917 – 23 May 2003) was the wife of John Collins, a fiery canon of St Paul's Cathedral who earned an international reputation for his leadership of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British campaign against apartheid in South Africa. She was his partner in these enterprises and in other activities.

She was born at Stutton Hall, Suffolk. She gave up reading English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, to marry Collins, then Dean of Oriel College and later Chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

In 1940 her husband joined the RAF as a chaplain. In 1946 the Collins' convened a public meeting at Oxford Town Hall, calling for Christians to involve themselves in social and political action. This led directly to the formation of Christian Action, with John Collins as the chairman. Diana Collins edited Christian Action's journal.

The Collins' friends included Sir Stafford Cripps, Bishop Trevor Huddleston, the Lord Chancellor, Gerald Gardiner, Victor Gollancz, J.B. Priestley, Jacquetta Hawkes, Bertrand Russell and Oliver Tambo. All were active in the anti-capital punishment, anti-nuclear proliferation, anti-apartheid and other progressive causes. They launched the Defence and Aid Fund to support black South Africans. Diana Collins travelled to South Africa when her husband was banned from entering that country. The Collins' raised large sums of money for the legal defense of their causes by the best barristers, including the defence of Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia trial.

...
Wikipedia