Vale Dr. Philippa Hetherington

The CGGS community mourns the loss of Dr Philippa Hetherington (2001), who passed away on Saturday, 5 November 2022. Philippa was a student at the Junior and Senior School during her time at CGGS and went on to have an outstanding career as an historian and academic.

During her long struggle with cancer, Philippa became a prominent advocate and effective campaigner for the funding of new treatments in the UK, where she had worked since 2015 as a lecturer at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. Philippa completed an Honours degree in European history at the University of Sydney in 2006, winning the University Medal. She went on to complete her PhD at Harvard. She was an expert in the cultural, legal, and social history of the trafficking of women, especially in Russia and the early Soviet Union.

Philippa's mother, Robyn Hetherington, was a teacher at the CGGS Junior School for over 20 years. Members of our Junior School staff have reached out to Robyn since Phillipa’s diagnosis in 2019, and endeavoured to provide support and connection while Robyn has been in London helping her beloved daughter and her family.

Our deepest sympathies are with Philippa's mother, Robyn, her husband, Alessandro, and her brother, William.