Leonora Speyer

Leonora Speyer

Lady Speyer by John Singer Sargent, 1907
Born 7 November 1872[1]
Washington, D.C.
Died 10 February 1956 (aged 83)[2]
New York
Nationality American/British
Occupation

Violinist

Poet
Spouse(s) Louis Meredith Howland (m. 1894–1902)
Sir Edgar Speyer (m. 1902; died 1932)
Children 4

Leonora Speyer, Lady Speyer (née von Stosch) (7 November 1872 – 10 February 1956) was an American poet and violinist.

Life

Leonora Speyer and her husband Sir Edgar Speyer, circa 1921

She was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Count Ferdinand von Stosch of Mantze in Silesia, who fought for the Union, and Julia Schayer, who was a writer.

She studied music in Brussels, Paris, and Leipzig, and played the violin professionally under the batons of Arthur Nikisch and Anton Seidl, among others. She first married Louis Meredith Howland in 1894,[3] but they divorced in Paris in 1902.[4] She then married banker Edgar Speyer (later Sir Edgar), of London, where the couple lived until 1915.[5]

Sir Edgar had German ancestry and following anti-German attacks on him that year,[5] they moved to the United States and took up residence in New York, where Speyer began writing poetry. She won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her book of poetry "Fiddler's Farewell".[6]

She had four daughters: Enid Howland with her first husband and Pamela, Leonora, and Vivien Claire Speyer with her second husband.[4][5]

Awards

Selected works

Translation

Notes

  1. Ryan, Laura T. (2007). "Writers born on this day". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  2. "Leonora Speyer, Pulitzer Poet". The New York Times. February 11, 1956. p. 16. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  3. "Art Inventories Catalog". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Miss Enid Howland to Wed J.R. Hewitt". The New York Times. August 13, 1919. p. 11. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Barker, Theo (2004). "Speyer, Sir Edgar, baronet (1862–1932)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36215. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  6. Poetry X » Poetry Archives » Leonora Speyer » "Biography"