My mother, Anna Gillett, who has died aged 88, was a staunch feminist invested in life-long education. She worked at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg for 24 years on language learning and social policy.
Her firm beliefs in equality and the importance of education found outlets in her various positions at the organisation from the mid-1970s, as she worked on programmes focusing on language provision for migrants and language learning in schools. These led to her sitting in on classes in schools all over Europe and coordinating meetings with experts on the subject. She eventually headed the Council of Europe’s social policy steering committee (1985-99), which was concerned with social exclusion, family affairs, elderly people and children across Europe.
