Stacy Madeleine Schiff (born October 26, 1961) is an American essayist. Her biography of Véra Nabokov won the 2000

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in biography. Schiff has also written biographies of French aviator and author of '' The Little Prince'', Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, colonial American-era polymath and prime mover of America's founding,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, Franklin's fellow Founding Father Samuel Adams, ancient Egyptian queen

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

, and the important figures and events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692–93 in colonial Massachusetts.

Early life and career

Schiff was born in

Adams, Massachusetts Adams is a town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,166 at the 2020 census. History Nathan Jones purchased the township of ...

, to Morton Schiff, the president of Schiff Clothing, a store founded by Schiff's great-grandfather in 1897, and Ellen, a professor of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

at North Adams State college (now called Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts). Schiff graduated from

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

(Andover) preparatory school, and subsequently earned her B.A. degree from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in 1982. She was a senior editor at

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

until 1990.

Career as author

Schiff won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for ''Véra'', a biography of Véra Nabokov, the wife and muse of the Russian-American novelist

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

. She was also a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for ''Saint-Exupéry: A Biography'' of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Schiff's ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'' (2005) won the George Washington Book Prize. It was made into '' Franklin'', a 2024 miniseries starring Michael Douglas. Her fourth book, ''Cleopatra: A Life'', was published in 2010. As ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'''s reviewer put it, "Schiff does a rare thing: She gives us a book we'd miss if it didn't exist." ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' termed the book "a work of literature"; Simon Winchester predicted "it will become a classic". ''Cleopatra'' appeared on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'''s Top Ten Books of 2010, and won the 2011 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography. Schiff's ''The Witches: Salem, 1692'' was published in 2015. ''The New York Times'' described it as "an almost novelistic, thriller-like narrative". David McCullough declared the book "brilliant from start to finish". Writing in the '' New York Times Book Review'', Jane Kamensky concluded, “For all her talents in sketching the who, what, where and when of the Salem trials, hevexed question of why is one that Schiff simply cannot manage.” Writing in ''

'', Felipe Fernández-Armesto found that Schiff offered "a trial narrative unsurpassed for detail and impressive for her mastery of the fragmentary and frustrating sources." Her essays and articles have appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''The New York Times'', ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', '' The Times Literary Supplement'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''., ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', and ''

'', among many other publications. A former guest columnist at ''The New York Times'', Schiff resides in New York City and is a trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Awards and honors

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, fellowship * 1995

finalist, ''Saint-Exupéry: A Biography'' * 1996 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, fellowship * 2000

, ''Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)'' * 2002 Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Fellowship,

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

* 2006 George Washington Book Prize, ''A Great Improvisation'' * 2011 Library Lion, New York Public Library * 2015 '' Lapham's Quarterly'' Janus Prize * 2016 Literary Light,

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...

* 2017 New England Historic Genealogical Society Lifetime Achievement Award in History and Biography *2018

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

, Chevalier des Arts et Lettres * 2019 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award *2019

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

* 2023 finalist, George Washington Book Prize, ''The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams'' * 2024 Colonial Dames of America Book Prize, ''The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams'' * 2024 William Hickling Prescott Award for Excellence in Historical Writing, Massachusetts Historical Society * 2024 Writer in Residence, American Library in Paris

Works

Books

* ; nominated for the 1995

* ; winner of 2000 Pulitzer Prize * ; published in the UK as ''Dr Franklin Goes to France'' * * *

Columns and reviews

References

External links

* *, includin
"Q&A – interview with Schiff"
November 6, 2011 * with Schiff on "New Books in Biography"
"Stacy Schiff, The Art of Biography No. 6"
'' The Paris Review'', Winter 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schiff, Stacy 1961 births Living people People from Adams, Massachusetts American biographers American book editors 21st-century American historians Writers from New York (state) Phillips Academy alumni Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Williams College alumni American women historians American women biographers American women journalists 21st-century American women writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Historians of the American Revolution American Egyptologists Historians of the Thirteen Colonies