Dorothy Helen Cornish (1 October 1870 – 7 October 1945) was an English Montessori educator, suffragist, translator, writer. She was a co-creator and editor of the feminist gender studies journal Urania.

Dorothy Cornish
Born
Dorothy Helen Cornish

(1870-10-01)1 October 1870
Sixhills, England
Died7 October 1945(1945-10-07) (aged 75)
Sidmouth, England
Occupation(s)Montessori educator, activist, translator, writer
Known forCo-founding and editing Urania
Relatives

Biography edit

Cornish was born in Sixhills, Lincolnshire, on 1 October 1870. Her father was Rev. Frank Fortescue Cornish, who was H.M. Inspector of Schools,[1] and her mother was Margaret Gertrude Garnier.[2] Her grandfather was Thomas Garnier the Younger and great grandfather was Thomas Garnier the Elder.[3] She moved with her family to Manchester at the age of six for her father's work.[1]

Cornish worked as a Montessori educator and acted as an interpreter for Maria Montessori for many of her English courses.[4]

Cornish was a member of the Aëthnic Union, along with Eva Gore-Booth, Esther Roper, Thomas Baty and Jessey Wade. In 1916, they co-founded the feminist journal Urania and she contributed as editor.[5] Cornish opposed children being indoctrinated into gender roles.[6] She moved to Siena in around 1895 and spent most of her life in Italy,[1] where she continued her work as co-editor of Urania.[7]

In 1914, she signed the Open Christmas Letter along with 100 other suffragists, including Gore-Booth and Roper.[8]

Cornish was a member of the Brontë Society,[1] and, in 1940, she published a novel about the Brontë sisters;[9] she also translated two French essays by Emily Brontë.[10]

Cornish died in Sidmouth, Devon, on 7 October 1945.[1]

Bibliography edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "Some Notes on Contributors". Brontë Society Transactions. 12 (2): 131. 1952. doi:10.1179/bronsoc.1952.12.2.131.
  2. ^ Tunley, Barbara Frances; Greenwell, Janet. "Cornish Genealogy 1600-2007" (PDF). ataridogdaze.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  3. ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004), "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10399, retrieved 9 March 2024
  4. ^ Kramer, Rita (2017). Maria Montessori: A Biography. New York: Diversion Books. ISBN 978-1-63576-109-2.
  5. ^ Tiernan, Sonja (16 May 2016). "Radical sexual politics and post-war religion". Eva Gore-Booth: An image of such politics. Manchester University Press. doi:10.7765/9780719094996.00019. ISBN 978-0-7190-9499-6.
  6. ^ White, Jenny (18 May 2021). "Jenny White reflects on the legacy of Urania". LSE Review of Books. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. ^ Clay, Catherine, ed. (2018). Women's Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain, 1918-1939: The Interwar Period. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 397. ISBN 978-1-4744-1254-4.
  8. ^ Oldfield, Sybil, ed. (2003). International Woman Suffrage: November 1914-September 1916. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-415-25738-1.
  9. ^ O'Connor, Sarah; Shepard, Christopher C., eds. (2009). Women, Social and Cultural Change in Twentieth Century Ireland: Dissenting Voices?. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-4438-0693-0.
  10. ^ "Museum Attendances: Some Comparisons". Brontë Society Transactions. 11 (5): 336–341. 1 January 1950. doi:10.1179/030977650796550074. ISSN 0309-7765.