Ferzakerly Kernott

Ferzakerly Kernott was the nom de plume of early 20th century British children's novelist Esther Jacobs (24 March 1880 - 15 February 1962). Mrs. Jacobs received the OBE in 1949 in recognition of the books she wrote in code which were sent to the Allied Forces in France. Jacobs, who was born in Minsk in 1880, was a regular guest of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Jacobs had a knack of helping Churchill fight off "The Black Dog" depression which plagued him for much of his life. Jacobs was an amusing guest, who brought a smile to Churchill during his darkest hours, when the possibility of a Nazi invasion of the British Isles seemed imminent. Esther Jacobs was not well known publicly and even Churchill referred to her as EJ since she was well connected in Westminster and her work against the Nazis was top secret. Jacobs collaborated on My Early Life (1930) by Churchill. Ironically, Sir Oswald Mosely, leader of the British Fascist Party sent Adolf Hitler a copy of Jacob's "The Ridley Road Michlinney Mystery". Ridley Road was a Jewish area of London where Moseley's "Black Shirts" marched triumphantly. He sent Hitler the book, gloating at his success against "the Jews". Jacobs married Phillip Southgate, a fighter pilot (from Pennsauken NJ USA) in the US Army Air Force 9th Air Force whom she met at a pub in Middle Wallop, UK, where the air base was located. They married on 9 August 1946 when Jacobs was 66. Southgate had twin daughters from a previous marriage to Nina Lobetta Southgate, a southern belle.