Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the daughter of a grocer. She went to Oxford University and then became a research chemist, retraining to become a barrister in 1954. In 1951, she married Denis Thatcher, a wealthy businessman, with whom she had two children.
瑪格麗特．希爾達．羅伯特（Margaret Hilda Roberts）於1925年10月13日出生於英國林肯郡格蘭瑟姆，父親是一位雜貨店老闆。1943年進入牛津大學，主修化學並取得化學學士及碩士學位，後來攻讀法律並於1954年取得律師執照。1951年結婚，丈夫丹尼斯柴契爾經商成功，兩人育有兩名子女。
Early political career
早年政治生涯
Thatcher became a Conservative member of parliament for Finchley in North London in 1959, serving as its MP until 1992. Her first parliamentary post was junior minister for pensions in Harold Macmillan'sgovernment. From 1964 to 1970, when Labour were in power, she served in a number of positions in Edward Heath's shadow cabinet. Heath became prime minister in 1970 and Thatcher was appointed secretary for education.
1959年，柴契爾夫人出選倫敦北部的芬奇利（Finchley）選區獲勝，成為保守黨下議院議員，此後至1992年皆為保守黨代表芬奇利選區的國會議員。保守黨麥克米倫（Harold Macmillan）執政時期，任命柴契爾夫人為退休金及國民保險部政務次長，這是她在內閣中的第一個職務。1964至1970年，工黨執政，希思（Edward Heath）為保守黨黨揆，柴契爾夫人曾於其影子內閣擔任數個職位。1970年，希思出任首相，任命柴契爾夫人為教育大臣。
Leadership
保守黨領袖
After the Conservatives were defeated in 1974, Thatcher challenged Heath for the leadership of the party and, to the surprise of many, won. In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives came to power and Thatcher became prime minister.
She was an advocate of privatising state-owned industries and utilities, reforming trade unions, lowering taxes and reducing social expenditure across the board. Thatcher's policies succeeded in reducing inflation, but unemployment dramatically increased during her years in power.
保守黨於1974年國會大選落敗後，柴契爾夫人出馬與希思角逐黨魁，出乎眾人意料之外擊敗希思，成為保守黨領袖。1979年大選，保守黨再度拿下國會多數，柴契爾夫人出任英國首相，她支持國營事業民營化、改革工會、減稅並削減社會福利支出，柴契爾夫人的政策成功打擊通貨膨脹，然而英國失業率於她在位期間大幅攀升。
The Eighties
一九八零年代
Victory in the Falklands War in 1982 and a divided opposition helped Thatcher win a landslide victory in the 1983 general election. In 1984, she narrowly escaped death when the IRA planted a bomb at the Conservative party conference in Brighton.
In foreign affairs, Thatcher cultivated a close political and personal relationship with US president Ronald Reagan, based on a common mistrust of communism, combined with free-market economic ideology. Thatcher was nicknamed the 'Iron Lady' by the Soviets. She warmly welcomed the rise of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
In the 1987 general election, Thatcher won an unprecedented third term in office. But controversial policies, including the poll tax and her opposition to any closer integration with Europe, produced divisions within the Conservative Party which led to a leadership challenge. In November 1990, she agreed to resign and was succeeded as party leader and prime minister by John Major.
1982年戰勝阿根廷，奪回福克蘭群島，加上1983年國會大選時反對黨分裂，柴契爾夫人獲得壓倒性勝利。
1984年，爭取獨立的愛爾蘭共和軍於布賴頓旅館放置炸彈，此地正是保守黨召開年會的地點，所幸柴契爾夫人逃過一劫。
外交方面，柴契爾夫人與美國總統雷根私交甚篤，且由於兩人皆擔憂共產勢力的擴張，也都堅守市場經濟的原則，立場相近，因此兩國關係密切。蘇聯為柴契爾夫人取了「鐵娘子」的綽號。蘇聯改革派領導人戈巴契夫上台時，柴契爾夫人姿態友善。
1987年國會大選，柴契爾夫人史無前例地三度連任首相，然而她支持以固定稅率取代累進稅率，並反對與歐洲整合，這些政策使她大失民心，引起許多保守黨員不滿，進而挑戰柴契爾夫人黨魁的地位。1990年十一月，柴契爾夫人終於決定辭職，由約翰梅傑（John Major）繼任首相及保守黨黨魁。
The end of an era
柴契爾夫人時代的結束
In 1992, Thatcher left the House of Commons. She was appointed a peeress in the House of Lords with the title of Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven and continued giving speeches and lectures across the world. She also founded the Thatcher Foundation, which aimed to advance the cause of political and economic freedom, particularly in the newly liberated countries of central and eastern Europe. In 1995 she became a member of the Order of the Garter, the highest order of knighthood in England.
In 2002, after a series of minor strokes, Baroness Thatcher retired from public speaking. She died of a stroke on April 8, 2013, at the age of 87.
1992年，柴契爾夫人離開下議院。她受封貴族頭銜「克斯蒂文女爵」，並持續在上議院關注英國政治。同時她也在世界各地發表演說，並成立柴契爾基金會，針對蘇聯解體後中東歐的新興民主國家，促進政治開放及經濟自由。1995年獲頒嘉德勳章，為英國騎士勳章中最高殊榮。
2002年幾次輕度中風後，柴契爾夫人不再公開演講，2013年四月八日中風逝世，享壽八十七歲。
原文網址http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/margaret_thatcher
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