Dame Joanna Lumley is set to unveil a blue plaque commemorating Edwardian explorer Edith Durham outside her childhood home in Hampstead next month, an honour the actress described as a "huge privilege." The private ceremony, scheduled for mid-October, marks the first public recognition of Durham's achievements in the area where she spent most of her life.
A Lifelong Admiration for a Pioneering Traveller
Lumley, known for roles in Absolutely Fabulous and Motherland, has long supported Albania and Kosovo, countries Durham travelled to and championed. The actress previously read from Durham's 1906 book High Albania at an event held at the Kosovan Embassy. Speaking about the explorer, Lumley said: "My admiration for Edith Durham and her adventurous spirit and lovely prose is off the scale: and it is a huge privilege to be there at the unveiling of the plaque commemorating this extraordinary traveller and passionate supporter of Albania."
"She was brave, charming and diplomatic; and Albania loved her too, which is the best sign of all," Lumley added.
Edith Durham's Legacy in the Balkans and Beyond
Durham travelled extensively across Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and what is now Albania in the early 20th century, documenting the region and its customs in several books. She served as a war correspondent for The Times, founded the Anglo-Albanian Society to pressurise Britain into recognising Albanian independence, and became the first female vice president of the Royal Anthropological Institute. She also campaigned for famine relief following the Balkan Wars.
Durham spent the first ten years of her life at the Hampstead property where the plaque will be unveiled, and lived her final two decades in Glenloch Road, Belsize Park, until her death in 1944.
Private Funding Fills a Recognised Gap
Plaque organiser Brian Ferris lobbied English Heritage to erect a plaque to Durham, but the organisation said she was not sufficiently well known. Ferris therefore commissioned his own plaque, funding it through donations from Lumley, the Anglo-Albanian Association, and the Kosovan embassy. Both Lumley and Ferris believe Durham deserves greater recognition, given that schools and streets across the Balkans and Albania are named after her, yet nothing previously marked her achievements in Hampstead.
