She was born in Arezzo, Italy, and she was the daughter of Camillo & Giovanna Berneri. The family went into exile in 1926 for resisting Mussolini. In 1936 her father went to Spain, to fight against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He was assassinated by communists in 1937. She wrote for many journals, articles as, "Revision", with Luis Mercier Vega and was a member of the group that edited "Revolt", "War Commentary", and the "Freedom newspaper" published by the Freedom Bookstore in London. She also wrote "Journey Through Utopia" and "Neither East Nor West". During the father's murder she was living in France and studying psychology at the Sorbonne University. She married Vernon Richards, also an active anarchist with many of the same groups and publications as she. In April 1945 she was one of the four editors of "War Commentary". In the post-war international anarchist conference in Paris, 1948 she was a member of the British delegation. Her mother and sister Giliane Berneri were members of the Italian and French anarchists delegations.