Anthony (Tony) Bell

Anthony (Tony) Bell (1943 – 2024) was born on 23 April 1943 in Bury, Lancashire, but spent his early childhood in Sierra Leone where his father was working. After his mother died, when Tony was nine, he and his older brother Chris were separated from their younger sister Kate, to become boarders at Lichfield Cathedral School.  After his father moved to London, Tony attended Ealing Grammar School.

Graduating in Modern Languages at St Andrews University, Tony secured a job at GCHQ in Cheltenham.  In 1968, Tony became a lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, moving in 1973 to become a lecturer in Modern Languages at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.  In 1978 Tony returned to the UK.  Initially he worked at the North London Polytechnic, followed by the Institute of Linguists, where in 1982 he was promoted from Deputy General Secretary to General Secretary.  In 1988 he became the Secretary, Head of Academic Administration at the University of London’s Institute of Latin American Studies.  In the new London University School of Advanced Studies he became Chief Administrator.

Tony was a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguistics and became a member of the Council and eventually Chair.

Tony’s primary languages were Spanish, French and Italian and his secondary, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic.  An athlete, Tony as a teenager represented Middlesex at swimming and at school excelled at rugby.  Throughout his life he loved cycling and walking.  He travelled many times to South America.

Tony was a member of Clapham Community Choir and the St Pauls Opera Clapham, not only singing but also carrying out practical tasks.  With his administrative skills he was instrumental to their ongoing success.  He helped develop the St Pauls Opera Clapham into a registered charity and created a Schools’ Outreach programme.  For over 20 years Tony was an active volunteer in the local community, as a ‘schools’ organiser’ as part of RSVP and Volunteering Matters, co-chairing the RSVP Steering Group.

Tony was married to Vivien and then Val.  He had six children.