Ariel Durant (; May 10, 1898 – October 25, 1981) was a Russian-born American researcher and writer. She was the coauthor of '' The Story of Civilization'' with her husband,

Will Durant William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains 11 volumes and details the history of eastern a ...

. They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.

Biography

Ariel Durant was born Chaya Kaufman in

Proskurov Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (dist ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (dist ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents Ethel Appel Kaufman and Joseph Kaufman. Ariel later went by Ida. The family emigrated in 1900, living for several months in London 1900–01 en route to the United States, where they arrived in 1901. She had three older sisters, Sarah, Mary, and Flora, and three older brothers, Harry, Maurice, and Michael. Flora became Ariel's companion and sometime assistant, and moved with the Durants to California. She met her future husband when she was a student at Ferrer Modern School in New York City. He was then a teacher at the school, but resigned his post to marry Ariel, who was 15 at the time of the wedding, on October 31, 1913. The wedding took place at New York's City Hall, to which she roller-skated from her family's home in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. The couple had one daughter, Ethel Benvenuta Durant (1919–1986) and adopted a son, CAPT Louis Richard "Lipschultz" Durant (1917–2008) who was the son of Ariel's sister Flora Kaufman Lipschultz and her former husband, Joseph Bernard Lipschultz (divorced 1928.) Louis had lived in Will and Ariel's home with his mother, Flora, when he was quite young (1920 Census). Ariel Durant legally changed her first name to Ariel after the character from Shakespeare's '' The Tempest'', which was the nickname her husband gave her because he said she was "strong and brave as a boy, and as swift and mischievous as an elf". The Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for '' Rousseau and Revolution'', the tenth volume of ''The Story of Civilization''. In 1977 they were presented with the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

by Gerald Ford, and Ariel was named "Woman of the Year" by the city of Los Angeles. The Durants received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

in 1976. The Durants wrote a 420-page joint autobiography, published by Simon & Schuster in 1978 (''A Dual Autobiography''; later ). The Durants died within two weeks of each other in 1981 and are buried at the

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue. The cemetery was ...

in Los Angeles, California. Ariel told Ethel's daughter, Monica Mehill, that it was their differences that made them grow.

References

External links

"Will Durant and Ariel Durant"
in

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

Ariel Durant's books
on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

Writer Hero: ARIEL DURANT
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Durant, Ariel 1898 births 1981 deaths People from Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine People from Proskurovsky Uyezd Ukrainian Jews American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Art Students League of New York alumni Jewish American historians American historians of philosophy 20th-century American memoirists American women historians American women memoirists Writers from Los Angeles Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery * 20th-century American historians 20th-century American women writers Ferrer Center and Colony Jewish Ukrainian social scientists Jewish women writers 20th-century American Jews World historians