Esther Trilling Lucas was born before the end of World War One in Helsinki but went to school in London. Her interest in global issues began after a school trip to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1935. After graduating in French and German from Oxford in 1940, she joined the Royal Institute of International Affairs. When World War Two ended she was seconded to the Preparatory Commission of the UN and was present at the first Security Council and General Assembly in London. Though offered a place in the UN in New York, Esther flew to Palestine in1946 to join Kibbutz Kfar Blum. In the summer of 1947, just one year before the State of Israel was born, she served in the Jewish Agency Political Department, liaising with the UN delegates of UNSCOP, the UN Special Committee that met in Jerusalem to decide on the partition of Palestine. A letter from Golda Meir enabled her to be released from the kibbutz to come to Jerusalem.

Esther and Eric Lucas moved to Herzliya Pituah in 1950. Having been a youth leader in Great Britain, she decided to teach English. There was no training in teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language) available at the time so she read as much as possible and learnt from experience. Esther started teaching at the Municipal High School (now Harishonim) in Herzliya, where she became class teacher, EFL coordinator and deputy head. She loved teaching and introduced innovations such as penpal correspondence, the annual performance of a play in English, (the first one was Julius Caesar), an English school newspaper and a choir. She produced several textbooks which were used in high schools in Israel.

She founded and worked in a local Scout troop, and spent many years furthering the educational aspects of UNICEF. Esther was Honorary President of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project in Israel. She represented Israel at various conferences worldwide as an active member of IATEFL, TESOL, AILA, ISA, WEF and IFUW. She was on the board of the local International Women’s Club and organized the Club’s folk dancing group.

Esther retired from school 32 years ago and 25 years ago from Tel Aviv University where she trained EFL teachers. She took her degrees in three countries, England, Israel and Germany. In 2010 she was awarded "Yekirat Ha'ir Herzliya” (Honored Citizen of Herzliya) for her educational work. She published her memoirs in 2007.

Awards

• 1995 Certificate of Appreciation, International Council of Educational Development
• 1996 International Humanism Award, International Schools Association
• 1996 Recognition of Contribution to Furthering International Education, UNESCO Associated Schools Project Paris
• 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award, English Teachers Association Israel
• 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, UNESCO Associate Schools Project Israel
• 2009 Medal awarded to her as the oldest and longest-serving member in Europe and North America, UNESCO ASP net Paris
• 2010 Honored Citizen of Herzliya

Esther was my mentor, my colleague and my friend for 33 years and knowing her enriched my life. Every international activity that I have been involved in is because of her. We served together on the executive board of the Israel National Committee for UNICEF and on the steering committee of the UNESCO Associated Project and the International Schools Association. We represented Israel at conferences in Turkey, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Morocco, Finland and New Zealand. Dr. Esther Lucas received her doctorate on "Teaching International Understanding through English as a Foreign Language" in Luneburg University, Germany in 1990, but was known to everyone as Esther. We thought she would always be there – and so she will in the hearts and deeds of those whose lives she touched. I loved her and will miss her.

She inspired so many people and here are just a few:

“Esther was our inspiration, our beacon, a living model. She introduced us to ASP net and imbued us with idealistic enthusiasm. She was always involved in the projects, encounters, workshops, seminars and conferences. She wrote the newsletters and edited our publications with her perfect British English. At the international seminars, she would undergo a miraculous transformation and become that happy, curious young person again. Her idealism and her intellectual curiosity knew no limit. She breathed, lived, researched and inspired peace education both in Israel and abroad”.

Yael Harel Israel National Coordinator, UNESCO Associated Schools Project

“We have all benefited from her wisdom and experience - her
clarifying and perceptive comments contributing to every board discussion,
and have so enjoyed her sharp sense of humor and enthusiasm. We will miss
her smiling presence at our meetings and events terribly.  May her memory be
a blessing and an inspiration to us all”.

Mitzi Geffen, Chair ETAI -English Teachers Association in Israel

“Dr. Esther Lucas will always be remembered as a very special woman who did a lot for the advancement of women during her lifetime. I replaced her as Chair of the International Association of Academic women in Herzliya in the 1980s, but she continued to be active. She was a model to so many women to stay active and involved, and at the age of 80 she graduated as a PhD! She will always stay in our hearts”.

Nadine Hollander, Ceo Lirot - The Israeli Research Association for Health and Blindness Prevention

“Esther Lucas was an amazing woman, an amazing teacher and most definitely my role model. She will be missed by many”. Dr. Peggy Barzilai