16 Facts About Isa Benzie

Isa Donald Benzie was a British radio broadcaster.

Isa Benzie played a key role in the launch of Today on BBC Radio 4, and served as its first senior producer.

Isa Benzie took the equivalent of a degree in German at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford.

Isa Benzie was not given a degree because she was a woman.

Colonel Robert Marr Isa Benzie, served in the same army division as John Reith who would become the managing director of the BBC, and had written to Reith asking for a position for his daughter.

Isa Benzie gathered material for talks given by Vernon Bartlett on his programme The Way of the World.

In 1932, Atkinson resigned and Isa Benzie was given his role.

Isa Benzie oversaw relationships with broadcasters worldwide, including for significant events such as the 1936 Summer Olympics and for the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth.

Isa Benzie had to leave the BBC because of a rule against women being married to another of their employees.

The marital rule was relaxed during the war and Isa Benzie returned to the BBC into the Radio Talks department, where she often organised talks on aspects of health.

Isa Benzie played a key role in October 1957 in the launch of Today on BBC Radio 4, which she named.

Isa Benzie edited the programme and was its first senior producer.

Isa Benzie took it from a programme for "people on the move" to the important step of having its own named presenter.

Quigley and Isa Benzie worked together on the programme and complemented each other's careers.

Isa Benzie retired in 1964 and died in St Leonards in 1988.

The first and only portrait of a woman in Broadcasting House is a painting of Isa Benzie painted by Ronald Dunlop.