Laurence Alma-Tadema (August 1865 -12 March 1940) was an English poet and prose writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who wrote in many genres.[1]
Laurence Alma-Tadema (1865-1940). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Life[]
She was born Laurense Tadema in Brussels, the eldest daughter of Dutch painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) and his 1st wife, Marie-Pauline Gressin (Dumoulin). [2] Her stepmother, Lady Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema (1852–1909), and sister, Anna Alma-Tadema (1867–1943) were also noted artists.[3]
Laurence Alma-Tadema lived in "The Fair Haven", Wittersham, Kent. She involved herself with music and plays with the villagers and their children, going on to construct a building to seat 100 people, used for musical concerts and plays, which she named "Hall of Happy Hours".[4]
Alma-Tadema, who had socialist leanings, travelled to America in 1907–08 to tour the country widely.[4] She gave a series of readings on the "Meaning of Happiness," which proved exceedingly popular.[4] She also spoke on the plight of divided Poland and asked her audience to express their feelings for this cause.[5][6]
Alma Tadema had a close association with Poland. She was secretary of the "Poland and the Polish Victims Relief Fund" from 1915 to 1939. She was an admirer and long-term associate of Ignacy Jan Paderewski both as far as his music and political activities were concerned, notably on Polish independence.[7] Alma-Tadema maintained a long-correspondence from him from 1915 to the end of her life. She never married and died in a nursing home in London in 1940.[1][7]
Writing[]
Her debut novel, Love's Martyr, was published in 1886. In addition to her own collections of stories and poems, which she often published herself, Alma-Tadema wrote 2 novels, songs, and works on drama; she also made translations. She contributed widely to periodicals, notably The Yellow Book, and also edited one herself.[1] Some of Alma-Tadema's plays were successfully produced in Germany.[4] The Orlando Project says of Alma-Tadema's writing that the "characteristic tone is one of intense emotion, but in prose and verse she has the gift of compression".[1]
Recognition[]
Alma-Tadema's poem "If No One Ever Marries Me", written in 1897 and published in Realms of Unknown Kings,[8] was included in 1900 in the musical score, The Daisy Chain,: Cycle of twelve songs of childhood by Liza Lehmann,[9] and in 1922 in the musical score Little girls composed by Louise Sington.(Citation needed) It was revived as a song in the 21st century by Natalie Merchant on her double album Leave Your Sleep.[10][11]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Realms of Unknown Kings. London: Grant Richards, 1897.
- Songs of Womanhood. London: Grant Richards, 1903.
- A Few Lyrics. London: Elkin Mathews, 1909.
- A Gleaner's Sheaf: Verses. London: St. Martin's Press, 1927.
- The Divine Orbit: Seventeen sonnets. Wittersham, Kent, UK: printed by Finden Brown, 1933.
Plays[]
- One Way of Love: A play. Edinburgh: R. & R. Clark, 1893.
- Four plays. London: Green Sheaf, 1905.
Novels[]
- Love's Martyr. London: Longmans, Green, 1886; New York, D. Appleton, 1886.
- The Wings of Icarus: Being the life of one Emilia Fletcher. London & New York: Macmillan, 1894.
- The Fate-Spinner. London: E.B. Mortlock, 1900.
Short fiction[]
- The Crucifix: A Venetian fantasy, and other tales. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1895.
Non-fiction[]
- The Meaning of Happiness: A discourse. London:
- Poland, Russia and the war. London: St. Catherine Press, 1915.
Juvenile[]
- Songs of Childhood. Wrotham, Kent, UK: Herb o'Grace, 1902.
- Tales from my Garden: Three fairy tales. London: The Green Sheaf, 1906.
Translated[]
- Maurice Maeterlinck, Pelleas and Melisanda and the Sightless: Two plays. London: Walter Scott, 1895.
Edited[]
- The Herb o'Grace (periodical). Wrotham, Kent, UK: 1901-1902.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[12]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Susan Brown, Patricia Clements, & Isobel Grundy, Laurence Alma-Tadema, Orlando Project: Women's Writing in the British Isles from the Beginning to the Present. Web, August 16, 2011.
- ↑ She appears in the painting by her father This is our corner (http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=13422), 1873, also known as Laurense and Anna Alma-Tadema, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) as the young girl in the foreground holding papers. Her younger sister Anna is shown lying on the bed in the background.
- ↑ Source: www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton (Undated). "Lady Laura Alma-Tadema". Fine Art Database. Antiques and Fine Art Magazine. http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/artists/bio.cfm?id=147015. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Unattributed (1910–1912). "Miss Laurence Alma-Tadema". Every Woman's Encyclopaedia. London S.N.. http://chestofbooks.com/food/household/Woman-Encyclopaedia-2/Miss-Laurence-Alma-Tadema.html. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ↑ Unattributed (19 November 1907). "ASKS WOMEN TO AID POLAND.; Laurence Alma Tadema Wants Them to Help Sienklewicz's Plan.". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A05E0D7103EE033A2575AC1A9679D946697D6CF. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ↑ Unatributed (10 February 1908). "A RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS.; Miss Alma Tadema Here to Tell Americans How to Attain It.". http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9807E1DC113EE033A25753C1A9649C946997D6CF. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Translated by Laurence Alma Tadema. Originally published 1911. (Winter 2001). "Chopin: A Discourse". Polish Music Journal 4 (2). ISSN 1521–6039. http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/PMJ/issue/4.2.01/paderewskichopin.html. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ↑ Unattributed. "Laurence Alma-Tadema - "If No One Ever Marries Me"". ArtMagick Illustrated Poetry Collection. ArtMagick. http://www.artmagick.com/poetry/poem.aspx?id=12036&name=if-no-one-ever-marries-me. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ↑ "Album Information – LEHMANN: Daisy Chain (The) / Bird Songs / Four Cautionary Tales (English Song, Vol. 8)". ClassicsOnline. Naxos Digital Services Ltd.. 2011. http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=4366. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ↑ Merchant, Natalie (February 2010). "Natalie Merchant sings old poems to life". TED2010. TED Conference LLC. http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_merchant_sings_old_poems_to_life.html. Retrieved 13 August 2011.. See Interactive transcript for referred fact.
- ↑ "If No One Ever Marries Me – Laurence Alma-Tadema (1865–1940) (The Official Natalie Merchant Website | Leave Your Sleep | Read | If No One Ever Marries Me)". The Official Natalie Merchant Website. http://www.nataliemerchant.com/r/leave-your-sleep/lyrics/if-no-one-ever-marries-me. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ↑ Search results = au: Laurence Alma-Tadema, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, June 27, 2013.
External links[]
- Poems
- "The Call of the Green"
- Laurence Alma-Tadema pome ("Playgrounds") at the Academy of American Poets
- Laurence Alma Tadema 1864-1940 at the Poetry Foundation
- Books
- Works by Laurence Alma-Tadema at Project Gutenberg
- Laurence Alma-Tadema at Amazon.com
- Works by or about Laurence Alma-Tadema at Internet Archive
- About
- Laurence Alma-Tadema at the Orlando Project
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