Jane Wilde, Oscar Wilde's Mother and 'Speranza' of The Nation, Profiled
Jane Frances Elgee, born on December 27, 1821, in Dublin and later known as Speranza, grew up in a conservative Protestant family. She was a talented writer and translator, contributing to The Nation, which was established by Charles Gavan Duffy, Thomas Osborne Davis, and John Blake Dillon, and participated in the Young Ireland movement. Her poems about the Famine highlighted the devastation of the potato blight, which resulted in over a million deaths in Ireland. In 1848, she wrote the editorial "Jacta Alea Est," advocating for rebellion and later asserted her authorship during Duffy's trial. Married to Dr. William Wilde, she had three children, hosted a literary salon, and published numerous works, passing away in 1896.
Key facts
- Jane Frances Elgee was born in Dublin on December 27, 1821, to Charles Elgee and Sarah Kingsbury
- She wrote under the pseudonym Speranza and claimed descent from Dante Alighieri
- She translated poetry for The Nation, founded by Charles Gavan Duffy, Thomas Osborne Davis, and John Blake Dillon
- Her 1848 editorial "Jacta Alea Est" called for armed rebellion against British rule
- She claimed authorship of the editorial at Duffy's trial, and the court dropped the charge rather than prosecute a woman
- Mary Travers sued her for libel and £2,000 in 1864 but was awarded one farthing
- Dr. William Wilde was knighted in 1864, making her Lady Wilde
- She died in 1896, one year after Oscar Wilde's conviction, without seeing him again
Entities
Artists
- Jane Wilde
- Oscar Wilde
- Dante Alighieri
- Charles Gavan Duffy
- Thomas Osborne Davis
- John Blake Dillon
- Mary Anne Kelly O'Doherty
- Giuseppe Mazzini
- J. W. Meinhold
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Charlotte Brontë
- Walter Pater
- William Wilde
- Willie Wilde
- Isola Wilde
- Mary Travers
- George Bernard Shaw
- W. B. Yeats
- Eleanor Marx
- Robert Browning
- Jefferson Davis
- Lord Alfred Douglas
- Marquess of Queensberry
- John Kingsbury Elgee
- Charles LeDoux Elgee
- Julius Caesar
- Charles Elgee
- Sarah Kingsbury
- Bernard Mulrenin
- Ernest Meissonier
- Andrea di Pietro di Marco Ferrucci
- Napoleon Sarony
Institutions
- The Nation
- Young Ireland
- Young Italy
- Young Germany
- The Irish Times
- The Saint James's Magazine
- Pall Mall Gazette
- Westminster government
- Confederate States of America
- The Collector
Locations
- Dublin
- Ireland
- Great Britain
- England
- Louisiana
- United States
- Liverpool
- Bray
- London
- France
- Italy
- Germany
- Scandinavia
- Rubicon