Thelma Given
{{Short description|American violinist (1896–1977)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox Person | name =Thelma Given Verdi| image =File:ThelmaGiven1919.tif| caption =Thelma Given, photographed by Arnold Genthe, from a 1919 advertisement. | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|3|9}} | birth_place =Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|12|25|1896|3|9}} | death_place =Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | occupation = | spouse = {{marriage|Minturn de Suzzara Verdi|1943|1970|end=his death}}| partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = }}
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,[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12674225/thelma_given_1919/ "Thelma Given Tells New York of Early Desire for Career"] Decatur Herald (January 26, 1919): 17. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} the daughter of James Frederick Given and Emma Jones Given.[http://provincetownhistoryproject.com/archives/409 Thelma Given's Biography], Provincetown History Preservation Project.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ONtHAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22J.+Fred+Given%22&pg=PA808 Past and Present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois] (S. J. Park Publishing Company 1903): 808-809. Her musical abilities were recognized by age 5.Peter Merritt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=VEE5AQAAMAAJ&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=RA1-PA17 "Miss America – Alias Thelma Given"] Everybody's Magazine (February 1919): 16. She studied with Leopold Auer in Russia.[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/28/archives/thelma-given-verdi-81-violinist-who-was-a-renowned-child-prodigy.html "Thelma Given Verdi, 81, Violinist Who Was a Renowned Child Prodigy"] New York Times (December 28, 1977): 35. She toured Europe with Auer as a teenager, and was caught in the tumult of war and the Russian Revolution for almost a year[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12674457/thelma_given_1915/ "Apprehension for Women in Europe"] Decatur Herald (January 24, 1915): 18. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} before she and her mother were able to return to the United States.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12674354/thelma_given_1923/ "Concert Stage Claims Former Decatur Girl"] Decatur Herald (September 2, 1923): 13. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
Career
Given made her American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1918.[https://books.google.com/books?id=7SIqQHZL2_wC&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=PA30 Advertisement], Musical Courier (July 3, 1919): 30. She returned to the Carnegie Hall stage several times.[https://books.google.com/books?id=7SIqQHZL2_wC&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=RA3-PA8 "Thelma Given's New York Recital, Oct. 18"] Musical Courier (July 24, 1919): 8.[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/104707265/D50BC6DA58234ADCPQ/2 "Recital by Thelma Given"] New York Times (December 1, 1929): 31. She toured in the United States and Europe[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12674725/thelma_given_91928/ "Thelma Given is On Her Third European Tour"] Decatur Evening Herald (March 9, 1928): 16. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} in the 1920s and 1930s, given recitals and as guest soloist with orchestras.[https://books.google.com/books?id=gNtFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=RA5-PA41 "Haensel and Jones to Direct Tours of Thelma Given"] Musical America (February 7, 1920): 41.[https://books.google.com/books?id=sFVGAQAAMAAJ&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=PA137 "Thelma Given at Carnegie Hall"] The Violin World (August 1921): 137. She played a Guarneri violin made in 1738.It is not known where her violin ended up. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12674578/thelma_given_1936/ "Deaf Girl 'Hears' Music"] Decatur Daily Review (February 19, 1936): 12. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
Personal life
Given lived much of her adult life living with her mother and brother Eben Given (a painter), at Saranac Lake,[https://books.google.com/books?id=7SIqQHZL2_wC&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=RA2-PA26 "Thelma Given at Spion-Kop"] Musical Courier (July 26, 1919): 26. and in the arts colony at Provincetown, Massachusetts,[https://books.google.com/books?id=0PM6AQAAMAAJ&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=RA5-PA26 "Thelma Given Summering At Provincetown"] Musical Courier (September 1, 1921): 26. in social circles that included playwright Eugene O'Neill.Louis Scheaffer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uwKOcGvpr2sC&dq=Thelma+GIven&pg=PA97 O'Neill: Son and Artist] (Rowman & Littlefield 2002): 97-98. {{ISBN|9780815412441}} She married in 1943, as the third wife of Minturn de Suzzara Verdi, a New York lawyer.[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/106735868/F882A9F17D334457PQ/2 "Miss Thelma Given Wed"] New York Times (May 28, 1943): 17.
Thelma Given Verdi was widowed in 1970,[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/118017646/4A8535D6356B4295PQ/2 "Minturn deS. Verdi"] New York Times (August 12, 1970): 41. 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.[https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?f%5Brelated_item_host_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Thelma+Given+Collection Thelma Given Collection], Provincetown History Preservation Project, Digital Commonwealth: Massachusetts Collections Online.
References
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External links
{{Commons category|Thelma Given}}
- {{Find a Grave|114292809}}
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Category:American classical violinists
Category:American women in World War I