Anya Linden

Anya Linden, Baroness Sainsbury of Preston Candover (née Eltenton; 3 January 1933) is an English retired ballerina and patron of the arts.

Born Ann in Manchester, she moved with her family to Leningrad when six months old, where she was known by the Russian equivalent name Anya. In 1938 the family moved to California, where she received her early training with Koslov in Hollywood. She returned to England in 1947 and studied at the Sadler's Wells Ballet School, joining the company in 1951. She was promoted to soloist 1954 and to ballerina 1958.

In 1958 she married American musician Igor Tamarin. She married John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover in 1963 and retired from dancing in 1965, subsequently becoming a director of the Ballet Rambert, Royal Ballet School and the Young Vic.

In 1987, she founded the biennial Linbury Prize for Stage Design to identify and encourage talented newcomers to the field of theatre design. Along with her husband, she founded the Linbury Trust, named from a combination of the names Linden and Sainsbury.

The retailer Sainsbury's, formerly led by her husband, developed a potato variety in 1996 that was named 'Anya' in her honour. She was appointed CBE in the 2003 New Year Honours.