Leonora Speyer

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

Leonora Speyer
Lady Speyer by John Singer Sargent, 1907
Born(1872-11-07)7 November 1872[1]
Washington, D.C.
Died10 February 1956(1956-02-10) (aged 83)[2]
New York
NationalityAmerican/British
OccupationViolinist
Poet
Spouse(s)
Louis Meredith Howland
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(m. 1894⁠–⁠1902)​

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(m. 1902; died 1932)​
Children4

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
  • Hans Trausil (1919). Holy Night; A Yule-Tide Masque. Sunwise Turn.

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. "Miss Enid Howland to Wed J.R. Hewitt". The New York Times. August 13, 1919. p. 11. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  5. Barker, Theo (2004). "Speyer, Sir Edgar, baronet (1862–1932)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36215. Retrieved 2008-09-05. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. "Poetry X » Poetry Archives » Leonora Speyer » "Biography"". Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
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