My mother, Pnina Werbner, who has died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism aged 78, was an emerita professor of social anthropology at Keele University. She was renowned for her work with Muslim South Asians in Britain and Pakistan and, more recently, the women’s movement and the Manual Workers Union in Botswana.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, she was the daughter of Ethel “Bobsie” (nee Cohen) and Philip “Figgy” Gillon. Bobsie, a fantastic cook, held a PhD in botany. Philip, a lawyer and writer, became a prominent leftwing journalist after the family moved to Israel in 1950.
