Edith Simon (18 May 1917 – 7 January 2003)[1] was a German-born British artist, author, sculptor, and historian active mainly in Edinburgh.

Her father was a decorated artillery officer in the German Army in World War I. Simon attended the Fürstin-Bismarck Gymnasium, where she excelled at art and history.

Her parents were agnostic Jews and, recognising the threat from the Nazis, left Germany in 1931 to avoid further persecution and settled in London.

[1][2][3][4][5] Over the years Simon wrote 17 novels, historical fiction, and non-fiction books on a range of topics, and contributed to many others.

Her focus turned away from art for many years, but she returned to it in 1970 and continued until her death in 2003. in the 1980s she made intricate "scalpel paintings" from paper.

Her obituary in The Scotsman newspaper described her as having "considerable intellectual power, literary gifts, charm and a mordant wit.