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Lily Alice Lefevre | |
|---|---|
 Lily Alice Lefevre in 1890 | |
| Born | Lily Alice Cooke 5 April 1854 Kingston, Canada West |
| Died | 17 October 1938 (aged 84) Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Genre | Poetry |
Lily Alice Lefevre (5 April 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Canadian poet whose literary work was closely linked to Vancouver after her arrival there in 1886. Her book of poems, Lions' Gate and Other Verses, was the first book written by a woman published in British Columbia.[1]
Biography edit
Lily Alice Cooke was born in Kingston, Ontario, on 5 April 1854.[3] Educated in Montreal, in 1883 she married John Lefevre, a doctor.[4] Two years later, writing under her pen name Fleurange, she won the $100 prize offered by the Montreal Witness newspaper for her poem, The Spirit of the Carnival.[5][6] It was later anthologized in William Douw Lighthall's 1889 survey of Canadian verse, Songs of the Great Dominion.[7]
Lefevre arrived in Vancouver in 1886 after her husband was appointed surgeon of the western division of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[4] In 1889, her poem The Lions' Gateway (later renamed The Lions' Gate) was first printed in The Vancouver Daily World on New Year's Eve.[8] One of her poems, Requital, appeared in 1894 in Canadian Magazine.[9] Her 1895 book, The Lions' Gate and Other Verses, was the first published by a woman in British Columbia.[1] Popular locally, the title poem, along with The Beaver and the Empress, was republished in 1903 in a beautiful limited edition photograph album.[10] It was again reprinted in 1936 during Vancouver's Jubilee celebrations.[11] One of Lefevre's sonnets appeared in a book of poetry edited by Lord Dufferin who was Governor General of Canada from 1872 to 1878.[1] Her last book of poetry, A Garden By The Sea, was published in 1921.[10]
Lefevre organized the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire upon the occasion of the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. After her husband's death in 1906, Lefevre became a patron on the arts, and made her home, 'Langaravine,' a gathering place for writers, painters, and scholars.[1] She was a co-founder of the Vancouver Art Gallery.[3] In 1934 she donated $5,000 for a scholarship and gold medal to the University of British Columbia in honor of her husband. Lefevre died at her home in Vancouver on 17 October 1938.[4]
Works edit
- The Lions' Gate And Other Verses, (1895)
- The Lions' Gate; and, The Beaver And The Empress, (1903)
- A Garden By The Sea, And Other Poems, (1921)
Source:[12]
Anthologies edit
Works by Lefevre are included in these books:[3]
- Lighthall, Songs of the Great Dominion, (1889)
- Lighthall, Canadian Poems and Lays, (c1892)
- Rand, Treasury of Canadian Verse, (1900)
- Garvin, Canadian Verse for Boys and Girls, (1930)
References edit
- ^ a b c d Okerlund, Lana (2017-03-08). "Lily Alice Lefevre: First Female Book Author Published in British Columbia". A Most Agreeable Place. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
- ^ Bringhurst, Robert (1984). Ocean, Paper, Stone: The catalogue of an exhibition of printed objects which chronicle more than a century of literary publishing in British Columbia. William Hoffer. p. 19. ISBN 0-919758-07-X.
- ^ a b c "Lefevre, Lily Alice Cooke". Simon Fraser University. 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019.
- ^ a b c "Mrs. J. M. Lefevre Died Yesterday". The Times Colonist. Victoria. 18 October 1938. p. 7. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "The Carnival". The Gazette. Montreal. 17 January 1885. p. 5. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ O'Hagan, Thomas (1901). "Canadian Women Writers". Canadian Essays: Critical and Historical. Toronto: William Briggs. p. 74 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Lighthall, William Douw, ed. (1889). Songs of the Great Dominion. London: Walter Scott. pp. 203–208 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Fleurange (Lily Alice Lefevre) (31 December 1889). "The Lions' Gateway". Vancouver Daily World. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Dangan (pen name) (14 April 1894). "The Library". The Province. Vancouver. p. 6. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ a b Zilm, Glennis (1981). "Poetry and Vanity Printing". Early B.C. Books: An Overview of Trade Book Publishing in British Columbia in the 1800s with Checklists and Selected Bibliography Related to British Columbiana (M.A. Thesis). Simon Fraser University. pp. 142–143. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ "Lefevre, Lily Alice". ABC Bookworld. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
External links edit
- Works by Lily Alice Lefevre at Faded Page (Canada)
- The Lions' Gate and Other Verses Early Canadiana Online