BIOGRAPHY

Annenberg was born as Esther Garcia in Upton Park, London on 17 March 1909 as the fifth of six children born to Samuel and Sarah (Lazarus) Garcia. She attended Venetian Road Special School in Camberwell, London from the age of five. On 24 May 1919, she and her family relocated to a Camberwell housing estate, where the rent was six shillings a week.

As a young adult, Annenberg did an apprenticeship in dressmaking at Holdren’s department store in Peckham, and later worked in a dry cleaners. She married Philip Jacob Annenberg in 1936 in Newport, Wales. The couple had four children: Elsie, Lily, Emmanuel David, and Brian. Elsie and Lily were twins, and died as infants in 1936. The family moved back into Annenberg’s Camberwell flat to look after her father.

Annenberg remembered the street parties to celebrate the end of World War II. She was widowed in 1976. At the age of 99, she moved out of her flat in Camberwell and into a nursing home. She was a regular attendee of the New Cross Synagogue until its closure.

Annenberg spent her 111th birthday alone due to COVID-19 restrictions. She died on 26 March 2020 in Camberwell at the age of 111 years, 9 days.

RECOGNITION

Annenberg’s age was verified by Andrew Holmes and validated by the ESO on 29 June 2020.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Woman leaves flat after 90 years” – BBC News, 19 March 2008

* “Esther Annenberg” – allfie.org.uk

* “Why Esther is celebrating her 111th birthday alone in South London” – The Jewish Chronicle, 17 March 2020

GALLERY