Ethel Lilian Voynich

-
Ethel Lilian Voynich , née Boole, was an Irish-born musician, novelist, translator and revolutionary, publishing in the 1890s and the first half of the twentieth century. She is renowned for her first novel, The Gadfly, though she did not learn of its international success and her worldwide popularity until five years before her death. Her following four novels were unable to rival its success. Music was always her foremost passion—she played the piano, wrote compositions, and taught both performing and composing.
Black and white photograph of Ethel Lilian Voynich, shown from the shoulders up. She is wearing a white smock over a dark dress with long sleeves, and a high, frilled neckline, and her hair is pulled back. Below, her signature is reproduced with a salutation: "Faithfully yours E. L. Voynich."

Milestones

11 May 1864

Ethel Lilian Boole, the future ELV , was born at Lichfield Cottage in Ballintemple, Ireland. She was the youngest of five daughters.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Oram, Hugh. An Irishman’s Diary.
MacHale, Desmond. The Life and Work of George Boole: A Prelude to the Digital Age. Cork University Press.
180, 286

June 1897

ELV published her first and most successful novel, The Gadfly, whose central character she later pursued further in An Interrupted Friendship, 1910, and Put Off Thy Shoes, 1945.
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press.
Oram, Hugh. An Irishman’s Diary.
Garlick, Barbara. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Editor Mitchell, Sally, Garland Publishing, Inc., p. 837.
837

After July 1945

Ending her hiatus in publishing fiction, ELV issued her final novel, Put Off Thy Shoes, which completed her trilogy that began with The Gadfly in 1897.
Her publisher, Heinemann , advertised this book as forthcoming on 28 July.
Ethel L. Voynich papers, 1928-1948. http://www.findingaids.loc.gov/db/search/xq/searchMfer02.xq?_id=loc.music.eadmus.mu010020&_faSection=overview&_faSubsection=bioghist.
Gray, Anne, and Pam Blevins. The World of Women in Classical Music. WordWorld Publications, pp. 876-7.
877
TLS Centenary Archive Centenary Archive [1902-2012]. http://www.gale.com/c/the-times-literary-supplement-historical-archive.
2269 (28 July 1945): 357

27 July 1960

At the age of ninety-six, ELV died in New York City of pneumonia.
Kennedy, Gerry. The Booles & The Hintons: Two dynasties that helped shape the modern world. Cork University Press.
269
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Gray, Anne, and Pam Blevins. The World of Women in Classical Music. WordWorld Publications, pp. 876-7.
877

Biography

Birth

11 May 1864

Ethel Lilian Boole, the future ELV , was born at Lichfield Cottage in Ballintemple, Ireland. She was the youngest of five daughters.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Oram, Hugh. An Irishman’s Diary.
MacHale, Desmond. The Life and Work of George Boole: A Prelude to the Digital Age. Cork University Press.
180, 286

Please click on login button to check your access and/or enter your credentials. Alternatively if you don’t have access, please click on “Subscribe”.

Log inSubscribe