Wikipedia

Ella N. McLean, Countess Norraikow

Ella N. McLean, Countess Norraikow (née, Dougherty; after adoption, Walton, after first marriage, Seely; after second marriage, Norraikow; after third marriage, McLean; 1849-1913) was a Canadian author and metaphysician who spent many years in foreign travel and became a literary authority on Russian affairs. In addition to her literary work, including writing for several journals, she conducted a successful practice in metaphysical healing. She was regarded as one of the "noted women of the American metropolis".[1][2][3][4]

Ella N. McLean, Countess Norraikow
19th-century B&W portrait photo of a woman with her hair in an up-do, wearing a dark blouse.
Portrait photo from A Woman of the Century
BornElla Dougherty
9 November 1853/58
Toronto, Canada
DiedSeptember 26, 1913
Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
Spouse
  • Alexander Miles Seely
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1872; died 1882)​
  • Adolphus Norraikow
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1885; died 1892)​
  • John Emery McLean
    ​
    (m. 1898)​
Children3

Early life and education edit

Ella Dougherty was born in Toronto, Canada, 9 November 1853/58.[1] Orphaned at a young age, she was adopted by William Walton of Saint John, New Brunswick.[3][2][5]

She was educated in Saint John, New Brunswick.[1][5][2]

Career edit

Norraikow began publishing literary works while in her teens.[3]

On January 2, 1872, in Saint John, New Brunswick, she married Capt. Alexander Miles Seely (1846-1882), a son of Hon. Alexander McLaughlin Seely, a prominent statesman of the Dominion of Canada.[1] Their three daughters were born in 1874, 1877, and 1881.[6] Soon after this marriage, the couple went abroad, and spent many years in travel, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean eighteen times. She resided in London, England, and in many cities on the European continent, chiefly in Germany and Belgium. She visited various cities of India and other parts of the Orient, afterwards returning to the West and spending some months in traveling through South America.[1] Her return to North America was as a widow, and she relocated to New York City.[3]

 
(1891)

On July 28, 1885,[6] in Manhattan, she married Count Adolphus Norraikow (Warsaw, Russian Empire, 1844 - 1892),[3] a Russian nobleman. She subsequently made a deep study of the methods of government that prevailed in her husband's native land, where the count was a lawyer, but because of his political opinions, he had been an exile for many years.[1][5][2]

To Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, the Cosmopolitan Magazine, the New York Ledger, the Independent," the Harper publications, the Youth's Companion. and various other leading periodicals of the U.S., Norraikow contributed many articles on the political and social conditions of the Russian Empire. In collaboration with her husband, she translated several volumes of Leo Tolstoy's short stories, which were issued by a New York publishing house.[1] Her literary work including revising for her second husband translations which he had made of some of Tolstoy's works and that of other Russian authors. During this marriage, she signed some of her works as "Ella Norraikow" and others, later, as "Countess Norraikow".[a] She worked on a book on the topic of "Nihilism and the Secret Police".[1]

"When the unity of man, Nature, and God— our oneness with the Divine-is fully realized, all forms of weakness become impossible, and the individual resumes possession of his natural birthright-health." (Countess Norraikow, The Metaphysical Magazine, May 1897)[8]

Her third marriage, on October 10, 1898, in Manhattan, was to John Emery McLean (1865-1935) of New York, formerly of Orangeville, Ontario, Canada.[9] He was an old member of the Manhattan Single Tax Club as well as a former President and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Club of that city. He also served as editor of Mind, The Arena, and The Metaphysical Magazine, all published in New York.[4] The couple may have met through The Metaphysical Magazine or the journal's publisher as Norraikow was by then a metaphysician.[3] After this marriage, she signed her works as "Mrs. Ella N. McLean, the Countess Norraikow".[3]

Death edit

After an accident [4] Ella N. McLean died at the home of her daughter in Elizabeth, New Jersey, September 26, 1913.[9]

Selected works edit

  • "Woman's Share in Russian Nihilism", by Ella Norraikow, The Cosmopolitan, August 1891, vol. 11, pp. 619-20 (text)
  • "New-Year's in Russia", by The Countess Norraikow, Harper's Young People, December 29, 1891, vol. 13, no. 635, pp. 186-87 (text)
  • "In the Don Cossacks' Lane; the homes of the fierce Russian warriors", by The Countess Norraikow, Youth's Companion, 1892, vol. 64 (text)
  • Aristocracy; in 5 acts, dramatized by Countess Norraikow, by permission of D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1892 (text)
  • "Nihilism and the Famine", by Countess Norraikow, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, April 1892, vol. 49, pp. 463-71 (text)
  • "Abolish Capital Punishment", by Countess Ella Norraikow, American Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, March 1895, pp. 150-52 (text)
  • "The Folly of Suicide", by Countess Norraikow, Philosophical Journal, November 1895, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 407-09 (text)
  • "The 'Rutschbergs" of Russia', by Countess Norraikow, The Wide World, Ginn & Co., Boston, 1902, pp. 96-100 (text)

Notes edit

  1. ^ Gerson (2011) refers to her as "the mysterious Countess Norraikow".[7]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "NORRAIKOW, Countess Ella". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. p. 540. Retrieved 26 April 2024.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ a b c d Morgan, Henry James (1912). "McLean, Mrs. Ella N. (Countess Narraikow)". The Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A Handbook of Canadian Biography of Living Characters. W. Briggs. p. 781. Retrieved 26 April 2024.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Mount, Nicholas James; Mount, Nick (1 January 2005). When Canadian Literature Moved to New York. University of Toronto Press. pp. 87–90. ISBN 978-0-8020-3828-9. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "A Distinguished Contributor". Fairhope Courier. 22 July 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 26 April 2024 – via Newspapers.com.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ a b c Morgan, Henry James (1898). "NORRAIKOW. The Countess Ella". The Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A Handbook of Canadian Biography. W. Briggs. pp. 772–73. Retrieved 26 April 2024.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ a b "Ella Dougherty". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  7. ^ Gerson, Carole (24 May 2011). Canadian Women in Print, 1750–1918. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-55458-239-6. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Book Reviews". The Metaphysical Magazine. 5. New York: Metaphysical Publishing Company. May 1897. Retrieved 26 April 2024.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ a b "Obit. Mrs. John Emery McLean (Ella N. McLean), South Elizabeth, N.J., 26 Sep 1913". The Orangeville Banner. Orangeville, Ontario, Canada. 2 October 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 26 April 2024 – via Newspapers.com.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ella_N._McLean,_Countess_Norraikow&oldid=1221067585"