Maria Francesca Rossetti
Maria Francesca Rossetti | |
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| File:Maria Francesca Rossetti um 1874.jpg | |
| Born | 17 February 1827 London, England |
| Died | 24 November 1876 (aged 49) London, England |
| Occupation | Writer, nun |
| Notable works | The Shadow of Dante: Being an Essay Towards Studying Himself, His World and His Pilgrimage. |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
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Maria Francesca Rossetti (17 February 1827 – 24 November 1876) was an English author and Anglican nun. She was the sister of artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Michael Rossetti, and of Christina Georgina Rossetti, who dedicated her 1862 poem Goblin Market to Maria.
Maria Francesca’s literary work includes A Shadow of Dante: Being an Essay Towards Studying Himself, His World, and His Pilgrimage, published in 1871, which reflects her deep engagement with Dante Alighieri’s writings and Italian literary culture. In 1874, at the age of 47, she entered the Society of All Saints, an Anglican order of women.[1]
Her younger sister Christina devoted her 1862 poem Goblin Market to Maria Francesca, acknowledging the bond between them. Maria Francesca died in November 1876 after a period of illness, leaving a legacy of writing and religious dedication.[2]
Life
[edit | edit source]She acted as a governess during the years of family hardship brought on by her father's failing health, and tutored a young Lucy Madox Brown, a future sister-in-law. Her siblings teased her about her plain appearance, nicknaming her 'Moony' for her rounded face.[3]
She was a friend of John Ruskin, having visited his home at Denmark Hill, and at 28 she developed romantic feelings for him after his marriage was annulled,[4] though she never married. Her sister Christina volunteered at the London Diocesan Penitentiary in Highgate from 1859 to 1870 and for much of that time Maria joined her there.[5]
At the age of 46, Maria joined the Society of All Saints, an Anglican order for women. Lucy Madox Brown wanted to paint her in her habit.[6] She made an English translation of the Monastic Diurnal for her order, The Day Hours and Other Offices as Used by the Sisters of All Saints, which was used by her order until 1922.
Maria died of ovarian cancer in 1876, despite drawn-out treatments to try to drain the tumour.[7] She unsuccessfully attempted to convert her agnostic brothers on her death bed.[8] She was buried in the convent plot at Brompton Cemetery.
Works
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On Dante
[edit | edit source]- A Shadow of Dante: being an essay towards studying himself, his world and his pilgrimage, Rivingtons, London, 1871, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). edition Hathi Trust Digital Library
- Dante's Pilgrimage Through Hell, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Dante's Pilgrimage Through Purgatory, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Dante's Pilgrimage Through Paradise, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Dante's Life Experience, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Other
[edit | edit source]- Exercises in idiomatic Italian through literal translation from the English, Williams and Norgate, London 1867, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). edition Internet Archive
- Aneddoti italiani: Italian anecdotes, selected from "Il compagno del passeggio Campestre", Williams and Norgate, London 1867, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). edition Internet Archive
- Letters to My Bible Class on Thirty-nine Sundays, Nabu Press A, 2011, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- The rivulets; a dream not all a dream, A. Dod, London, 1846, OCLC 42216558
See also
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References
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Elkin, SusanRossetti, Maria Francesca (1827–1876), author and Anglican nun [1]
- ^ Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985), p. 114; Dinah Roe,The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 166–168.
- ^ Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985), p. 185.
- ^ Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985), p. 313.
- ^ Dinah Roe, The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 289–292.
- ^ Dinah Roe, The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 292–293.
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Susan Elkin, Rossetti, Maria Francesca (1827–1876), author and Anglican nun [2]
- Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985)
- Dinah Roe, The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- 1827 births
- 1876 deaths
- English people of Italian descent
- Polidori–Rossetti family
- Writers from London
- English literary critics
- British women literary critics
- English Anglicans
- Burials at Brompton Cemetery
- Victorian women writers
- Victorian writers
- 19th-century English non-fiction writers
- 19th-century English women writers
- 19th-century English journalists
- Rossetti family