Elisabeth van Dedem Lecky (15 April 1842 – 23 May 1912; née Catharina Elisabeth Boldewina Baroness van Dedem) was a Dutch-Irish writer, historian and suffragist.

Background

Elisabeth Lecky van Dedem was born in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. She was a member of the Dutch aristocratic Van Dedem family, who were prominent in the industrial development of the Netherlands. Her parents were lieutenant general Willem Karel Jan baron van Dedem and Anna Philippina Catharina baroness Sloet van Hagensdorp. Her brother was the lawyer and politician Willem Karel van Dedem. In her youth, she served as lady-in-waiting to

Sophie of Württemberg Sophie of Württemberg (Sophie Friederike Matilda; 17 June 1818 – 3 June 1877) was Queen of the Netherlands as the first wife of King William III. Sophie separated from William in 1855 but continued to perform her duties as queen in public. ...

. In 1871, she married

William Edward Hartpole Lecky William Edward Hartpole Lecky, (26 March 1838 – 22 October 1903) was an Irish historian, essayist, and political theorist with Whiggism, Whig proclivities. His major work was an eight-volume ''History of England during the Eighteenth Century ...

, an Irish historian, essayist, political theorist, and provost of

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. She endowed the Lecky Chair of History at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

in her husband's honour. Her husband's mother, Isabella Wilmot, was the niece of early nineteenth-century travellers

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

and Katherine Wilmot. Lecky formed a friendship with Martha's daughter, Catherine Anne Daschkaw Brooke (née Bradford, and named after the sisters' host

Princess Dashkova Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Dashkova (born Countess Vorontsova; ; 28 March 1743 – 15 January 1810) This source reports that Prince Dashkov died in 1761. was an influential noblewoman, a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment and a close f ...

), who bequeathed her several of the Wilmot sisters' manuscripts. Lecky donated these manuscripts to the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

in 1903, which now form the Library's Wilmot-Dashkova Collection.

Career

Lecky was a prolific writer, contributing travel writing, political essays and editorial commentary to English periodicals including the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

'', ''

The Nineteenth Century ''The Nineteenth Century'' was a British monthly literary magazine founded in 1877 by James Knowles. It is regarded by historians as 'one of the most important and distinguished monthlies of serious thought in the last quarter of the nineteent ...

'', and ''Living Age''. She actively campaigned for human rights. She joined prominent suffragists in petitioning for the extension of Parliamentary suffrage alongside

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897–1919 led Brita ...

and

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She is known for being the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon and as a co-founder and dean of the London School o ...

in 1897. She raised funds and agitated on behalf of the Irish Distressed Ladies Fund, as well as for the higher education of women in Ireland through her support of

Alexandra College Alexandra College () is an independent day and boarding school for girls in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its name from Princess Alexandra of ...

, Dublin. Lecky also engaged in biographical and historical writing. In 1900, she edited and introduced the military autobiography of her ancestor, Anton Boudewijn Gijsbert van Dedem van Gelder. Following her husband William Lecky's death she wrote his biography, ''A Memoir of the Right Honourable William Edward Hartpole Lecky, Member of the French Institute and of the British Academy'' (1909), and edited a posthumous collection of his essays, ''Historical and Political Essays'' (1908).

References

External links

* Lecky, Elisabeth van Dedem, ''A memoir of the Right Hon. William Edward Hartpole Lecky, member of the French Institute and of the British Academy'' (1909), Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Lecky, Elisabeth van Dedem 1842 births 1912 deaths 19th-century Dutch writers Dutch emigrants to the United Kingdom Dutch suffragists People from Deventer