Elizabeth Williams Champney

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elizabeth Williams Champney (born February 6, 1850 in Springfield , Ohio , † October 13, 1922 in Seattle , Washington ) was an American writer .

Live and act

Champney was born Elizabeth Johnson Williams in 1850 . Her parents were vehement opponents of slavery (→ abolitionism ). The family soon settled in the Kansas Territory to fight the spread of slavery.

After the Civil War , Champney attended the Seminary for Young Ladies in Lexington ( Massachusetts ) and was a. a. Taught drawing by painter James Wells Champney . She later moved to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie ( New York ), where she completed her BA in 1869 . She returned to Kansas and settled in Manhattan . She worked there as a secretary at the Kansas State Agricultural College and then got a job as a drawing teacher.

In 1870/71 her parents tried to arrange a marriage with a farmer friend. This was thwarted when she met her former professor James Wells Champney, who visited her during a study trip. In May 1873 she married this and had two children with him: Edouard Frère (1874-1929), a later architect who was named after his father's teacher, Edouard Frère (1819-1886) and Maria Mitchell (1877-1906), one Miniature painter named after Maria Mitchell (1819–1899), a lecturer at Vassar College.

Between 1873 and 1876, the Champneys toured the United States and Europe and then settled in Deerfield, Massachusetts. When her husband founded a large studio in Manhattan ( Fifth Avenue 96 ) in 1879 , she built an elegant second home there.

reception

Champney's literary attempts come from her student days. Through her husband's contacts, she also got to know some publishers who could help her later. With the publication of a poem, she made her successful debut as an author in November 1873. One of her most important works was the "Vassar Girls" cycle.

Her numerous travels through the USA and Europe, but also North Africa, formed the basis of her later works. In addition to her books, she also wrote features and travel reports - u. a. in Harper's Magazine - she soon made a name for herself.

Works (selection)

  • Witch Winnie series
  1. The story of a king's daughter . 1889.
  2. Witsch Winnie's studio . 1892.
  3. Witch Winnie in Paris . 1893.
  4. Witsch Winnie at Shinecock . 1894.
  5. Witsch Winnie at Versailles . 1895.
  6. Witch Winnie in Spain . 1898.
  7. Witsch Winnie in Venice . 1911.
  • Romance of the French Abbeys . Putnam, New York 1907.
  • Romance of Russia. From Rurik to Bolshevik . Putnam, New York 1921
  • Romance of Roman villas . Putnam, New York 1908
  • Romance of the Imperial Rome . Putnam, New York 1910.
  • Romance of old Japan . Putnam, New York 1914.

literature

  • Michael C. Batinski: Pastkeepers in a small place. 5 Centuries in Deerfield, Massachusetts . University Press, Boston, Mass. 2004, ISBN 1-55849-455-3 .
  • Isabelle Guillaume: L'image de la France et de l'Angleterre dans les travelogue storybooks americains ( Hezekiah Butterworth , Elizabeth Williams Champney) . In: Revue Française d'Études Americaines. Volume 117, 2008, pp. 109-121, ISSN  0397-7870
  • Thomas W. Herringshaw (Ed.): Mrs. Elizabeth Williams Champney . In: Thomas W. Herringshaw: National Library of American Biography. Volume 1, APA, Washington, DC 1909, pp. 590-591.
  • Alexander Wendy: A Bio-Bibliography of EW Champney . 1974.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Champney, Elizabeth Williams
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Elizabeth Johnson (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Springfield , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 1922
Place of death Seattle , Washington