Elinor Rice Hays
American biographer and novelist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elinor S. Rice Hays (October 12, 1901 – March 21, 1994) was an American biographer and novelist.
October 12, 1901
Elinor Rice Hays | |
|---|---|
Elinor Rice, from the 1923 yearbook of Barnard College | |
| Born | Elinor Rice October 12, 1901 New York City |
| Died | March 21, 1994 (aged 92) New York City |
| Occupations | Biographer, novelist |
| Spouse(s) | George Novack (div. 1942); Paul R. Hays (married 1949) |
Early life
Elinor S. Rice was born in New York City[1] as the daughter of Jacques Bernard Rice and Rose Frankfeld Rice. All of her grandparents were from Bavaria. Her father was a silver merchant.[2] She graduated from Barnard College in 1923.[3]
Career
During her first marriage, Rice ran a bookshop[4] and wrote three novels.[5] She was a member of the Communist League of America.[4] During the 1960s, she wrote two biographies, one of suffragist Lucy Stone,[6] and one of the Blackwell family, especially the physician sisters Elizabeth Blackwell and Emily Blackwell.[1][7]
Publications
Personal life
Elinor Rice married twice. Her first husband was George Novack, a Marxist writer.[15][16] With Novack, she was friends with writers Lionel and Diana Trilling.[4] The Novacks divorced in 1942. Her second husband was judge Paul R. Hays. They married in 1949, and he died in 1980. In New York City, she died in 1994 at age 92.[1] Some of her personal papers and research materials about the Blackwells are in the collection of Columbia University Libraries.[17]