Corinne Roosevelt Robinson (September 27, 1861 – February 17, 1933) was the younger sister of former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of former First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt.
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Corinne Roosevelt (nicknamed "Conie") was born on September 27, 1861 at 28 East 20th Street in New York City, the fourth and youngest child of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt. Her siblings were Anna Roosevelt (1855–1931); Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the future President of the United States; and Elliott Roosevelt (1860–1894), the father of future First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt.
Corinne was a playmate of Edith Kermit Carow, her brother Theodore's future wife and later the First Lady of the United States. Corinne's father was a supporter of the North during the Civil War, while her mother Martha supported the South. Martha's home state was Georgia and she had moved to New York only due to her marriage to Theodore. Martha's brothers were members of the Confederate Navy. However, the conflict between Corinne's parents' political loyalties did not prevent her from experiencing a privileged childhood, including the best schools and regular travel, or the formal debut into society expected of the daughters of prominent families.
Robinson was a published poet, lecturer, and orator. She began writing at an early age, through the encouragement of her friends, in particular Edith Wharton who helped critique her poetry. In 1911, Robinson published her first poem, “The Call of Brotherhood”, in Scribner's Magazine. Her first book of poems of the same title was published in 1912. This volume was quickly followed by One Woman to Another and Other Poems (1914) dedicated to her daughter, also named Corinne, commemorating the loss of Robinson's brother Elliott and son, Stewart. Other volumes of poetry by Robinson include Service and Sacrifice (1919) dedicated to her brother Theodore Roosevelt, The Poems of Corinne Roosevelt Robinson (1924), and Out of Nymph (1930) dedicated to Charles Scribner. She also wrote the prose memoir My Brother Theodore Roosevelt (1924). In 1920, Robinson became the first woman ever to address a nomination convention speaking before a crowd of 14,000.
On April 29, 1882, the then Corinne Roosevelt married Douglas Robinson. Their marriage produced four children:
Throughout the 1920s, Robinson's health failed her a number of times and she had a total of sixteen eye surgeries.
Robinson, a lifelong Republican, voted for her fifth cousin Franklin Roosevelt when he ran for Governor of New York in 1928 and in 1932 when he was elected President of the United States. Robinson commented that she voted for Franklin because: "Eleanor is my niece after all." Eleanor was Corinne's favorite niece and she said of her, "Eleanor was more like Theodore than any of his own children were."
Robinson died on February 17, 1933, age 71, of pneumonia, in New York City less than a month before Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated President.