Marcia Davenport was an American writer and music critic.
21 Facts About Marcia Davenport
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Marcia Davenport is best known for her 1932 biography of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first American published biography of Mozart.
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Marcia Davenport was born Marcia Glick in New York City on June 9,1903, the daughter of Bernard Glick and the opera singer Alma Gluck.
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Marcia Davenport described her childhood as very lonely, apart from music and books.
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Marcia Davenport's mother made her continue piano lessons as discipline throughout childhood despite her being very bad at it.
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Marcia Davenport began studies at Wellesley College but eloped to Pittsburgh after two years to marry her first husband, Frank Delmas Clarke.
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From 1934 - 1939, Marcia Davenport worked as the music critic of Stage magazine.
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In 1930, Marcia Davenport travelled to Prague to research the life of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart up close.
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Widely praised, the book, which became Marcia Davenport's best known work, has remained continuously in print since its publication.
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Marcia Davenport was well known for being one of the 20th century's premier concert and recording artists.
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In 1942, Marcia Davenport published her most popular fiction novel, The Valley of Decision, a historical fiction saga which traces the Scott family, prototypical owners of an iron works in Pittsburgh, from 1873 to the events of World War II.
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Marcia Davenport lived in Pittsburgh shortly after her first marriage with Frank Delmas Clarke, later using that background for her novel, along with further research on the steel industry, for the 788-page bestseller.
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In 1967, Marcia Davenport appeared on the NBC radio program Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend, paying tribute to the legendary Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, with whom she had a love affair.
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Marcia Davenport's first child, Patricia Delmas Clarke, was born in 1924.
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Russell Davenport became editor of Fortune magazine soon after marrying Marcia.
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Marcia and Russell Davenport had a daughter, Cornelia Whipple Davenport, in 1934.
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Marcia Davenport lived in Prague with Masaryk from 1945 to 1948, until the Communists seized power.
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Marcia Davenport thereupon returned to London, where she and Masaryk planned to be married as soon as he could join her, but only a few days later he was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
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Marcia Davenport died on January 16,1996, at a hospital in Monterey, at the age of 92.
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Marcia Davenport was survived by her younger daughter Cornelia Davenport Schwartz, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
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Marcia Davenport's papers are archived at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Library of Congress.