Marie Louise Van Vorst (November 23, 1867 – December 16, 1936) was an American writer, researcher, painter, and volunteer nurse during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Marie Louise Van Vorst was born in New York City, the daughter of Hooper Cumming Van Vorst and Josephine Adele Treat Van Vorst. Her father was a judge on the New York City Superior Court and president of the Century Club.Edd Applegate
''Muckrakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers and Editors''
(Scarecrow Press 2008): 189–191.

Career

Van Vorst and her widowed sister-in-law, Bessie Van Vorst, moved to France and co-wrote novels together, including ''Bagsby's Daughter'' (1901). For ''The Woman Who Toils: Being the Experiences of Two Ladies as Factory Girls'' (1903), they went undercover at a pickle factory in Pittsburgh, ; a textile mill outside Buffalo, New York; a variety of sweat shops in Chicago; a shoe factory in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

; and a Southern cotton mill to learn about working women's lives. The book's introduction was written by

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. Marie Van Vorst also wrote regularly for '' Harper's Magazine'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

'', and other national publications.Montrose J. Moses
"Novelist and Red Cross Nurse: A Study of Marie Van Vorst"
'' Book News Monthly'' (November 1915): 102–104. Van Vorst's books include ''Philip Longstreth'' (1902), ''Amanda of the Mill'' (1905), ''Miss Desmond'' (1905), ''The Sins of George Warrener'' (1906), ''The Sentimental Adventures of Jimmy Bulstrode'' (1908), ''In Ambush'' (1909), ''First Love'' (1910), ''The Girl from His Town'' (1910), ''The Broken Bell'' (1912), ''His Love Story'' (1913), ''Big Tremaine'' (1914), ''Mary Moreland'' (1915), ''Fairfax and His Bride'' (1920), ''Tradition'' (1921), ''The Queen of Karmania'' (1922), ''Goodnight Ladies!'' (1931), and ''The Gardenia'' (1933). Three of her novels were adapted for silent films before 1920. During World War I, she volunteered as a field hospital worker at Neuilly-sur-Seine and Paris, and wrote ''War Letters of an American Woman'' (1916) about her experiences in the war zone. In the same year she published a book of poetry, ''War Poems'' (1916). She returned to the United States to give lectures and raise funds for American ambulances in France. In 1918, she took charge of a postwar relief organization in Italy. In 1922, Van Vorst was encouraged by artist Mary Foote to take up painting, and exhibited her art in New York City.

Personal life

Van Vorst in 1916 married widower Count Gaetano Cagiati in Paris in a small wedding ceremony at

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

. She later adopted a war orphan, a son she named Frederick John Barth Van Vorst. In 1936, while in Florence, Italy, she died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at the age of 69."Marie Van Vorst, Author, 69, is Dead"
''New York Times'' (December 18, 1936): 25.

References

External links

Two poems by Marie Van Vorst
at Allpoetry.com. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Vorst, Marie 1867 births 1936 deaths Writers from New York City American women writers American women artists American women in World War I