Arno Rabinowitz obituary
My father, Arno Rabinowitz, who has died aged 90, was a pioneering educational psychologist and a widely admired mentor, counsellor and confidant,His existence was down to a confluence of luck: his mother, Tilly, was one of three siblings evacuated from eastern Europe in the early 1920s during the pogroms against Jews,These three were “Ochberg Orphans”, fortunate recipients of the philanthropy of another émigré, the industrialist Isaac Ochberg, who enabled Jewish orphans to emigrate to safety in South Africa,Arno was born in Johannesburg, to Tilly (nee Abrahams) and Danny Rabinowitz, a hotelier,He went to school at Highlands North in Johannesburg and later studied English and politics at the University of the Witwatersrand in the 1950s.
There he was involved in clandestine anti-apartheid activities and was briefly a legal intern, in which capacity he saw Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo in court,Partly as a consequence of his political activities, he left South Africa for London in 1956, where he promptly fell in love with Gwen Dunkley, a teacher,Together they went for two years to Roubaix, northern France, where Arno taught English and philosophy; on their return they married,Arno studied psychology at Birkbeck, University of London, and subsequently qualified as an educational psychologist at the London Child Guidance training centre in Hampstead,He worked at the Bethlem and Maudsley hospital school in south London, and became principal of the first special needs nursery school in the UK, Katharine Elliot school in Shrewsbury; he joined the Inner London Educational Authority, rising to become acting principal educational psychologist until the body was shut down by Margaret Thatcher in 1990.
He then continued in private practice, lectured at universities in Northern Ireland and Pakistan, and held several advisory roles including at the Institute of Education and Peper Harow school in Surrey.Although never taking on any formal roles, Arno was politically engaged throughout his life; he was a committed socialist and Labour party member, and latterly as a self-appointed gadfly and irritant to Croydon council (where he lived for almost 60 years).He loved to travel, owned a house in Spain and regularly visited his siblings in South Africa, the US and Canada.He read voraciously, was active online until a few weeks before his death and was known as a witty and subversive raconteur.He is survived by Gwen, his sons, Gideon and me, six grandchildren, Joel, Anna, Louis, Raoul, Sophie and Laura, and his siblings, Cyril, David and Lila.
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Thank you for joining me this afternoon, and Martin earlier in the day. We’ll see you back here bright and early on Monday for more, but in the meantime here is the report from Australia’s victory.It was a comprehensive victory set up by Annabel Sutherland’s stunning 105 from just 81 balls – her second ODI ton in succession. Four other Australians reached 25 or more but none pressed on to a major contribution.Australia were tidy with the ball without being spectacular
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Tyson Fury weighs in with war cry at 50lb more than Oleksandr Usyk
Tyson Fury will weigh at least 50lb more than Oleksandr Usyk when the two men fight for the world heavyweight championship in Riyadh. At the official weigh-in on Friday night, Fury scaled 281lb while wearing all his clothes, including a heavy black leather jacket to keep him warm in the biting December cold. Usyk, the defending champion, weighed 226lb after removing only his tracksuit top.The 55lb weight discrepancy will be slightly reduced in the ring – but it is striking that Fury weighed 19lb more than he did on the scales before their first fight in May. Usyk was just 3lb heavier than last time and, once he has stripped down to his boxing trunks and boots, he will be very close to the exact weight he was when he became the undisputed world heavyweight champion after he defeated Fury in an extraordinary and very close fight
Bill Beaumont appointed interim RFU chairman as civil war breaks out
Sir Bill Beaumont has been appointed as the interim chairman of the Rugby Football Union after Tom Ilube stepped down, sparking a civil war within the organisation amid accusations of “bullying, entitlement and elitism” between RFU council factions.On another dramatic day at the RFU, Ilube’s departure comes after an extraordinary emergency council meeting on Wednesday with some members accusing others of behaving like “a mob”.The announcement of Ilube’s departure came with a statement that he would “stay on to ensure a smooth transition to a new chair as soon as one is in place” but that was met with anger by the council rebels who questioned why he was not leaving immediately. It is understood there will be a brief handover period to Beaumont.On Friday a group of council members sent a furious letter to their colleagues
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