About Jessica Mitford
Jessica Lucy "Decca" Treuhaft was an English-American author, communist activist and one of the Mitford sisters. Her 1960 memoir Hons and Rebels and her 1963 book of social commentary The American Way of Death both became classics. Despite their family relationship, the two second cousins had not previously met, but according to Mitford's own account, "I had been in love with Esmond for years, ever since I first heard of him". As a cover story to explain her departure to her family, Mitford invented an invitation to visit friends in Austria. Jessica described her conservative father as "one of nature's fascists", renounced her privileged background while still a teenager, and became an adherent of communism.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.