Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret (G. E. M.) Anscombe (1919–2001), arguably England's greatest female philosopher and one of the great philosophers of the twentieth century, was born on March 18 in South London and died on January 5 in Cambridge, England. Trained at Cambridge and Oxford universities in the classics, ancient history, and philosophy, Anscombe converted to Catholicism while at college. She married Peter Geach, also a philosopher and converted Catholic, with whom she had seven children.

A student and friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Anscombe was one of his three literary executors (along with Georg von Wright and Rush Rhees) and was tasked with translating much of Wittgenstein's work. Her An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractactus (1959) is considered the basic analysis of that work. The recipient of many honors and awards, Anscombe eventually succeeded to Wittgenstein's chair of philosophy at Cambridge. A renowned debater, she was reputably responsible...