Portrait of Leonora Speyer

Birthday profile

Leonora Speyer

Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (died 1956)

Born
November 7, 1872
Died
February 10, 1956
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1872

About Leonora Speyer

Leonora Speyer, Lady Speyer (née von Stosch; 7 November 1872 – 10 February 1956), was an American poet and violinist. == Life == She was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Count Ferdinand von Stosch of Manze in Silesia, who fought for the Union in the American Civil War, and Julia Schayer, who was a writer. She studied music in Brussels, Paris, and Leipzig, and played the violin professionally under the batons of Arthur Nikisch and Anton Seidl, among others. She first married Louis Meredith Howland in 1894, but they divorced in Paris in 1902. She then married banker Edgar Speyer (later Sir Edgar), of London, where the couple lived until 1915. Sir Edgar had German ancestry and following anti-German attacks on him that year, they moved to the United States and took up residence in New York, where Speyer began writing poetry. She won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her book of poetry Fiddler's Farewell. She had four daughters: Enid Howland with her first husband and Pamela, Leonora, and Vivien Claire Speyer with her second husband. == Awards == Golden Rose Award Pulitzer Prize == Legacy == American composer Gertrude Martin Rohrer (1875–1968) used Speyer’s text for her vocal quartet Wood-nymph. == Selected works == "April on the Battlefields", The Second Book of Modern Verse (1919).

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Leonora Speyer was born

Leonora Speyer was born in 1872. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1872

  • Best-selling bookAround the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineYellowstone established as first national park
  • Technology milestoneCelluloid (first plastic) manufacturing begins
  • World population~1.52B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderUlysses S. Grant
  • U.S. population40.2M

1872 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Leonora Speyer's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18722026
Population40.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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