Edith Durham
Mary Edith Durham (born December 8, 1863 in London , † November 15, 1944 ) was a British traveler to the Balkans , illustrator and writer .
Life
Mary Edith Durham was born in London, the first of nine children to Queen Victoria's English personal physician Arthur Edward Durham, and a mother from Scotland . After graduating from the Royal Academy of Arts , she made illustrations for books at the University of Cambridge . Exhausted from the care of her seriously ill mother, she went to Montenegro on the advice of her doctors . It was there that Durham discovered her passion for writing and traveling. Over the next twenty years she toured Albania , Bosnia , Serbia , Macedonia and Dalmatia, among others . Her travel report High Albania about her expeditions into the northern Albanian mountains, which until then was almost unknown territory, is her best-known work.
In the course of her numerous stays, the Brit developed into a well-founded expert on the region . For British newspapers she wrote reports and soon also political commentaries on the Balkans and became a close confidante of the Montenegrin King Nikola I. Petrović Njegoš . During the Balkan Wars , she also campaigned for the suffering civilian population. She later repeatedly spoke up for the interests of the Albanians as they sought independence.
It was in the Golders Green Crematorium in London cremated , where her ashes is located.
Works (selection)
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Honor
A main thoroughfare in downtown Shkodra in northern Albania in Rruga Edith Durham was named in her honor. A monument was erected to the Queen of the Highlands (Mbretëresha e Malësoreve) at Qafa e Thorës in the Albanian Alps .
literature
- Laura Emily Start: The Durham Collection of Garments and Embroideries from Albania and Jugoslavia . Halifax Printing Company, Halifax 1939, ( Bankfield Museum Notes Third Series, No. 4).
- G. Grimm: Durham, Mary Edith . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 1. Munich 1974, p. 448 f.
- Charles King: Queen of the Highlanders. Edith Durham in "the land of the living past" . In: Times Literary Supplement Aug. 4, 2000, ISSN 0040-7895 , pp. 13-14.
- Kastriot Frashëri: Edith Durham. Një zonjë e madhe për Shqipërinë . Geer, Tirana 2004, ISBN 99943-660-2-5 .
Web links
- Mary Edith Durham (English)
- Marcus Tanner: Albania's Heart-Broken Friend - Edith Durham was the great champion of Albanians in early 20th century Britain - so why did the coming of independence leave her feeling shattered? . Balkan Insight on June 16, 2014
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Durham, Edith |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Durham, Mary Edith (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British Balkan traveler, illustrator and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 8, 1863 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 15, 1944 |
| Place of death | London |