Elsie Spicer Eells (September 21, 1880 – May 24, 1963) was an American researcher of

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

with Iberian roots and a writer who traveled in the early years of the twentieth century across the Atlantic basin. She is noted for the publication of several collections of short stories and legends based on the oral tradition of various regions she visited, including

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

Biography

Born Eusebia Spicer in West Winfield, New York. She married Burr Gould Eells, a superintendent of schools established by the Presbyterian Board of Missions in Brazil, where she lived for three years. Having traveled in the 1920s and 1930s to various countries as a researcher at

The Hispanic Society of America The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, it ...

in New York, something unusual at the time, Elsie Spicer Eells was the author of numerous works, including ''Fairy Tales from Brazil'' (1917), ''Tales of Giants from Brazil'' (1918), ''The Islands of Magic Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales from the Azores'' (1922), ''South America's Story'' (1931), and ''Tales of Enchantment from Spain'' (1950). Part of her work on traditional Brazilian tales was inspired by

Sílvio Romero Sílvio Vasconcelos da Silveira Ramos Romero (April 21, 1851 – June 18, 1914) was a Brazilian " Condorist" poet, essayist, literary critic, professor, journalist, historian and politician. He founded and occupied the 17th chair of the Brazilian ...

's collection of '' Popular Tales of Brazil'' ( pt). She was a contributing writer for several New York magazines, including '' The Outlook'' and ''

The Delineator ''The Delineator'' was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name ''The Metropolitan Monthly.'' Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was publis ...

.'' Elsie Spicer Eells died in

Volusia, Florida Volusia (, ) is an unincorporated community in Volusia County, Florida, United States, on the eastern shore of the St. Johns River. It is about three miles south of Lake George and across the river from the town of Astor in Lake County. Establ ...

, on May 24, 1963 at the age of 82.

Works

* '' Fairy Tales from Brazil'' (1917) * ''Tales of Giants from Brazil'' (1918) * ''The Islands of Magic Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales from the Azores'' (1922) * ''The Magic Tooth and Other Tales From the Amazon'' (1927) * ''South America's Story'' (1931) * ''Tales of Enchantment from Spain'' (1950).

References

External links

The Islands of Magic Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales from the AzoresFairytalez: Elsie Spicer EellsElsie Spicer Eells: ''The Islands of Magic''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eells, Elsie Spicer 20th-century American women writers Brazilianists 1880 births 1963 deaths Women folklorists