Thelma Given

Thelma Mary Given Verdi (March 9, 1896 — December 25, 1977) was an American violinist and child musical prodigy.

Thelma Given Verdi
Thelma Given, photographed by Arnold Genthe, from a 1919 advertisement.
Born(1896-03-09)March 9, 1896
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedDecember 25, 1977(1977-12-25) (aged 81)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Minturn de Suzzara Verdi
​
​
(m. 1943; died 1970)​

Early life

Thelma Mary Given was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Decatur, Illinois,[1] the daughter of James Frederick Given and Emma Jones Given.[2][3] Her musical abilities were recognized by age 5.[4] She studied with Leopold Auer in Russia.[5] She toured Europe with Auer as a teenager, and was caught in the tumult of war and the Russian Revolution for almost a year[6] before she and her mother were able to return to the United States.[7]

Given in 1918.

Career

Given made her American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1918.[8] She returned to the Carnegie Hall stage several times.[9][10] She toured in the United States and Europe[11] in the 1920s and 1930s, given recitals and as guest soloist with orchestras.[12][13] She played a Guarneri violin made in 1738.[14]

Personal life

Given lived much of her adult life living with her mother and brother Eben Given (a painter), at Saranac Lake,[15] and in the arts colony at Provincetown, Massachusetts,[16] in social circles that included playwright Eugene O'Neill.[17] She married in 1943, as the third wife of Minturn de Suzzara Verdi, a New York lawyer.[18]

Thelma Given Verdi was widowed in 1970,[19] and she died on Christmas Day, 1977, aged 81 years, in Boston, Massachusetts, after a stroke.[5] Papers associated with Thelma Given, including concert programs, letters, and a clippings album of reviews, are archived by the Provincetown History Preservation Project.[20]

References
  1. "Thelma Given Tells New York of Early Desire for Career" Decatur Herald (January 26, 1919): 17. via Newspapers.com
  2. Thelma Given's Biography, Provincetown History Preservation Project.
  3. Past and Present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois (S. J. Park Publishing Company 1903): 808-809.
  4. Peter Merritt, "Miss America – Alias Thelma Given" Everybody's Magazine (February 1919): 16.
  5. "Thelma Given Verdi, 81, Violinist Who Was a Renowned Child Prodigy" New York Times (December 28, 1977): 35.
  6. "Apprehension for Women in Europe" Decatur Herald (January 24, 1915): 18. via Newspapers.com
  7. "Concert Stage Claims Former Decatur Girl" Decatur Herald (September 2, 1923): 13. via Newspapers.com
  8. Advertisement, Musical Courier (July 3, 1919): 30.
  9. "Thelma Given's New York Recital, Oct. 18" Musical Courier (July 24, 1919): 8.
  10. "Recital by Thelma Given" New York Times (December 1, 1929): 31.
  11. "Thelma Given is On Her Third European Tour" Decatur Evening Herald (March 9, 1928): 16. via Newspapers.com
  12. "Haensel and Jones to Direct Tours of Thelma Given" Musical America (February 7, 1920): 41.
  13. "Thelma Given at Carnegie Hall" The Violin World (August 1921): 137.
  14. It is not known where her violin ended up. "Deaf Girl 'Hears' Music" Decatur Daily Review (February 19, 1936): 12. via Newspapers.com
  15. "Thelma Given at Spion-Kop" Musical Courier (July 26, 1919): 26.
  16. "Thelma Given Summering At Provincetown" Musical Courier (September 1, 1921): 26.
  17. Louis Scheaffer, O'Neill: Son and Artist (Rowman & Littlefield 2002): 97-98. ISBN 9780815412441
  18. "Miss Thelma Given Wed" New York Times (May 28, 1943): 17.
  19. "Minturn deS. Verdi" New York Times (August 12, 1970): 41.
  20. Thelma Given Collection, Provincetown History Preservation Project, Digital Commonwealth: Massachusetts Collections Online.
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