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Elisabeth EastlakeEnglish writer
Date of Birth: 17.11.1809
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Early Life and Family
Elizabeth Rigby was born on November 17, 1809, in Norwich, England. She was one of four sisters: Anne, Maria Justina, and Gertrude. Her sister Anne married Estonian Baron Karl Georg von Wahl, while Maria Justina married Baron Gottlieb Reinhold Wilhelm von Rosen. Elizabeth's sister Gertrude was also married to Baron Gottlieb Reinhold Wilhelm von Rosen.
Literary Career
Elizabeth Rigby began her writing career with "Letters from the Shores of the Baltic" (1841), a book of essays based on her travels to Estonia. She also wrote a collection of Livonian tales published alongside "Letters from the Shores of the Baltic."
Later, Elizabeth Rigby wrote critical essays on literature, including one of the first reviews of Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" and William Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." She published articles on art, such as her 1869 biography of English sculptor John Gibson and her 1883 book "Five Great Painters" about Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael, and Dürer.
Significant Contributions
In 1857, Elizabeth Rigby wrote an influential article on photography, criticizing its potential as an art form but acknowledging its potential to free art from practical constraints.
Later Life and Legacy
Elizabeth Rigby married painter Charles Lock Eastlake in 1849. She passed away in London on October 2, 1893. Her writing, particularly her critical essays and advocacy for the separation of art and utility, continues to be studied today.
