Felicitas Corrigan

Dame Felicitas Corrigan OSB (6 March, 1908 - 7 October, 2003) was an English Benedictine nun, author and humanitarian.

She was born Kathleen Corrigan, into a large Liverpool family, and developed a talent as an organist. In 1933 she entered Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire as a nun, and eventually became director of its choir. One of her projects was to develop an English language version of the office of compline for the abbey.

In the course of her career, Dame Felicitas befriended and/or corresponded with several famous figures, notably the poet Siegfried Sassoon (whose conversion to Roman Catholicism was owing in part to her influence), actor Alec Guinness, and novelist Rumer Godden. Her biography of Helen Waddell was awarded the 1986 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

The Nun, the Infidel, and the Superman, one of the books inspired by her predecessor, Dame Laurentia McLachlan, was turned into a play by Hugh Whitemore and later a film starring Wendy Hiller as Dame Laurentia.

Dame Felicitas wrote about other figures in whom she was interested, including Hildegard of Bingen and the poet Coventry Patmore. She also edited publications for the Stanbrook Abbey Press. Other works include:

*"In a Great Tradition" (1956)
*"George Thomas of Soho" (1970)
*"Siegfried Sassoon: Poet's Pilgrimage" (1973)
*"Benedictine Tapestry" (1991)

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1068754,00.html "Guardian" obituary by Peter Stanford]