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Ethel Lilian Voynich, ''née'' Boole (11 May 1864 – 27 July 1960) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and musician, and a supporter of several revolutionary causes. She was born in Cork, but grew up in England. Voynich was a significant figure, not only on the late Victorian literary scene, but also in Russian émigré circles. She is best known for her novel ''The Gadfly'', which became hugely popular in her lifetime, especially in Russia. ==Biography== Ethel Lilian Boole was born on 11 May 1864, at Lichfield Cottage, Blackrock, Ballintemple, Cork,〔Waddington, P. (2015), "Voynich (Boole ), Ethel Lilian (E. L. V. ) (1864–1960), novelist, translator, and musician", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography〕 the youngest daughter to the mathematician George Boole (father of Boolean logic), and the feminist philosopher〔Showalter 1977, p. 63.〕 Mary Everest,〔Sometimes given as ''Everett''. Showalter 1977, p. 63.〕 who was the niece of George Everest and a writer for ''Crank'', an early-20th-century periodical.〔Showalter 1977, pp.251–252.〕 Her father died six months after she was born. Her mother returned to her native England with her daughters, and was able to live off a small government pension until she was appointed librarian at Queen's College, London.〔 When she was eight, Ethel contracted erysipelas, a disease associated with poor sanitation. Her mother decided to send her to live in Lancashire with her brother, believing that it would be good for her health. Described as "a religious fanatic and sadist",〔 who regularly beat his children, he apparently forced Ethel to play the piano for hours on end. Ethel returned to London at the age ten. She became withdrawn, dressing in black and calling herself "Lily".〔 At the age of eighteen, she gained access to a legacy. This allowed her to study piano and musical composition at the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin, which she attended between 1882 and 85. During this period she became increasingly attracted to revolutionary politics. Back in London she learned Russian from Sergei Kravchinski, who encouraged her to go to Russia.〔 From 1887 to 1889 she worked as a governess in St. Petersburg, where she stayed with Kravchinski's sister-in-law, Preskovia Karauloff. Through her, she became associated with the revolutionary Narodniks.〔 After her return to the UK, she settled in London, where she became involved in pro-Revolutionary activity. With Kravchinski she founded the Society of Friends of Russian Freedom, and helped to edit ''Free Russia'', the Narodniks's English-language journal.〔Sally Mitchell, ''Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia'', Routledge, 2012, p.837.〕 She met Wilfrid Michał Habdank-Wojnicz, a revolutionary who had escaped from Siberia. He anglicised his name to Wilfrid Michael Voynich and became an antiquarian book dealer (giving his name to the Voynich manuscript). Soon he also became Ethel Boole's life-partner. By 1895, they were living together and she was calling herself Mrs. Voynich. They married in 1902.〔 In 1897 she published ''The Gadfly'', which was an immediate international success. She published three more novels ''Jack Raymond'' (1901), ''Olive Latham'' (1904) and ''An Interrupted Friendship'' (1910), but none matched the popularity of her first book.〔 The Voyniches emigrated to the United States in 1920, after Wilfred had moved the main base of his book business to New York. She concentrated more on music from this point on, working in a music school, but she continued her writing career as a translator, translating from Russian, Polish and French. A final novel, ''Put off thy Shoes'' was published in 1945.〔 Voynich was unaware of the vast sales of ''The Gadfly'' in the Soviet Union until she was visited by a Russian diplomat in 1955, who told her how highly regarded she was in the country. The following year Adlai Stevenson secured an agreement for the payment of royalties to her during a visit to the Soviet Union.〔Gray, Anne, ''The World of Women in Classical Music'', Seven LOCKS, 2007, P.886-7.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ethel Lilian Voynich」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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