June Levine facts for kids
June Levine (born 31 December 1931 – died 14 October 2008) was an Irish journalist, writer, and feminist. She played a very important part in the movement for women's rights in Ireland.
Early Life and Family
June Levine was born into a family with both Jewish and Catholic backgrounds. Her father, Charles Solomon Levine, came from a Jewish family who had to leave Latvia. Her mother, Muriel Ruth McMahon, was from County Clare in Ireland. They got married secretly in a Catholic church in Dublin when they were young.
June was the oldest of five children. She was baptised as a Catholic but went to a Jewish school in Dublin. In 1947, her family decided to become Jewish.
When June was just 15, she started working as a journalist for The Irish Times. She chose this instead of going to college. She met and married Kenneth Mesbur, a Canadian Jewish medical student. In the 1950s, June, Kenneth, and their two children moved to Ontario, Canada. A third child was born there. Later, June and Kenneth's marriage ended. June then returned to Dublin with her three children. In 1999, June Levine married her partner of thirty years, Professor Ivor Browne, who was a psychiatrist.
Her Career as a Journalist
In 1965, June Levine went back to her journalism career. She was chosen to be the assistant editor of the Irish Woman’s Journal.
She was also very involved with the Irish women's movement. This movement worked to improve women's rights and lives. June worked alongside other important figures like Mary Kenny, Margaret Gaj, and Mary Maher.
Later Life and Books
In her later years, June Levine became interested in the women's movement in India. She wrote only one fiction book, called A Season of Weddings. It was published in 1992. The story was about a woman from Dublin who traveled to New Delhi for a Jewish wedding.
June Levine had several strokes in her last year of life. These strokes affected her ability to speak. After getting some of her communication back, she had another stroke in early October. She lost consciousness and passed away on 14 October 2008 in Tallaght Hospital. In 2009, her book Sisters was reissued by Attic Press. Her friend Nell McCafferty wrote a new introduction for it.
