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Thelma Given

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American violinist (1896–1977)

Thelma Given Verdi
Thelma Given, photographed by Arnold Genthe, from a 1919 advertisement.
Born(1896-03-09)March 9, 1896
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedDecember 25, 1977(1977-12-25) (aged 81)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse Minturn de Suzzara Verdi ​ ​(m. 1943; died 1970)​

Thelma Mary Given Verdi (March 9, 1896 — December 25, 1977) was an American violinist and child musical prodigy.

Early life

Thelma Mary Given was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Decatur, Illinois, the daughter of James Frederick Given and Emma Jones Given. Her musical abilities were recognized by age 5. She studied with Leopold Auer in Russia. She toured Europe with Auer as a teenager, and was caught in the tumult of war and the Russian Revolution for almost a year before she and her mother were able to return to the United States.

Given in 1918.

Career

Given made her American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1918. She returned to the Carnegie Hall stage several times. She toured in the United States and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, given recitals and as guest soloist with orchestras. She played a Guarneri violin made in 1738.

Personal life

Given lived much of her adult life living with her mother and brother Eben Given (a painter), at Saranac Lake, and in the arts colony at Provincetown, Massachusetts, in social circles that included playwright Eugene O'Neill. She married in 1943, as the third wife of Minturn de Suzzara Verdi, a New York lawyer.

Thelma Given Verdi was widowed in 1970, and she died on Christmas Day, 1977, aged 81 years, in Boston, Massachusetts, after a stroke. Papers associated with Thelma Given, including concert programs, letters, and a clippings album of reviews, are archived by the Provincetown History Preservation Project.

References

  1. "Thelma Given Tells New York of Early Desire for Career" Decatur Herald (January 26, 1919): 17. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  2. Thelma Given's Biography, Provincetown History Preservation Project.
  3. Past and Present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois (S. J. Park Publishing Company 1903): 808-809.
  4. Peter Merritt, "Miss America – Alias Thelma Given" Everybody's Magazine (February 1919): 16.
  5. ^ "Thelma Given Verdi, 81, Violinist Who Was a Renowned Child Prodigy" New York Times (December 28, 1977): 35.
  6. "Apprehension for Women in Europe" Decatur Herald (January 24, 1915): 18. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  7. "Concert Stage Claims Former Decatur Girl" Decatur Herald (September 2, 1923): 13. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  8. Advertisement, Musical Courier (July 3, 1919): 30.
  9. "Thelma Given's New York Recital, Oct. 18" Musical Courier (July 24, 1919): 8.
  10. "Recital by Thelma Given" New York Times (December 1, 1929): 31.
  11. "Thelma Given is On Her Third European Tour" Decatur Evening Herald (March 9, 1928): 16. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  12. "Haensel and Jones to Direct Tours of Thelma Given" Musical America (February 7, 1920): 41.
  13. "Thelma Given at Carnegie Hall" The Violin World (August 1921): 137.
  14. It is not known where her violin ended up. "Deaf Girl 'Hears' Music" Decatur Daily Review (February 19, 1936): 12. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  15. "Thelma Given at Spion-Kop" Musical Courier (July 26, 1919): 26.
  16. "Thelma Given Summering At Provincetown" Musical Courier (September 1, 1921): 26.
  17. Louis Scheaffer, O'Neill: Son and Artist (Rowman & Littlefield 2002): 97-98. ISBN 9780815412441
  18. "Miss Thelma Given Wed" New York Times (May 28, 1943): 17.
  19. "Minturn deS. Verdi" New York Times (August 12, 1970): 41.
  20. Thelma Given Collection, Provincetown History Preservation Project, Digital Commonwealth: Massachusetts Collections Online.

External links

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