Frances Winwar Explained

Frances Winwar (née Francesca Vinciguerra; 3 May 1900 – 24 July 1985), was a Sicilian-born American biographer, translator, and fiction writer.

Early life

Winwar was born Francesca Vinciguerra in Taormina, Sicily and came to the United States through Ellis Island in June 1907.^[1] Her pseudonym Winwar is an calque of her birth name; she was required to change her name as a condition of publishing her first book.^[2] She was the daughter of Domenico Vinciguerra and the singer Giovanna Sciglio and after emigrating to the United States the family settled in New York.^[3] Winwar studied at Hunter College and Columbia University.

Career

Winwar started her career at The Masses magazine at the age of 18. Following the publication of an essay in The Freeman in 1923 she worked for the magazine and did further work for the New York Times, New Republic and the Saturday Review of Literature.

Winwar is best known for her series of romanticized biographies of nineteenth century English writers. She was also a frequent translator of classic Italian works into English and published several romantic novels set during historical events.^{[1] [4] [5] [6]}

In the 1930s and 1940s, Winwar was an outspoken opponent of Italian Fascism.^[1]

Winwar died in New York in 1985.

The Frances Winwar collection of manuscripts and correspondence is held at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.^[7]

Family

Her husbands were:

1. V.J. Jerome (né Jerome Isaac Romaine; 1896–1965), writer, communist propagandist (married 1919);
2. Bernard David N. Brebanier (1903–1977), educator (married 1925; divorced 1942);
3. Richard Wilson Webb (1901–1966), mystery novelist (married 1943);
4. Francis duPont Lazenby, Ph.D. (1916–2003) (married 1949; divorced 1953); after divorcing; Lazenby, in 1955, joined the faculty at the University of Notre Dame; in 1971, after 25 years at Notre Dame, while Associate Professor of Modern and Classical Languages, Notre Dame named him Professor Emeritus.

Further reading

• Book: Bona . Mary Jo . Mary Jo Bona . LaGumina . Salvatore J.. etal . The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia . Routledge . 2003 . 9781135583330 . Winwar, Frances (1900–1985) . https://books.google.com/books?id=JUyAAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA680.
• Peragallo, Olga (1949) Italian-American Authors (New York)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Winwar, Frances. Wepman. Dennis. 2010. American National Biography Online. 11 July 2012.
2. Book: Barolini. Helen. The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women. 1985. Schocken Books. 0-8052-3972-3. 6. Helen Barolini. registration.
3. Web site: Frances Winwar. Sicily Art Experience. en-US. 2020-03-08.
4. Web site: Winwar, Frances Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com. 2020-03-08.
5. News: Salem's History Is Here Retold in a Vivid Narrative; Frances Winwar's Story of a Puritan City Through 250 Years Is Made Lively by Good Writing. 1938-09-04. The New York Times. 2020-03-08. en-US. 0362-4331.
6. Gimbel. Richard. 1959. Book Review: The Haunted Palace, A Life of Edgar Allan Poe, by Frances Winwar. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 83 . 3 . 355–7.
7. Web site: Collection - Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. archives.bu.edu. 2020-03-08.