My aunt, Margaret Wolfson, who has died aged 98, was a pioneering female figure in development economics and a smasher of glass ceilings.

Peggy, as she was known to her family, began her career as a civil servant at the Treasury in the late 1950s and was soon put forward to be the first British woman to join the World Bank in Washington. She was quickly promoted and sent to Guatemala, ensuring that loans for infrastructure projects were being used in the way that they should be.

In the 60s she joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, heading up its division on family planning and in charge of assessing population projects across the world.

She travelled across Africa on various OECD missions, often as the only woman in her party, and also went to China in 1975. She coordinated a number of UN conferences on population in the developing world – again, often as the only woman in a boardroom full of men – and wrote three books on development themes, including Profiles in Population Assistance (1984).

Peggy was born in London to Jewish parents, Walter Wolfson, a teacher, and Sara Meerloo, a pianist. She attended Paddington and Maida Vale high school and won a scholarship to the London School of Economics to study history.

In 1939, just as she was about to begin her studies, the second world war broke out and the LSE was evacuated to Cambridge, where Margaret spent the next three years. She was awarded a first and her tutor, Harold Laski, tried to persuade her to stay on to do a PhD.

Instead she joined the civil service and was posted to Bletchley Park, where she typed up transcriptions for the codebreaking team. She found the work dull and was quite relieved when, after 18 months, she was given compassionate leave to care for her sick mother. It was then that she moved to the Treasury.

Peggy’s sense of style was famous – all her immaculate flats were exquisitely furnished with a mix of antiques, curios and fabrics from her travels. But her sense of justice was just as sharp – she was on the board of the Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture (now Freedom from Torture), and was a passionate supporter of Amnesty International.

She retired in the late 80s and, having lived on her own in Paris for 30 years, came to live permanently in London in 1996 so that she could spend more time with her family – her younger sister, Audrey (my mother), my brothers, Simon and Jonathan, and me.

She is survived by Audrey, Simon, Jonathan and me.