Voynich, Ethel Lilian

Born May 11, 1864, in Cork, Ireland; died July 28, 1960, in New York. British writer. Daughter of the British mathematician G. Boole and wife of the Polish revolutionary M. Voynich.

Ethel Voynich was a friend of S. M. Stepniak-Kravchinskii, and during the years 1887-89 she lived in Russia. She was acquainted with F. Engels and G. V. Plekhanov. Beginning in 1920, Voynich lived in New York, working as a translator of Russian literature and translating several poems of T. G. Shevchenko into English. Voynich’s best work— the revolutionary novel The Gadfly (1897; Russian translation, 1898)—is devoted to the liberation struggle of the Italian people during the 1830’s and 1840’s. In Russia this novel became one of the favorite books of young people; it was used several times as the literary basis for stage productions, films, and an opera. Voynich’s other novels—Jack Raymond (1901; Russian translation, 1902), Olive Latham (1904; Russian translation, 1906). Interrupted Friendship (1910; Russian translation, entitled Ovod v izgnanii [The Gadfly in Exile}, 1926), and Put Off Thy Shoes (1945, Russian translation, 1958)—maintain this same rebellious spirit. Voynich also wrote several musical works: her oratorio Babylon (1948) is devoted to the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia.