Frances Winwar
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Frances Winwar ''(née'' Francesca Vinciguerra; 3 May 1900 – 24 July 1985), was a Sicilian-born American
biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
,
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, and fiction writer.


Early life

Winwar was born Francesca Vinciguerra in Taormina, Sicily and came to the United States through
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
in June 1907. Her
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
''Winwar'' is an
calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language w ...
of her birth name; she was required to change her name as a condition of publishing her first book. She was the daughter of Domenico Vinciguerra and the singer Giovanna Sciglio and after emigrating to the United States the family settled in New York. Winwar studied at Hunter College and
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.


Career

Winwar started her career at ''
The Masses ''The Masses'' was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the United States from 1911 until 1917, when federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was ...
'' magazine at the age of 18. Following the publication of an essay in ''The'' ''Freeman'' in 1923 she worked for the magazine and did further work for the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', '' New Republic'' and the ''
Saturday Review of Literature ''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Norman Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, ess ...
''. Winwar is best known for her series of romanticized biographies of nineteenth century English writers. She was also a frequent translator of classic Italian works into English and published several romantic novels set during historical events. In the 1930s and 1940s, Winwar was an outspoken opponent of Italian Fascism. Winwar died in New York in 1985. The Frances Winwar collection of manuscripts and correspondence is held at the
Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery b ...
at
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
.


Selected published works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Family

Her husbands were:
  1. V.J. Jerome ''(né'' Jerome Isaac Romaine; 1896–1965), writer, communist propagandist (married 1919);
  2. Bernard David N. Brebanier (1903–1977), educator (married 1925; divorced 1942);
  3. Richard Wilson Webb (1901–1966), mystery novelist (married 1943);
  4. Francis duPont Lazenby, Ph.D. (1916–2003) (married 1949; divorced 1953); after divorcing; Lazenby, in 1955, joined the faculty at the
    University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
    ; in 1971, after 25 years at Notre Dame, while Associate Professor of Modern and Classical Languages, Notre Dame named him ''
    Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
    .


References


Further reading

* *Peragallo, Olga (1949) ''Italian-American Authors'' (New York) {{DEFAULTSORT:Winwar, Frances 1900 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American novelists American women novelists Italian–English translators Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American translators 20th-century American biographers American women biographers American anti-fascists