Ernest Dimnet to Anita Lawrence Simpson., 02/09/1925-02/09/1925

The Ernest Dimnet-Anita Lawrence Simpson collection consists mostly of letters written from noted French literary priest Ernest Dimnet to Anita Lawrence Simpson. The correspondence relates to their friendship, and it touches on some of Dimnet's works. The collection is contained in one small archival box (0.25 linear feet), and the documents are arranged in chronological order.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: Abbe Ernest Dimnet was born at Trelon in the Ardennes in 1866. He studied at the Cambrai Cathedral School and Seminary, Lille University, and the Sorbonne. After being ordained a priest in 1893, he taught at Douai, at Lille University, and from 1902 to 1923 at the College Stanislas in Paris. Serving as a French correspondent, Reverend Dimnet wrote for the "Pilot" (1899-1903), the "North American Review" (1904-1909), and the "Saturday Review" (starting in 1909). He was forced to flee his home due to the German invasions in 1914 and 1940. Abbe Dimnet often traveled to the United States, where he had many friends and gave frequent lectures, including the Lowell Lectures in Boston in 1919. In 1907, he published "La Pensee Catholique dans l'Angleterre Contemporaine." Soon thereafter, in 1908, he wrote "Figures de Moines." In 1910, Abbe Dimnet produced "Les Soeurs Bronte." Just before World War I, he published "France Herself Again." The book "The Art of Thinking," brought out in 1928, was his most highly regarded work. His later books include two autobiographical volumes: "My Old World" and "My New World." Abbe Ernest Dimnet died in 1954 at the age of 88. [Sources: "Catholic Authors: Contemporary Biographical Sketches, 1930-1947." Ed. Matthew Hoehn. Newark: St. Mary's Abbey, 1948. Also, Abbe Dimnet's obituary from 1954 in Box 1 Folder 45 of the Dimnet-Simpson Collection.]

Anita Lawrence Simpson, friend of Ernest Dimnet, was an instructor of European languages and literature. After serving as a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College, she taught at New London Junior College in New London, Connecticut. There she also coordinated the guidance program. For 11 months during World War II, Simpson was the acting president of New London Junior College, and she facilitated the resumption of normal academic programs after the war's end. She became a member of the college's board of trustees and was appointed dean emeritus. [Source: Newspaper Clipping in Box 1 Folder 46 of the Dimnet-Simpson Collection: "N.L. Junior College Graduates 81; Anna Lord Strauss, Mrs. Simpson and Waldo E. Clarke Are Honored," the New London, Connecticut "Evening Day," 6/14/1950.]

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