Once upon a time there were two Victorian women who were best friends. Eleanor was, at 39, considered doomed to be a spinster by her aristocratic family, who vowed to send her to a nunnery. Sarah, age 23, was an orphan who was being pursued by her married and much older guardian. The women escaped from their homes dressed as men, and headed off to live a life of independence. Thus begins the Real Life … Continue reading Real Life Romance: The Ladies of Llangollen→
This month in Real Life Romance, I want to talk about Ahn Chang-ho (sometimes spelled Ahn Changho, and better known by his pen name, Dosan) and his wife Hye Ryon Lee (more frequently referred to as Helen, the name she used during her time in the United States). This couple spent most of their marriage apart, but they worked together seamlessly to promote Korean independence from Japan. Dosan was born in what is now North … Continue reading Real Life Romances: Dosan and Helen→
In this month’s Real Life Romance, we take a look at a brilliant eccentric, Margaret Cavendish, and her husband, William Cavendish, the Duke of Newcastle. William and Margaret married for love, and by all accounts they stayed in love through years of political exile, civil war, infertility, and economic struggle. Margaret became famous for her writing, which included a variety of genres and which she (scandalously) published under her own name. Margaret Lucas (1623 – … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Margaret and William Cavendish→
It’s time again for Real Life Romance, in which we discuss some of history’s most interesting couples. If you want relationship drama, look no further than the Tudors, and for drama with a more or less happy ending, behold Mary Tudor (not to be confused with Queen Mary I) and Charles Brandon, who risked everything to marry for love. Charles Brandon was an orphan. Because his father died in service to the throne, he was … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon→
This month I’m indebted to Celeste Bradley’s book I Thee Wed for bringing a Real Life Romance to my attention: Laura Bassi and Giuseppe Veratti. In a rather gratifying bit of role reversal, Giuseppe, who was a very active scientist, has fallen much more into obscurity than his scientist wife, Laura. Details about their marriage are lacking, but I was just too intrigued by the little I could discern to let this couple slip through my … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Laura Bassi and Giuseppe Veratti→
Wilmatte Porter Cockerell and her husband Theodore Alison Cockerell were a couple whose scientific research took them all over the world. Between the two of them, they contributed to the fields of botany, entomology, taxonomy, paleontology, evolution, and conservation. Wilmatte was born in Iowa in 1869. She graduated from Stanford University and became a university professor. Wilmatte never lost her passion for teaching. For much of their married lives she taught high school, and after … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Theodore and Wilmatte Porter Cockerell→
In this month’s Real Life Romance, I’m going to cheat a little bit and talk about two Real Life Romances. The first romance is that between Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray, his first wife. Anna and Frederick were married for forty-four years. During most of their married lives, they were separated by Fredrick’s work. Anna had the unglamorous job of holding down the fort and raising their five children. After she died, Frederick married Helen … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Frederick Douglass, Anna Murray, and Helen Pitts→
Back when I started the Real Life Romance column, I promised to bring you love stories that had an impact on history – but I never promised that those romances would be pretty. One of the messiest and most famous romances in literary history was between Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Their romance was full of tragedy and drama and mayhem, but it also gave us two literary geniuses who assisted and inspired … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Percy Shelley→
Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier were bright lights of the Lost Generation in post-WWI Paris. Although they were very private about their personal lives, their romance inspired and sustained both of them in their literary careers. Both were writers, publishers, and translators, but their greatest influences on literature were the result of their tireless economic and social support of the writers and artists of the era. Sylvia was born in Maryland. Her father was a … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier→
Long before a real life romance inspired the building of the Taj Mahal, India saw another real life romance play out in the royal family. The love story between Nur Jahan and Jahangir led to the expansion of the Mughal Empire, religious freedoms, and increased rights for women. It’s the story of a kickass woman and a man who liked her that way. Nur Jahan was born with the name Mohr-un-Nissa in what is now … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Nur Jahan and Jahangir→
This month in Real Life Romance, we talk about a particularly brilliant couple, Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. The Curie women all had amazing real life romances. Marie Curie’s real life romance with her husband, Pierre, is quite well known. If you’d like to learn more about it, I recommend a stunningly beautiful graphic novel, Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout, by Lauren Redniss. I gave it an A. Less famous, … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie→
