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Factual: Life Stories

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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Matthew Parris

Helen Sharman

Margaret Ashwell

Maggie Ayre

Great Lives: Helen Sharman on Elsie Widdowson

Helen Sharman on Elsie Widdowson

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Helen Sharman on Elsie Widdowson

British spacewoman Helen Sharman chooses scientist Elsie Widdowson as her great life.

4 Extra Debut. Helen Sharman, the first Briton to go into space, champions food scientist Elsie Widdowson. With Matthew Parris. From 2017.

How many people realise the impact Elsie Widdowson had on the way we view nutrition? 

She was a food scientist who devoted her life to improving the diets of adults and children in Britain and abroad. 

Matthew Parris hears why Helen Sharman, the first Briton to go into space, thinks Widdowson deserves her nomination. 

They are joined by Elsie's friend and biographer Margaret Ashwell, President for the Association for Nutrition.

You can download the podcast to hear an extended version of the broadcast programme

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.

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