Katherine Prescott Wormeley
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Katherine Prescott Wormeley (1830 – August 4, 1908) was an American nurse in the Civil War, author, editor, and translator of French language literary works. Her first name is frequently spelled as "Katharine".
Born in England, Katherine Prescott Wormeley emigrated to the United States at a young age. She served as a nurse with the Union Army during the American Civil War and was head nurse at the Army Hospital at Portsmouth Grove near Newport, Rhode Island. She also played a role in the creation of the United States Sanitary Commission, a government agency set up to coordinate the volunteer efforts of women who wanted to contribute to the war effort.
She was one of the best known translators of her time, having translated from the French language many works by Honoré de Balzac, the Narrative of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, the memoirs of Madame de Motteville on Anne of Austria, as well as works by Alphonse Daudet and Alexandre Dumas, among others.
Katherine Prescott Wormeley died on August 4, 1908 at her summer home in Dublin, New Hampshire. She is buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island.
