21 Facts About Nancy Cunard

Nancy Clara Cunard was a British writer, heiress and political activist.

Nancy Cunard was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism.

Cunard's father was Sir Bache Cunard, an heir to the Cunard Line shipping businesses, interested in polo and fox hunting, and a baronet.

Nancy Cunard's mother was Maud Alice Burke, an American heiress, who adopted the first name Emerald and became a leading London society hostess.

Nancy Cunard had been brought up on the family estate at Nevill Holt, Leicestershire.

Nancy Cunard's education was at various boarding schools, including time in France and Germany.

Nancy Cunard contributed to the anthology Wheels, edited by the Sitwells, for which she provided the title poem; it has been said that the venture was originally her project.

Nancy Cunard was the model for Myra Viveash in Antic Hay and for Lucy Tantamount in Point Counter Point.

In Paris, Nancy Cunard spent much time with Eugene McCown, an American artist from the hard-drinking set whom she made her protege.

Nancy Cunard's style, informed by her devotion to the artefacts of African culture, was startlingly unconventional.

Nancy Cunard was often photographed wearing her collection, those of African inspiration and neckpieces of wooden cubes, which paid homage to the concepts of Cubism.

In 1927, Nancy Cunard moved into a farmhouse in La Chapelle-Reanville, Normandy.

Nancy Cunard wanted to support experimental poetry and provide a higher-paying market for young writers.

Nancy Cunard's inherited wealth allowed her to take financial risks that other publishers could not.

Nancy Cunard published old friends such as George Moore, Norman Douglas, Richard Aldington and Arthur Symons, and brought out Henry-Music, a book of poems from various authors with music by Henry Crowder, two books by Laura Riding, the Collected Poems of John Rodker, poems by Roy Campbell, Harold Acton, Brian Howard and Walter Lowenfels.

In 1928 Nancy Cunard began a relationship with Henry Crowder, an African-American jazz musician who was working in Paris.

Nancy Cunard became an activist in matters concerning racial politics and civil rights in the US, and visited Harlem.

Nancy Cunard edited the massive Negro Anthology, collecting poetry, fiction, and nonfiction primarily by African-American writers, including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.

Nancy Cunard predicted, accurately, that the "events in Spain were a prelude to another world war".

Nancy Cunard was committed to a mental hospital after a fight with London police.

Nancy Cunard's body was returned to England for cremation and the remains were sent back to the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise in Paris.