Ginevra King (1898-1980) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
socialiteA socialite is a person who is known to be a part of fashionable high society because of their regular participation in social activities and fondness for spending a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained. Some socialites may choose to use their social skills and connections...
, a Chicago, Illinois,
debutanteA débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her "début"...
and the inspirational
museThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
for several characters in the work of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are evocative of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the Twenties...
.
She was born in Chicago in 1898, the daughter of Ginevra and Charles Garfield King. (She, as with her mother and grandmother, was named after
Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
's painting
Ginevra de' BenciGinevra de' Benci was a lady of the aristocratic class in 15th century Florence, admired for her intelligence by Florentine contemporaries. She is the subject of one of only about 17 existing paintings attributed to Leonardo da Vinci...
.) Charles G. King was a wealthy Chicago businessman and financier. She was the eldest of three sisters and grew up amidst the Chicago social scene, even being a member of the elite "
Big FourChicago's Big Four were a quartet of debutantes in the Chicago social scene during World War I, described as "the four most attractive and socially desirable young women in Chicago."-Background:...
" Chicago debutantes during World War I.
Ginevra King (1898-1980) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
socialiteA socialite is a person who is known to be a part of fashionable high society because of their regular participation in social activities and fondness for spending a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained. Some socialites may choose to use their social skills and connections...
, a Chicago, Illinois,
debutanteA débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her "début"...
and the inspirational
museThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
for several characters in the work of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are evocative of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the Twenties...
.
Early life
She was born in Chicago in 1898, the daughter of Ginevra and Charles Garfield King. (She, as with her mother and grandmother, was named after
Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
's painting
Ginevra de' BenciGinevra de' Benci was a lady of the aristocratic class in 15th century Florence, admired for her intelligence by Florentine contemporaries. She is the subject of one of only about 17 existing paintings attributed to Leonardo da Vinci...
.) Charles G. King was a wealthy Chicago businessman and financier. She was the eldest of three sisters and grew up amidst the Chicago social scene, even being a member of the elite "
Big FourChicago's Big Four were a quartet of debutantes in the Chicago social scene during World War I, described as "the four most attractive and socially desirable young women in Chicago."-Background:...
" Chicago debutantes during World War I. She attended the
Westover SchoolThe Westover School, often referred to simply as "Westover," is an independent college-preparatory day and boarding school for girls. Located in Middlebury, Connecticut, USA, the school offers grades 9-12...
in
Middlebury, ConnecticutMiddlebury is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,451 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 18.5 square miles , of which, 17.8 square miles of it is land and 0.7 square miles ...
.
Relationship with Fitzgerald
Ginevra first met Fitzgerald on January 4, 1915, while visiting her roommate from Westover, Marie Hershey, in St. Paul, Minnesota. They met at sledding party and, according to letters and diary entries, they both became infatuated. They sent letters back and forth for months, and their passionate romance continued until January 1917. In August 1916, Fitzgerald first wrote down the words, thought to have been said to him by Charles King, that would later recur in
The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published on April 10, 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City during the summer of 1922 and is a critique of the American Dream....
the movie: "Poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls." The line "poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls" also appears in
The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published on April 10, 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City during the summer of 1922 and is a critique of the American Dream....
, only it is delivered to Gatsby by Daisy Buchanan and not the father of his love.
Later life
On July 15, 1918, King wrote to Fitzgerald, telling of her engagement to William Mitchell, the son of her father's business associate. They married later that year and had three children. Then in 1937, she left Mitchell for businessman John T. Pirie, Jr. (of the Chicago department store
Carson Pirie Scott & CompanyCarson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is a chain of traditional department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper...
). That year she also met Fitzgerald for the last time in Hollywood; when asked which character was based on her in
The Beautiful and DamnedThe Beautiful and Damned, first published by Scribner's in 1922, is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel.It tells the story of Anthony Patch , the relationship with his wife Gloria, his service in the army, and alcoholism...
, Fitzgerald replied,
"Which bitch do you think you are?"
King later founded the Ladies Guild of the American Cancer Society. She died in 1980 at the age of 82.
Literary legacy
King is thought to have exerted a great influence on Fitzgerald's writing, perhaps as much as his relationship with his wife, Zelda. His work abounds with characters modeled on King. These characters include:
- Judy Jones in "Winter Dreams
"Winter Dreams" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that first appeared in Metropolitan Magazine in December 1922, and was collected in All the Sad Young Men in 1926. It is considered one of Fitzgerald's finest stories and is frequently anthologized...
"
- Isabelle Borge in This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise is the debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1920, and taking its title from a line of the Rupert Brooke poem Tiare Tahiti, the book examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth...
- Most notably, Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published on April 10, 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City during the summer of 1922 and is a critique of the American Dream....
- Fitzgerald also recreated their meeting in "Babes in the Woods," from the collection Bernice Bobs Her Hair and Other Stories; this was reused in This Side of Paradise.
King is also featured in the books
The Perfect Hour by James L.W. West III, and in a fictionalized form in
Gatsby's Girl by Caroline Preston. The musical
The Pursuit of PersephoneThe Pursuit of Persephone is a musical with music and lyrics by Peter Mills and book by Cara Reichel. The show details F. Scott Fitzgerald's time at Princeton University, and his love for Ginevra King...
tells the story of King's romance with Fitzgerald.
Further reading
External links