Janet Elizabeth Bloomfield (née Hood; 10 October 1953 – 2 April 2007)[1][2] was a British peace and disarmament campaigner who was chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) from 1993 to 1996.[1][3]
Janet Bloomfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Janet Elizabeth Hood 10 October 1953[1] |
| Died | 2 April 2007 (aged 53)[1] |
| Alma mater | Sussex University[1] |
| Political party | Green Party |
| Board member of | Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament |
Biography
editBorn in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, Bloomfield was educated at Abbeydale Grange School, Sheffield and Sussex University, where she obtained a BA (Hons) degree in Geography.[1]
Bloomfield was the Chair of the CND, the largest peace and disarmament organisation in Europe from 1993 to 1996.[1][4] During this time she helped to develop CND's campaign around the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which included the production of the influential Blueprint for a Nuclear Weapon Free World.
She was active in the anti-nuclear movement from 1981.[1] She was a local group secretary, national council and executive, regional worker in the West Midlands for CND. She was the National Vice-Chair for two years before being elected Chair in 1993. She was honorary Vice-President of CND at the time of her death.[4]
She was a consultant (Vice-President 1994–1997) to the Geneva-based International Peace Bureau, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning network of non-aligned peace organisations in 44 countries. She was a member of the Global Council of Abolition 2000 since 1997,[5] Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons[4] and convened the Abolition Now Campaign Working Group of Abolition, 2000. Bloomfield was a distinguished expert speaker at the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs.[5]
Bloomfield organised the campaign to stop arms trade shows being held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in 1991. She organised and led the Atomic Mirror Pilgrimage 1996 around nuclear and sacred sites of England, Scotland and Wales.[1] This was filmed and made into a documentary called "Sacred Fire".[citation needed]
She was a consultant to the Oxford Research Group.[4]
After 1997, Bloomfield's main work was as UK co-ordinator of the Atomic Mirror (she was the British director from 1995[5]),[2][4] whose goal is to create a nuclear-free world. The Atomic Mirror works with activists, artists, and indigenous peoples from nuclear sites, developing initiatives and joint activities to inspire people to take action, and abolish nuclear weapons and power. The Atomic Mirror is a founding member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness Programme, of which Bloomfield was a spokesperson.[6]
Affiliations
edit- Charter 88 signatory and a Fellow of the British-American Project[1]
- Joined Green Party in 1996.
- Member of Thaxted Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)[4]
- Co-Clerk of the Peace Campaigning and Networking Group of the Quakers' Peace and Social Witness.[1][4]
Family
editShe married Richard Bloomfield in 1976; they had two children.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Elworthy, Scilla (30 April 2007). "Obituary: Janet Bloomfield". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- ^ a b The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2007. New York, USA: United Nations Publications. 2008. p. 235. ISBN 9789211422603. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ Will Bennett (4 February 1996). "Pavement protesters mourn for Pacific atolls after French call early halt to series of nuclear bomb tests". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Douglas Holdstock; Frank Barnaby (2003). The British Nuclear Weapons Programme, 1952-2002. London, UK: Routledge. p. ix. ISBN 9780714653822. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ a b c Elworthy, Scilla (29 April 2007). "Janet Bloomfield". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ Charlotte Higgins (13 April 2005). "Robert McNamara to speak at Hay festival". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 12 July 2012.