Ismene Brown

ARCM, MA (SSEES), DPhil. In 2021 I earned my doctorate at St Hugh's College, Oxford, with a thesis on the Soviet politician Ekaterina Furtseva, on whose biography I am working. Originally a musician, I became a journalist, specialising eventually in arts, in print and broadcasting. I was the Telegraph's dance critic for 15 years and the Spectator's for 2, and in 2009 I created the critics' website, The Arts Desk.