Gabriela Cunninghame Graham
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22 January 1858
Gabriela Cunninghame Graham | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Caroline Horsfall 22 January 1858 Masham, North Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 8 September 1906 (aged 48) |
| Other names | Gabriela Marie de la Balmondière |
| Occupations | Writer, translator, lecturer, and socialist |
| Notable work | Santa Teresa (1894) |
| Spouse | Cunninghame Graham (married 1878) |
Gabriela Cunninghame Graham (also known as Gabriela Marie de la Balmondière, née Caroline Horsfall; 22 January 1858 – 8 September 1906)[1] was an English writer, translator, lecturer, and socialist, who was known for most of her life as Chilean-born and of French-Spanish origin,[2] which was later discovered to be a fabrication.[1][3]
Gabriela Cunninghame Graham was born Caroline (or Carrie) Horsfall in Masham, North Yorkshire, England, in January 1858,[3] the second of thirteen children born to Elizabeth Stanfield and Henry Horsfall, a surgeon.[1] She was known as a dynamic and imaginative child, who delighted her siblings with stories.[1] As a teenager, in 1875, she ran away to London to pursue a theatrical career.[1]
Three years later, she met Scottish writer and politician R. B. Cunninghame Graham in Paris, France.[1] They married on 24 October 1878 at a London register office, her name recorded as Gabrielle Marie de la Balmondière.[1][3] Always known by Gabriela, she claimed to be the Chilean-born daughter of a French father and a Spanish mother, who had been sent to a convent by an aunt, and spoke with an assumed accent.[1] Biographers of her husband described his meeting Gabriela while she was a schoolgirl in her late teens, although her real age at their marriage was 20.[1][4]
A 2004 biography of R. B. Cunninghame Graham by a descendant, Jean Cunninghame Graham, described the couple meeting in a park in Paris, and Gabriela revealing her true name and origins within the course of their first conversation.[1] Nonetheless, her identity as Gabriela Marie de la Balmondière was maintained throughout her life, and after her death.[1]
Shortly after their marriage, the Cunningham Graham's travelled to America, where she began to write.[1] Her first story was titled "The Wagon-Train", and told the tale of a journey on horseback from Texas to Mexico City.[1] After America, the couple lived in Spain until the death of R. B. Cunninghame Graham's father in 1883.[1] They then strove to pay off inherited debts, ultimately selling Gartmore House, the family seat, to ensure financial security.[1] Gabriela maintained contact with her mother, but asked that her new identity be respected and not revealed.[1]
Gabriela Cunninghame Graham wrote essays, poetic translations, and a substantial biography of Teresa of Avila, Santa Teresa: Her Life and Times, published in 1894.[3][1] This was described by Herbert Faulkner West as "monumental and scholarly".[4] In 1897, she contributed a story to The Yellow Book.[1]
Like her husband, Gabriela was an active socialist, addressing meets in England and Europe on subjects including the need for an eight-hour working day, and the ideals of socialism.[1] Fascinated by mysticism, she also wrote and lectured on this.[1]