Main content

Sigrid Rausing

Kirsty Young interviews publisher and philanthropist Sigrid Rausing.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the philanthropist and publisher Sigrid Rausing.

Founder of one of the UK's largest philanthropic foundations, her trust has given away around Β£230m to human rights causes since it began.

Brought up in Sweden, she is currently the publisher of Granta Books and the editor of Granta Magazine and her work spotting and developing new writers stems from her lifelong love of literature.

As the granddaughter of Ruben Rausing, who founded food packaging company Tetra Pak, she is a member of one of Britain's richest families. Her interest in human rights was sparked as a child by a love of animals and hearing her parents talk about the Holocaust.

Producer: Paula McGinley.

Available now

33 minutes

Last on

Fri 29 Jan 2016 09:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Sir Anthony Seldon

Next

Bill Gates

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Clip

Music Played

  • k.d. lang

    Hallelujah

    • recollection.
    • Nonesuch.

  • Tom Lehrer

    The Vatican Rag

    • That Was The Year That Was.
    • Reprise.

  • Leonard Cohen

    Bird on the Wire

    • The Essential Leonard Cohen.
    • Columbia.

  • CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE

    • Murray Perahia

      Γ‰tudes op. 10 Β– No. 1 in C major, Allegro

      • Murray Perahia plays Chopin.
      • Sony Classical.

  • Alison Krauss & Robert Plant

    Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us

    • Raising Sand.
    • Decca.

  • The Kills

    The Last Goodbye

    • Blood Pressures.
    • Domino.

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    I Get a Kick Out of You

    • Ella Fitzgerald sings the Cole Porter song book.
    • Verve.

  • Camille Saint‐SaΓ«ns

    Le Cygne (The Swan)

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma.
    • Saint-SaΓ«ns: Carnival of the Animals; Organ Symphony.
    • Sony Classical.

  • BOOK CHOICE

    Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

  • LUXURY ITEM

    The British Library

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Sigrid Rausing
Producer Paula McGinley

Broadcasts

  • Sun 24 Jan 2016 11:15
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
  • Fri 29 Jan 2016 09:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast