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E. M. Almedingen

Summary

E. M. Almedingen (born Marta Aleksandrovna Almedingen, also known as Martha Edith Almedingen or von Almedingen; 21 July 1898 – 5 March 1971) was a British novelist, biographer, children's author,[2] and member of the Royal Society of Literature.[1][2]

E. M. Almedingen
Born
Marta Aleksandrovna Almedingen

(1898-07-21)21 July 1898
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died5 March 1971(1971-03-05) (aged 72)
England
Resting placeSt James Churchyard, Ashwick, Somerset, England[1]
Occupation(s)Biographer, children's author, novelist
Parents
  • Alexander Almedingen (father)
  • Olga Sergeevna (mother)

Family edit

On her mother's side, she was descended from the aristocratic Poltoratsky family; her maternal grandfather was Serge Poltoratzky, the literary scholar and bibliophile who ended his days in exile, shuttling between France and England. His second wife, Ellen Sarah Southee, the daughter of an English gentleman farmer, grew up in Kent, and was related to poet Robert Southey. Their children had English governesses and grew up speaking English. Their daughter and the novelist's mother, Olga Sergeevna, grew up in Kent— but, fascinated by her father's native Russian, moved to Russia in 1800s. There, she married Alexander Almedingen,[3] who had turned his back on his family's military traditions to become a scientist.

Early life edit

After her father abandoned his family in 1900, they increasingly lived in impoverishment. Despite this, the author was able to attend the Kseniinsky Institute in 1913[2] and eke out a living in the increasingly desperate times of the Russian revolution and civil war. She received the highest honors in history and literature at Kseniinsky.[2] She transferred from Kseniinsky to Petrograd University in 1916, where she attended until she earned her first doctorate in 1920.[1][4]

Career edit

From 1920, Almedingen taught English history and literature at Petrograd University.[1] She then emigrated to England in 1923, where she began work as a journalist.[1] She settled in Shropshire, living initially at Worfield,[5] and later at Church Stretton by time of the Second World War.[6]

In parallel, she dabbled in fiction writing with works such as “An Examination in Diplomacy”, before ultimately going on to publish upwards of 60 books over the next several decades.[2] Despite her wide range of work from biography to poetry, she became well-known for her children's novels in particular.[7] Almedingen wrote two historical novels: The Lion of the North (1938), about Charles XII of Sweden, and Fair Haven (1956), about Peter the Great.[8] In 1951, she became a lecturer in Russian literature at Oxford University.[1]

In 1941 she won the $5,000 Atlantic Monthly nonfiction prize for one of her autobiographical works, Tomorrow Will Come. Five years later she moved to Frogmore, a house near Upton Magna in Shropshire, where she remained until her death.[9]

Bibliography edit

[2]

Fiction edit

  • “An Examination in Diplomacy” (1929)[10]
  • Young Catherine (1938)
  • The Lion of the North: Charles XII, King of Sweden (1938)[11]
  • She Married Pushkin (1939)
  • Frossia (1943)
  • Dasha (1944)
  • The Golden Sequence (1949; Published in England as The Inmost Heart)
  • Flame on the Water (1952)
  • Stand Fast, Beloved City (1954)[12]
  • Life of Many Colours: The Story of Grandmother Ellen; US edition: A Very Far Country (1958)
  • Fair Haven (1956)
  • Stephen's Light (1956)
  • The Scarlet Goose (1957)
  • The Little Stairway; US edition: Winter in the Heart (1960)
  • Dark Splendour (1961)
  • One Little Tree: A Christmas Card of a Finnish Landscape (1963)
  • The Knights of the Golden Table (1963)
  • The Treasure of Siegfried (1964)
  • The Ladies at St. Hedwig's (1965)
  • Little Katia (1966)
  • The Story of Gudrun; based on the Third Part of the Epic of Gudrun (1967)
  • Young Mark: The Story of a Venture (1967)[13]
  • Candle at Dusk (1969)
  • Too Early Lilac (1970)
  • Ellen (1970)
  • The Crimson Oak (1983)

Non-fiction edit

  • Pilgrimage of a Soul (1934)
  • Through Many Windows Opened by the Book of Common Prayer (1935)
  • From Rome to Canterbury (1937)
  • Tomorrow Will Come (1941, 1961, 1964)
  • Dom Benard Clements: A Portrait (1945)
  • The Almond Tree (1947)
  • Within the Harbour (1950)
  • Late Arrival (1952)
  • So Dark a Stream: A Study of the Emperor Paul I of Russia, 1754-1801 (1959)
  • The Young Pavlova (1960)
  • Catherine: Empress of Russia (1961)
  • The Empress Alexandra, 1872-1918: A Study (1961)
  • The Emperor Alexander II: A Study (1962)
  • Catherine the Great: A Portrait (1963)
  • The Young Leonardo da Vinci (1963)
  • The Emperor Alexander I (1964)
  • A Picture History of Russia (1964)
  • An Unbroken Unity: A Memoir of Grand Duchess Serge of Russia, 1864-1918 (1964)
  • The Young Catherine the Great (1965)
  • Retreat from Moscow (1966)
  • The Romanovs: Three Centuries of an Ill-Fated Dynasty (1966)[14]
  • St. Francis of Assisi (1967)
  • Charlemagne: A Study (1968)[15]
  • I Remember St. Petersburg (1969)
  • Rus into Muscovy: The History of Early Russia (1971); US edition: Land of Muscovy: The History of Early Russia (1972)
  • Anna (1972)

Poetry edit

  • Poloniae Testamentum (1942)
  • Out of Seir (1943)
  • The Unnamed Stream and Other Poems (1965)

Plays edit

  • Storm at Westminster: A Play in Twelve Scenes (1952)

Compilations edit

  • Russian Fairy Tales (1958)
  • Russian Folk and Fairy Tales (1963)
  • Fanny (Frances Hermione de Poltoratzky, 1850-1916) (1970)

Translations edit

  • The Lord's Passion (1940)

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f "АЛЬМЕДИНГЕН" [Almedingen]. Necropolis of the Russian Academic Diaspora (in Russian).
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Martha Edith von Almedingen". Contemporary Authors Online. Gale. 2003. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  3. ^ E. M. Almedingen, Tomorrow Will Come (Holt Rinehart Winston, 1968), p. 19.
  4. ^ DePiero, Deborah Lucia (2007). "E.M. Almedingen". Guide to the Literary Masters & Their Works. Retrieved 30 December 2015 – via EBSCOhost.
  5. ^ Dickens, Gordon (1987). An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire. Shropshire Libraries. pp. 1, 120. ISBN 0-903802-37-6.
  6. ^ An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire, pp.1,94.
  7. ^ Fryatt, Norma R. (1995). "Almedingen, E.M.". In Berger, Laura Standley (ed.). Twentieth Century Children's Writers (4th ed.). Detroit: St. James Press. pp. 22–24. ISBN 9781558621770.
  8. ^ Taylor, W.A (1957). Historical Fiction: National Book League Readers' Guides. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 13.
  9. ^ An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire, pp.1-2,117.
  10. ^ "Edith M. Almedingen". The Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  11. ^ The lion of the north : Charles XII-King of Sweden (Book, 1938). OCLC. OCLC 1063928075.
  12. ^ "Authors: Almedingen, E M". Science Fiction Encyclopedia. Gollancz. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  13. ^ Young Mark : the story of a venture (Book, 1969). OCLC. OCLC 671511051.
  14. ^ The Romanovs three centuries of an ill-fated dynasty (Book, 1967). OCLC. OCLC 1073682916.
  15. ^ Charlemagne: a study (Book, 1968). OCLC. OCLC 924478406.

Further reading edit

  • Biography, bibliography, tomb at the site "Necropolis of the Russian Academic Diaspora"[1]

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