The newest guest on Desert Island Discs this week is Kate Ewart Biggs. It’s a radio show played on BBC Radio 4. On January 29, 1942, the BBC Forces Programme aired it for the first time.
The British Council, which seeks to strengthen ties between the UK and other nations through educational initiatives, language acquisition, and cultural exchanges, is led by deputy chief executive Kate Ewart-Biggs.
Kate Ewart-Biggs gets my vote just for what she said about Dylan and for picking his own version of Tambourine Man instead of the inferior Byrds one.@ewartbiggs #desertislanddiscs
— 🌿 Jen ☮️ °*•. Wear a Mask (@coaldragon) July 22, 2022
Because she was born into a diplomatic family, Kate spent her early years in both France and Belgium. Her father, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, was named the British ambassador to Ireland when she was eight years old in 1976. He lost his life to an IRA landmine two weeks after starting his new work. Jane, Kate’s mother, relocated the family back to London and started to work for peace and reconciliation in Ireland; in 1981, she was made a life peer.
Kate worked on charitable initiatives for street children in South Africa and Brazil after completing her undergraduate anthropology degree before joining the British Council. Her profession has brought her all over the world, with assignments in places including Indonesia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Currently, her daughter and she both reside in London.