Nina Larrey Duryea (August 11, 1874 — November 1, 1951) was an American writer, decorated for her relief work during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Nina Larrey Smith was born in

Cohasset, Massachusetts Cohasset is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 8,381. History Cohasset was inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans prior to European colonization, from whom English c ...

, the daughter of Franklin Waldo Smith and Laura Bevan Smith. Her father was a merchant in Boston, and a founder of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

in the United States. She was educated in Boston and in Belgium."Mrs. Duryea Dead; War Work Leader"
''New York Times'' (November 3, 1951): 17.

Career

Books by Duryea included ''Tales of St. Augustine'' (1891), ''Among the Palms'' (1903), ''House of Seven Gabblers'' (1911), ''The Voice Unheard: A Story of Dinard'' (1913), ''A Sentimental Dragon'' (1916), ''The Soul of Fighting France'' (1918), ''Mallorca the Magnificent'' (1927), and ''The Pride of Maura'' (1932). Of Duryea's ''A Sentimental Dragon'', a magazine editor promised that "the characters are very much alive, the situations are drawn with deft and delicious humor, and the dialogue is filled with sparkling brilliants and epigrams that make one stop to read them a second time." Duryea spent her summers in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. In autumn of 1914, ''Life'' magazine, ''The New York Times'', and many other news outlets published Duryea's letters describing the refugees arriving in her town, Duryea founded Duryea War Relief (Secours Duryea) at

Dinard Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine Departments of France, department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'� ...

. From a base in

Roye, Somme Roye (; pcd, Roé) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Roye is situated at the junction of the A1 autoroute and the N17 road, on the banks of the Avre, some southeast of Amiens. Population ...

, and a depot at

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, she and her assistants distributed clothing, food, garden tools, medicine and other necessities to over 70,000 war survivors and refugees. Her organization also opened a children's center offering meals and a safe playground (while outdoor play was still dangerous from shrapnel, explosives and other hazards), a hospital for children with tuberculosis, and an orphanage. Duryea was named a member of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

for her work, with further decorations from Belgium, Italy, Russia and Montenegro. After the war, she served as vice president of the International Revival of Industrial Arts, building a market for handicrafts from war-affected regions. She also invented a textile named Sona and a garment called Torsolite, for protective use in hazardous situations. In 1919, a comedy by Duryea, ''Mrs. Drummond's War Relief'', was produced in New York, directed by

Hilda Spong Hilda Spong (14 May 1875 London – 16 May 1955 Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population ...

, with Duryea and others raising funds and giving speeches about post-war reconstruction during intermissions. Another play by Duryea, ''Love — Common or Preferred'', was produced as a fundraiser in 1932.

Personal life

Nina Larrey Smith married Chester Burrell Duryea, an inventor, in 1898. They had one son, Chester, before separating in 1903."Mrs. Duryea's Suit Heard"
''New York Times'' (February 25, 1903): 16. Her ex-husband was committed to New York's Matteawan State Hospital after killing his father, Civil War general Hiram Duryea, in 1914. She died in 1951, at

Great Barrington, Massachusetts Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, ...

, aged 77 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duryea, Nina Larrey 1874 births 1951 deaths American women in World War I American women writers American philanthropists People from Cohasset, Massachusetts