Tennis club president packed art, reporting and a celebrity dog into amazing life

Anna’s husband, Sung Pei, joined the club in Haverstock Hill, Belsize Park, through a university friend and, in 1968, encouraged her to do so. The Globe was the perfect haven for a young Swiss girl and a Chinese student who had fled Communist China to begin their Hampstead journey.

Former president Hugh Manning suggested to Anna she would be well suited to the role and in 1991 she was elected President, a position she occupied for 29 years.

She achieved a huge amount: developing elite team tennis, maintaining the club’s social ethos, overseeing the extension of the clubhouse and campaigning for the renewal of the lease with Camden Council, securing the longevity of the club.

Under her tenure the club enjoyed extraordinary competitive success. The Men’s 1st team swept all before them and for over a decade was able to rival the very best teams in the country.

As well as tennis, Anna enjoyed playing poker before taking up bridge at the Globe. Bridge became a passion at which she excelled. She also played at the Carlton Club Bridge Society and Cumberland Tennis Club, running the Gerber Cup.

Anna Lee with her husband Sung Pei who introduced her to Globe Lawn Tennis Club (Image: GLTC)

Anna lived in Hampstead for 65 years. She had many friends in the area and loved attending events such as concerts, talks and exhibitions. Anna was a member of the Heath and Hampstead Society as well as a friend of both Burgh and Kenwood House. She regularly took her Jack Russell, Milo, to the Heath and Primrose Hill.

Anna was born in 1938 in Ramosch, a remote village in the Romansch-speaking east of Switzerland. For the first five years of her life she lived in southern Italy, where her parents had a business. However, the Allied bombing in 1943 made it unsafe, so her parents sent her back to Switzerland.

After the war, her parents returned to Switzerland. With the unexpected death of her father when she was a teenager, she made the decision to go to London to learn English, one of six languages she spoke fluently. Anna lived in a girls hostel in Wedderburn Road, Hampstead, where through her roommate and future sister-in-law, she met her husband, Sung Pei, who was studying at the Architectural Association. They fell in love with the artistic community of Hampstead and Belsize Park and remained in the area all their lives.

Anna remained very attached to her homeland. She was a radio correspondent for Radio Romansh and contributed to many programmes, mostly relating to London. The Romansh community had a huge appetite for the Royal Family. She was called upon to report on every event from Princess Diana’s death to the coronation of King Charles. 

Radio Televisiun Rumantscha also made a film about her in 2016 and subsequently featured broadcasts about her dog, Milo, as he had developed his own fan club.

Globe Lawn Tennis Club was central to Anna Lee’s life (Image: GLTC)

In her professional life, Anna was a respected art historian and taught well into her seventies. She studied at UCL and went on to lecture in art history at City University (University of London) for 30 years. She was especially proud when her grand-daughter, Antonia, graduated from The Slade and became an artist herself.

Anna possessed a rare energy and her packed diary reflected this. This was maybe to be expected since Anna was interested in everything and everyone. While old-fashioned in some ways – that Swiss desire for order never left her – Anna had a youthful spirit. Her mischievous sense of humour, delivered with a playful glint in the eye, could brighten any discussion.

Anna Lee (Image: GLTC)

Anna dealt with her illness with typical fortitude and still found the strength to come to the Globe on occasions. She danced at the 70th Anniversary Party knowing it was to be her last social engagement at the club.

Anna was also able to see her family welcome their newest member to the Globe; on a golden afternoon this summer all four generations of the Lee family came together as Anna was joined by her children, Nick and Leta, grandchildren Nick, Keith, Antonia, Clara and Valentina as well as her great-grandson, Domenic.

As the sun set on Court 1, it was a moment to reflect on an extraordinary journey and a wonderful legacy.