Edmund D. Montgomery

Elisabet Ney portrayed her husband Montgomery in Madeira in 1863

Edmund Duncan Montgomery (born March 19, 1835 in Edinburgh , † April 17, 1911 in Austin , Texas ) was a Scottish philosopher , scientist and doctor .

education and profession

Born in Scotland, he and his mother left his home via Paris for Frankfurt as a toddler. In 1852, Montgomery began studying medicine at the University of Heidelberg , which he completed on February 18, 1858 with a doctorate and state examination in Würzburg . In addition to medicine, he was interested in philosophy. After a short stay in Prague (1858) and Vienna (1859), he found a permanent position as a doctor in London in 1860 and began his research on cell science. In December 1862 he became a member of the London Royal College of Physicians. At that time, however, Montgomery was already seriously ill with tuberculosis , which forced him to go to Madeira for a cure in November 1863 .

At the side of Elisabet Ney

Elisabeth Ney in her studio in Texas.

He had already fallen in love with the young artist Elisabet Ney in Heidelberg . The two married in Madeira on November 7, 1863. In 1871 the couple emigrated to the USA , where both initially ran a small farm near Thomasville (Georgia). In Texas , Montgomery acquired the Liendo Plantation near Hempstead . Here Montgomery could devote himself entirely to his research and philosophy, but also to agriculture and cattle breeding. In 1876 he made a significant contribution to the development of Hempstead through his participation in the establishment of the "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youths". Opened in 1878, it was the first state-supported school in Texas to allow African American students to enroll. In September 1907, shortly after Elizabeth's death, Montgomery suffered a stroke that disabled him but did not prevent him from composing his last works. The natural-research philosopher died on April 17, 1911 and was buried at the side of his wife in Liendo.

literature

• Wolfgang U. Eckart: A philosopher in the Wild West - Edmund Duncan Montgomery . In: Barbara Rommé (Ed.): Elisabet Ney. Mistress of her art. Sculptor in Europe and America . Wienand et al., Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-87909-945-0 , (exhibition catalog: Stadtmuseum Münster).
• Dagmar von Stetten-Jelling: Elisabet (h) Ney (1833–1907). Sculptor in Europe and America. An unusual career . Printed as a manuscript. dissertation.de, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89825-635-9 , ( Dissertation.de 735 Classic ), (At the same time: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2002).
• Eugen Müller-Münster: Elisabeth Ney. The strange life fates of Elisabeth Ney and Edmund Montgomery (1833–1907) . Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1931.
• Bride Neill Taylor: Elisabet Ney. Sculptor . The Devin-Adair Co., New York NY 1916.