Anna Swanwick (22 June 1813 – 2 November 1899)
/ref> was an English author and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

Life

Anna Swanwick was the youngest daughter of John Swanwick and his wife, Hannah Hilditch. She was born in Liverpool on 22 June 1813. The Swanwicks descended from Philip Henry, the 17th century nonconformist divine. Anna was educated chiefly at home, but, wishing to carry on her education beyond the typical age for girls in this country at that time, she went in 1839 to Berlin, where she studied German and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, and gained knowledge of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. She returned to England in 1843 and began translating some of the German dramatists. Her first publication, ''Selections from the Dramas of Goethe and Schiller'' appeared in 1843. The selections included

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's ''

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

'' and ''

Iphigenia in Tauris ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' (, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, ''Helen (play), Helen'', as well as the lost play ''Andromed ...

'', and

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's '' Maid of Orleans''. In 1850, she released a volume of translations from Goethe containing the first part of ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'', '' Egmont'', and the two plays of the former volume. The translations are in blank verse. In 1878, she published the second part of ''Faust''; the two parts with Moritz Retzsch's illustrations appeared together in one volume the same year. Miss Swanwick's ''Faust'' passed through many editions and was included in Bohn's series of translations from foreign classics. Her English version was considered accurate and spirited, and at the time was regarded as one of the best in existence. About 1850, Bunsen advised her to try her hand at translating from the

, with the result that in 1865 she published a blank-verse translation of the ''

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

'' of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

, and in 1873 of the whole of his dramas. The choruses are in rhymed metres. Her translation has passed through many editions and ranks high among English versions. It keeps fairly close to the original. Miss Swanwick did not confine herself to literary work. She took a keen interest in many social issues of the day, especially women's education, and in raising the moral and intellectual tone of the working classes. She was a member of the councils both of Queen's College and

Bedford College, London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advancement of women in highe ...

, and was for some time president of the latter. She assisted in the founding of

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, and

Somerville Hall Somerville College is a constituent college A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the Univer ...

, Oxford, and in extending the King's College lectures to women. To all these institutions she subscribed liberally. She was associated with Anthony John Mundella and Sir Joshua Girling Fitch in carrying out the provisions of the will of Mrs. Emily Jane Pfeiffer, who left in 1890 large sums of money for the promotion of the higher education of women. She strongly advocated the study of English literature in the universities, and herself lectured privately on the subject to young working men and women. Miss Swanwick's life was thus divided between literary pursuits and active philanthropy. She never sought publicity, but her example and influence had an important and invigorating effect on women's education and on their position in the community. She signed

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

's petition to parliament in 1865 for the political enfranchisement of women. The

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

conferred on her the honorary degree of LL.D. She was a Unitarian. Miss Swanwick was the centre of a large circle of distinguished friends, who included Crabb Robinson,

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

, Browning, Gladstone,

James Martineau James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British Christian philosophy, religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. He was the brother of the atheist social theory, social theorist, abolitionist Harriet M ...

, and Sir

James Paget Sir James Paget, 1st Baronet FRS HFRSE (11 January 1814 – 30 December 1899) (, rhymes with "gadget") was an English surgeon and pathologist who is best remembered for naming Paget's disease and who is considered, together with Rudolf Vir ...

, and these, with many others, were frequent visitors at her house. Her marvellous memory made her a delightful talker, and she was full of anecdotes in her later years about the eminent persons she had known. She died on 2 Nov. 1899 at Tunbridge Wells, and was buried in the Swanwick family plot on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

five days later. Her name appears on the Reformers' Memorial in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

References

;Attribution

Sources

* Mary L. Bruce, ''Anna Swanwick'' (London, 1903)

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanwick, Anna 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century English translators English feminist writers People associated with Girton College, Cambridge 1813 births 1899 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Writers from Liverpool 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English essayists People associated with Somerville College, Oxford