Eleanor Doorly

Eleanor Doorly (died 1950) was an award-winning British writer of children's books. She was born in Jamaica, but moved to England upon the premature death of her father. She was raised by a great-aunt in Leamington Spa, and studied in a French lycée for a while.

Doorly had an enduring love for France, which was reflected in her literary output. She wrote three popular biographies of famous French scientists - Fabre, Pasteur, and Curie. The last of these books, entitled "The Radium Woman" (1939) - won the Carnegie Medal. She also published a couple of history books.

She was headmistress of the King's High School for Girls in Warwick.

elected works

* "England in Her Days of Peace" (1920)
* "The Insect Man" (1936), a life of Fabre
* "The Microbe Man" (1938), on Louis Pasteur
* "The Radium Woman" (1939), on Marie Curie
* "The Story of France" (1944)
* "Ragamuffin King" (1951), a life of Henry of Navarre