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'''Alice Ethel Richardson Coomaraswamy''' (born Richardson) aka '''Alice Coomara''' (1889 |
'''Alice Ethel Richardson Coomaraswamy''' (born Richardson) aka '''Alice Coomara''' (1889 – July 15, 1958) worked under the stage name of '''Ratan Devī'''. She recorded Indian music and was a performer of Hindu songs and poems. She went on concert tours in Britain and America. Her contribution as an early advocate of Indian culture is said to have been lost to history. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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She was born in October of 1889 in [[Sheffield, England]] as Alice Ethel Richardson, to George Richardson and Sarah Faulkner.<ref name=obit/>{{sfn|Crooks|2011|pages= |
She was born in October of 1889 in [[Sheffield, England]] as Alice Ethel Richardson, to George Richardson and Sarah Faulkner.<ref name=obit/>{{sfn|Crooks|2011|pages=66–67}} |
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In 1907 Alice visited her friend [[Philip Mairet]] who was part of the same group of artists as art historian [[Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy]] and his wife the hand weaver and dyer [[Ethel Mairet|Ethel Coomaraswamy]]. The following year she began an affair with Ananda. Ethel had not delivered an heir and her husband wanted a child. He made no secret of his affair and eventually proposed that he should take a second partner. Ethel was aghast at this suggestion and vacated the marital home.{{sfn|Crooks|2011|pages=66 |
In 1907 Alice visited her friend [[Philip Mairet]] who was part of the same group of artists as art historian [[Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy]] and his wife the hand weaver and dyer [[Ethel Mairet|Ethel Coomaraswamy]]. The following year she began an affair with Ananda. Ethel had not delivered an heir and her husband wanted a child. He made no secret of his affair and eventually proposed that he should take a second partner. Ethel was aghast at this suggestion and vacated the marital home.{{sfn|Crooks|2011|pages=66–67}} |
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<!--[[file:Roshanara, and Alice Coomara as Ratan Devi on March 17, 1917 in Manhattan.jpg|thumb|left|[[Roshanara]] and Ratan Devi in 1917]]--> |
<!--[[file:Roshanara, and Alice Coomara as Ratan Devi on March 17, 1917 in Manhattan.jpg|thumb|left|[[Roshanara]] and Ratan Devi in 1917]]--> |
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Alice married Coomaraswamy in 1913 in [[St Pancras, London]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Margot |last1=Coatts |title=Mairet , Ethel Mary (1872–1952) |work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |origyear=2004 |date=October 2007 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39639 |accessdate=17 October 2015}} {{subscription}}</ref> They would in time have two children, Narada Coomaraswamy and Rohini Coomaraswamy.<ref name=obit/> Together they went to India and stayed on a houseboat in [[Srinagar]] in Kashmir.<ref name=open/> Commaraswamy studied [[Rajput painting]] whilst Alice studied Indian music with [[Abdul Rahim (misician)|Abdul Rahim]] of [[Kapurthala]].<ref name=open/> When they returned to England Alice performed Indian song under the stage name [[Ratan Devi]].{{sfn|Crooks|2011||page=67}} Alice was successful and toured around Britain where she would sing after an introductory talk by her husband.<ref name=open/> |
Alice married Coomaraswamy in 1913 in [[St Pancras, London]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Margot |last1=Coatts |title=Mairet , Ethel Mary (1872–1952) |work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |origyear=2004 |date=October 2007 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39639 |accessdate=17 October 2015}} {{subscription}}</ref> They would in time have two children, Narada Coomaraswamy and Rohini Coomaraswamy.<ref name=obit/> Together they went to India and stayed on a houseboat in [[Srinagar]] in Kashmir.<ref name=open/> Commaraswamy studied [[Rajput painting]] whilst Alice studied Indian music with [[Abdul Rahim (misician)|Abdul Rahim]] of [[Kapurthala]].<ref name=open/> When they returned to England Alice performed Indian song under the stage name [[Ratan Devi]].{{sfn|Crooks|2011||page=67}} Alice was successful and toured around Britain where she would sing after an introductory talk by her husband.<ref name=open/> |
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In 1913 she published "Thirty Songs from the Punjab and Kashmir" which was co-authored with her husband. The book gave the musical notation for thirty songs. The book included an introduction by [[Bengal]] polymath [[Rabindranath Tagore]] who was very gracious about Alice's singing.<ref name="ClaytonZon2007">{{cite book |first2=Bennett |last2=Zon |title=Music and orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s to 1940s: portrayal of the East |location=Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Burlington, Vermont |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd.|first1=Martin |last1=Clayton|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3cRlzq6mAzAC&pg=PA82|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7546-5604-3|pages=82 |
In 1913 she published "Thirty Songs from the Punjab and Kashmir" which was co-authored with her husband. The book gave the musical notation for thirty songs. The book included an introduction by [[Bengal]] polymath [[Rabindranath Tagore]] who was very gracious about Alice's singing.<ref name="ClaytonZon2007">{{cite book |first2=Bennett |last2=Zon |title=Music and orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s to 1940s: portrayal of the East |location=Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Burlington, Vermont |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd.|first1=Martin |last1=Clayton|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3cRlzq6mAzAC&pg=PA82|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7546-5604-3|pages=82–83}}</ref> Apart from the press she also received good reviews from the composer [[Percy Grainger]], the playwright [[George Bernard Shaw]] and the poet [[W. B. Yeats]].{{sfn|Crooks|2011|page=67}} |
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In 1916 Alice became pregnant as result of becoming involved in the [[sex magic]] rituals of the occultist and [[Ceremonial magic|magician]] [[Aleister Crowley]].<ref name="CrowleySkinner1996"/> Crowley attempted with no success to use further magic to create a "safe pregnancy".<ref name="CrowleySkinner1996"/> The pregnancy came to end in an unrelated miscarriage.<ref name="CrowleySkinner1996">{{cite book|author1=Aleister Crowley|author2=Stephen Skinner|title=Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley: Tunisia 1923|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iw4BG8TVzQUC&pg=PA7|year=1996|location=York Beach, Maine|publisher=S. Weiser, Weiser Books|isbn=978-0-87728-856-5| |
In 1916 Alice became pregnant as result of becoming involved in the [[sex magic]] rituals of the occultist and [[Ceremonial magic|magician]] [[Aleister Crowley]].<ref name="CrowleySkinner1996"/> Crowley attempted with no success to use further magic to create a "safe pregnancy".<ref name="CrowleySkinner1996"/> The pregnancy came to end in an unrelated miscarriage.<ref name="CrowleySkinner1996">{{cite book|author1=Aleister Crowley|author2=Stephen Skinner|title=Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley: Tunisia 1923|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iw4BG8TVzQUC&pg=PA7|year=1996|location=York Beach, Maine|publisher=S. Weiser, Weiser Books|isbn=978-0-87728-856-5|page=7}}</ref> Alice and her husband were both in America in 1917 where Ratan Devi did a concert tour.<ref name=open>[http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/alice-richardson Alice Richardson], Making Britain, [[Open University]], Retrieved 17 October 2015</ref> Whilst they were there Coomaraswamy was invited to serve as a research fellow regarding [[Indian art]] in the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Boston Museum of Fine Arts]] in 1917.<ref name=odnb>{{cite book |first1=G. R. |last1=Seaman |title=Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish (1877–1947) |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |origyear=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55201 |accessdate=17 October 2015}} {{subscription}}</ref> According to Crowley, Alice, pleaded with him to take her back but he said that he would only do this if she gave up her husband. Alice refused to do this. What is known is that Crowley wrote a story for "The International" that included a character named "Haramzada Swami" where Haramzada meant "bastard" in Hindustani.<ref name=times>{{cite news |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100502/Plus/plus_21.html |title=The savant and the occultist |first1=Richard |last1=Boyle |date=2 May 2010 |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] plus |accessdate=20 October 2015}}</ref> |
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Coomaraswamy divorced her before he married the American artist [[Stella Bloch]] who was taken to India and returned as an ethnic dancer.<ref name=odnb/> Alice married [[Francis Bitter]], becoming his first wife on May 31, 1928 in [[Manhattan, New York City]]. Bitter was known for inventing powerful magnets. Bitter worked for [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]] and was a professor at [[Caltech]] in [[Pasadena, California]] in 1930 and later the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref name=obit/> |
Coomaraswamy divorced her before he married the American artist [[Stella Bloch]] who was taken to India and returned as an ethnic dancer.<ref name=odnb/> Alice married [[Francis Bitter]], becoming his first wife on May 31, 1928 in [[Manhattan, New York City]]. Bitter was known for inventing powerful magnets. Bitter worked for [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]] and was a professor at [[Caltech]] in [[Pasadena, California]] in 1930 and later the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref name=obit/> |
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==Works== |
==Works== |
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*''Thirty Songs From the Panjab and Kashmir, Recorded by Ratan Devi with Introduction and Translations by Ananda-Kentish Coomarswamy and a Foreword by Rabindranath Tagore'' (London, Old Bourne Press 1913). |
*''Thirty Songs From the Panjab and Kashmir, Recorded by Ratan Devi with Introduction and Translations by Ananda-Kentish Coomarswamy and a Foreword by Rabindranath Tagore'' (London, Old Bourne Press 1913). |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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*{{cite book |url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1985/1/John_Cage's_Entanglement_with_the_Ideas_of_Coomaraswamy,_Ed_Crooks_PhD_thesis.pdf |format=[[PDF]] |title=John Cage’s Entanglement with the Ideas of Coomaras |
*{{cite book |url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1985/1/John_Cage's_Entanglement_with_the_Ideas_of_Coomaraswamy,_Ed_Crooks_PhD_thesis.pdf |format=[[PDF]] |title=John Cage’s Entanglement with the Ideas of Coomaras |
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wamy |first1=Edward |last1=Crooks |date=July 2011 |pages=66 |
wamy |first1=Edward |last1=Crooks |date=July 2011 |pages=66–67 |publisher=[[York University]] |accessdate=20 October 2015|ref=harv}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
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Revision as of 01:02, 25 October 2015
Alice Coomaraswamy | |
|---|---|
 Ratan Devi with a sitar in 1917 in Manhattan | |
| Born | Alice Ethel Richardson 1889 |
| Died | July 15, 1958 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Ratan Devi |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Spouse(s) | Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Francis Bitter |
Alice Ethel Richardson Coomaraswamy (born Richardson) aka Alice Coomara (1889 – July 15, 1958) worked under the stage name of Ratan Devī. She recorded Indian music and was a performer of Hindu songs and poems. She went on concert tours in Britain and America. Her contribution as an early advocate of Indian culture is said to have been lost to history.
Biography
She was born in October of 1889 in Sheffield, England as Alice Ethel Richardson, to George Richardson and Sarah Faulkner.[1][2]
In 1907 Alice visited her friend Philip Mairet who was part of the same group of artists as art historian Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy and his wife the hand weaver and dyer Ethel Coomaraswamy. The following year she began an affair with Ananda. Ethel had not delivered an heir and her husband wanted a child. He made no secret of his affair and eventually proposed that he should take a second partner. Ethel was aghast at this suggestion and vacated the marital home.[2]
Alice married Coomaraswamy in 1913 in St Pancras, London.[3] They would in time have two children, Narada Coomaraswamy and Rohini Coomaraswamy.[1] Together they went to India and stayed on a houseboat in Srinagar in Kashmir.[4] Commaraswamy studied Rajput painting whilst Alice studied Indian music with Abdul Rahim of Kapurthala.[4] When they returned to England Alice performed Indian song under the stage name Ratan Devi.[5] Alice was successful and toured around Britain where she would sing after an introductory talk by her husband.[4]
In 1913 she published "Thirty Songs from the Punjab and Kashmir" which was co-authored with her husband. The book gave the musical notation for thirty songs. The book included an introduction by Bengal polymath Rabindranath Tagore who was very gracious about Alice's singing.[6] Apart from the press she also received good reviews from the composer Percy Grainger, the playwright George Bernard Shaw and the poet W. B. Yeats.[5]
In 1916 Alice became pregnant as result of becoming involved in the sex magic rituals of the occultist and magician Aleister Crowley.[7] Crowley attempted with no success to use further magic to create a "safe pregnancy".[7] The pregnancy came to end in an unrelated miscarriage.[7] Alice and her husband were both in America in 1917 where Ratan Devi did a concert tour.[4] Whilst they were there Coomaraswamy was invited to serve as a research fellow regarding Indian art in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1917.[8] According to Crowley, Alice, pleaded with him to take her back but he said that he would only do this if she gave up her husband. Alice refused to do this. What is known is that Crowley wrote a story for "The International" that included a character named "Haramzada Swami" where Haramzada meant "bastard" in Hindustani.[9]
Coomaraswamy divorced her before he married the American artist Stella Bloch who was taken to India and returned as an ethnic dancer.[8] Alice married Francis Bitter, becoming his first wife on May 31, 1928 in Manhattan, New York City. Bitter was known for inventing powerful magnets. Bitter worked for Westinghouse and was a professor at Caltech in Pasadena, California in 1930 and later the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1]
In 1931 Alice and Ananda's son Narada Coomaraswamy announced that he planned to fly across the Pacific even though he had just 115 hours flying experience.[10]
Alice died of a heart ailment on July 15, 1958 at Phillips House at the Massachusetts General Hospital.[1] Martin Clayton identifies Alice as one of the significant women overlooked with regard to music in the British Empire.[6]
Works
- Thirty Songs From the Panjab and Kashmir, Recorded by Ratan Devi with Introduction and Translations by Ananda-Kentish Coomarswamy and a Foreword by Rabindranath Tagore (London, Old Bourne Press 1913).
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alice Coomaraswamy.
- ^ a b c d "Ratan Devi is Dead. Wife of Francis Bitter of M. I. T. Had Been a Singer". New York Times. July 15, 1958. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
- ^ a b Crooks 2011, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Coatts, Margot (October 2007) [2004]. Mairet , Ethel Mary (1872–1952). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) (subscription required) - ^ a b c d Alice Richardson, Making Britain, Open University, Retrieved 17 October 2015
- ^ a b Crooks 2011, p. 67.
- ^ a b Clayton, Martin; Zon, Bennett (2007). Music and orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s to 1940s: portrayal of the East. Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-0-7546-5604-3.
- ^ a b c Aleister Crowley; Stephen Skinner (1996). Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley: Tunisia 1923. York Beach, Maine: S. Weiser, Weiser Books. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-87728-856-5.
- ^ a b Seaman, G. R. Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish (1877–1947). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) (subscription required) - ^ Boyle, Richard (2 May 2010). "The savant and the occultist". The Sunday Times plus. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Would fly Pacific". The Ottawa Citizen. 6 June 1931. p. 14. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
Sources
- Crooks, Edward (July 2011). John Cage’s Entanglement with the Ideas of Coomaras wamy (PDF). York University. pp. 66–67. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); line feed character in|title=at position 52 (help)
External links
| International | |
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| National | |
