Cecilia Mary Ady

Cecilia Mary Ady
Born 28 November 1881
Edgcote
Died 27 March 1958
Oxford
Nationality United Kingdom
Education St Hugh's College, Oxford
Occupation Academic historian
Religion Anglo-Catholic
Parent(s) Julia Mary Cartwright

Cecilia Mary Ady (28 November 1881 – 27 March 1958) was an United Kingdom writer, academic and historian. She worked at the University of Oxford and like her mother she was known for her knowledge of the Italian Renaissance. She came to notice after her colleagues supported her reinstatement after she was dismissed by her former friend from her college.

Life

Ady was born in Edgcote in Northamptonshire in 1881. Her father was a reverend whilst her mother was a biographer and an amateur expert of the Italian Renaissance. Her mother's interest in Italy was influenced by her uncle William Cornwallis Cartwright.[1] Her mother took on her daughters education and with that Ady went to Oxford where she obtained a first degree at St Hugh's Hall in 1903. She was a protege of the historian Edward Armstrong.[2] He was commissioned to create a book series called The States of Italy. His plans were not fulfilled and only Ady's book History of Milan under the Sforza was one of only two that were published.[3]

In 1909 she joined her alma mater as a tutor where she had a close relationship with the college's principal, Eleanor Jourdain. Jourdain eventually turned against Ady, allegedly jealous of her popularity.[2] Ady was sacked from her position in November 1923 at Jourdain's insistence for disloyalty. Jourdain felt that Ady had leaked information to the staff about her plans for a vice-principal at the college.[4] Ady protested and a mass resignation followed including six of the college's council. The matter was a matter of some interest and Lord Curzon was asked to investigate. She was, in time, cleared and Jourdain died just before she was to be asked to resign. The inquiry resulted in improvements to the employment conditions of female tutors.[5]

Ady then became a tutor with the Society of Home Students and in 1929 her old college reemployed her as a research fellow.[2]

In 1937 she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Literature after she published a monograph titled The Bentivoglio of Bologna: a Study in Despotism.[2]

Ady died in Oxford in 1958. Afterwards her collegaues and former research students put together a book of donated essays - Italian Renaissance Studies (1960).

Works include

References

  1. ↑ Rosemary Mitchell, ‘Cartwright , Julia Mary (1851–1924)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 accessed 13 Nov 2016
  2. 1 2 3 4 Benjamin G. Kohl, ‘Ady, Cecilia Mary (1881–1958)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2009 accessed 13 Nov 2016
  3. ↑ Benjamin G. Kohl, ‘Armstrong, Edward (1846–1928)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2009 accessed 13 Nov 2016
  4. ↑ Penny Griffin (30 June 1986). St Hugh’s: One Hundred Years of Women’s Education in Oxford. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 44–50. ISBN 978-1-349-07725-0.
  5. ↑ Janet Howarth, ‘Jourdain, Eleanor Frances (1863–1924)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 13 Nov 2016
  6. 1 2 Ady, Cecila M, LibraryThing, Retrieved 13 November 2016
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