Frankau, Julia

NOVELIST (IRELAND)
BORN 30 Jul 1863, Dublin - DIED 17 Mar 1916, London
BIRTH NAME Davis, Julia
GRAVE LOCATION London: Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green Road, Camden

Julia Frankau was born in Dublin. Her father was the portrait photographer Hyman Davis (1824-1875). She was educated by Madame Paul Lafargue, Karl Marx's daughter. For her writing she used the pen name "Frank Danby".

Her first story "Doctor Philips: A Maida Vale Idyll" was published in 1887 and immediately attracted a lot of attention because of the realistic way in which she attacked the values of middle class Jews. More novels with Jewish characters followed (she was Jewish herself).

She also wrote critical essays for "The Saturday Review" and under her own Pamela Frankau name she published "The Life and Works of John Raphael Smith" (1902).

She married the poet Arthur Frankau. Novelist and poet Gilbert Frankau (1901-1952) is their son. Theatre critic Owen Hall (1853-1907) was her brother. Another brother, Captain Harrie Davis (1857-1920), was on the editorial board of the New York Times and her sister Eliza became a writer as well.

Her portrait was painted by George Charles Beresford (now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London).

Works: "Babes in Bohemia" (1889); "Pigs in Clover" (1903); "The Sphynx's Lawyer" (1906).

[A kind thank you goes to Mr. Ronald J. Davis for pointing out that his grandfather Harrie Davis was a brother of Julia Frankau.]

Family
• Son: Frankau, Gilbert

Related persons
• is grandparent of Frankau, Pamela
• knew Wilde, Oscar

Images

The grave of Arthur and Julia Frankau at Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green Road, London.
Picture by Androom (17 Mar 2006)

 

Sources
FRANKAU, JULIA - JewishEncyclopedia.com
Literary Encyclopedia — Gilbert Frankau


Frankau, Pamela

Published: 16 Apr 2006
Last update: 19 Jan 2022