Anita was born in 1942 at the stately home of Brockett Hall outside London which became a maternity unit during the war years. Her four grandparents were Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe who all settled in England at the turn of the century before the First World War. Anita left school at fifteen years old after a normal basic education and a very difficult childhood. She was always an optimist living in her own private dream world as her artistic talents were not encouraged.