STACY SCHIFF

STACY SCHIFF

Stacy Madeleine Schiff (born October 26, 1961) [1] is an American former editor, essayist, and author of five biographies. Her biography of Véra Nabokov won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in biography. Schiff has also written biographies of French aviator and author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, colonial American-era polymath and prime mover of America's founding, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin's fellow Founding Father Samuel Adams, ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra, and the important figures and events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692–93 in colonial Massachusetts.

EARLY LIFE & CAREER

Schiff was born in Adams, Massachusetts, to Morton Schiff, the president of Schiff Clothing, a store founded by Schiff's great-grandfather in 1897, and Ellen, a professor of French literature at North Adams State college (now called Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts).[2] Schiff graduated from Phillips Academy (Andover) preparatory school, and subsequently earned her B.A. degree from Williams College in 1982. She was a senior editor at Simon & Schuster until 1990.
Career as author

Schiff won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for Véra, a biography of Véra Nabokov, the wife and muse of the Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. She was also a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for Saint-Exupéry: A Biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. [1]

Schiff's A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America (2005) won the George Washington Book Prize. [3] It was made into Franklin, a 2024 miniseries starring Michael Douglas.

Her fourth book, Cleopatra: A Life, was published in 2010. As The Wall Street Journal's reviewer put it, "Schiff does a rare thing: She gives us a book we'd miss if it didn't exist."[4] The New Yorker termed the book "a work of literature";[5] Simon Winchester predicted "it will become a classic". [6] Cleopatra appeared on The New York Times's Top Ten Books of 2010, [7] and won the 2011 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography. [8]

Schiff's The Witches: Salem, 1692 was published in 2015. The New York Times described it as "an almost novelistic, thriller-like narrative".[9] David McCullough declared the book "brilliant from start to finish".[10] Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Jane Kamensky found it to be “curiously flat,” offering “banalities” and a “tenuous grip on the period.” Kamensky concluded, “For all her talents in sketching the who, what, where and when of the Salem trials, [the] vexed question of why is one that Schiff simply cannot manage.” [11] Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Felipe Fernández-Armesto found that Schiff offered "a trial narrative unsurpassed for detail and impressive for her mastery of the fragmentary and frustrating sources." He found the overall result, however, to be "unsatisfying" because "she uncovers no new clues to understanding" the context of the trials. [12]

Her essays and articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Washington Post.[13][14][15] A former guest columnist at The New York Times, Schiff resides in New York City and is a trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. [16]

AWARDS & HONOURS

- National Endowment for the Humanities, fellowship [17]
- 1996 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, fellowship [17][18]
- 2000 Pulitzer Prize, Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) [19]
- 2006 George Washington Book Prize, A Great Improvisation[20]
- 2015 Lapham's Quarterly Janus Prize [21]
- 2017 New England Historic Genealogical Society Lifetime Achievement Award in History and Biography [22]
- 2018 French Ministry of Culture, Chevalier des Arts et Lettres [23]
- 2019 American Academy of Arts and Letters [24]

BOOKS

- Saint-Exupéry: A Biography. New York: A. A. Knopf. 1994. ISBN 0-679-40310-8.; nominated for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize [25]

- Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov). Pan Books. 1999. ISBN 0-330-37674-8.; winner of 2000 Pulitzer Prize [26]

- A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. New York: Henry Holt. 2005. ISBN 0-8050-6633-0.; published in the UK as Dr Franklin Goes to France

- Cleopatra: A Life. Little, Brown and Company. 2010. ISBN 978-0-316-00192-2.

- The Witches: Salem, 1692. Little, Brown and Company. 2015. ISBN 978-0-316-20061-5.

- The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams. Little, Brown and Company. 2022. ISBN 9780316441117.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and -- after his murder -- three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life. 

REFERENCES

1. "Barnes&Noble Meet the Writers: Stacy Schiff". Archived from the original on February 2, 2007.
2. "Stacy M. Schiff, An Editor, Weds". The New York Times. May 14, 1989.
3. Thompson, Bob (May 24, 2006). "Schiff Wins Washington Book Prize For Work On Franklin". The Washington Post.
4. Ruden, Sarah (November 2010). "Book Review: Cleopatra". The Wall Street Journal.
5. Thurman, Judith. "The Cleopatriad". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
6. "Cleopatra - Stacy Schiff - Author Biography". www.litlovers.com. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
7. "The 10 Best Books of 2010". The New York Times. December 1, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
8. "2011 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award". PEN America. November 15, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
9. Alter, Alexandra (October 25, 2015). "Stacy Schiff's The Witches Shines a Torch on Salem Trials". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
10. "Amazon Book Review". www.amazonbookreview.com. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
11. Kamensky, Jane (October 27, 2015). "'The Witches: Salem, 1692,' by Stacy Schiff". The New York Times.
12, Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. "American Witches—and Their Hunters". WSJ.
13. Suellen Stringer-Hye (1999). "An interview with Stacy Schiff". Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2006.
14. "Book reviews by Stacy Schiff in the New York Review of Books". The New York Review of Books., The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post, among many other publications.
15. "Stacy Schiff details biographer's triumphs, tribulations, obsessions". iBerkshires. June 13, 2001.
16. "Board of Trustees". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on April 10, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
17. "ALOUD: Lectures, Readings, Performances, & Discussions". Los Angeles Central Library. Archived from the original on December 27, 2005.
18. "Stacy Schiff". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
19. "Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), by Stacy Schiff (Random House)". The Pulitzer Prizes – Columbia University. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
20. "George Washington Book Prize Past Winners". Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
21. "The Decades Ball – June 1, 2015". Lapham's Quarterly. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
22. "2017 Annual Dinner". www.americanancestors.org. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
23. "Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres". www.culture.gouv.fr/. Summer 2018.
24. Fedor, Ashley. "2019 Newly Elected Members". American Academy of Arts and Letters. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
25. "1995 Finalists". The Pulitzer Prizes – Columbia University.
"2000 Winners". The Pulitzer Prizes – Columbia University.

CLEOPATRA A LIFE

Cleopatra: A Life is a book written by biographer Stacy Schiff, first published by Little Brown in 2010.[1]

OVERVIEW

Cleopatra: A Life is a biography of Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, who ruled from 51 to 30 BC. The book aims to separate fact from fiction and shed light on the woman behind the myths and legends that have surrounded her for centuries.[1][2]

Schiff draws on historical sources and archaeological evidence to paint a detailed and vivid picture of Cleopatra's life and times. She explores Cleopatra's relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, as well as her dealings with the Roman Empire and other powerful figures of the era. The book also delves into Cleopatra's education, her role as a mother, and her cultural and religious beliefs.[2][3]

Throughout the book, Schiff challenges the common misconceptions about Cleopatra as a seductress and manipulator, instead portraying her as a politically astute leader who was deeply invested in the welfare of her people. By the end of the book, readers gain a deeper understanding of Cleopatra's life and legacy, as well as the cultural and political context in which she lived.[3][4]

RECEPTION

The book was generally well received by critics upon its publication in 2010. It received positive reviews from a number of notable publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe.[5][6][7] Many critics praised Schiff's meticulous research and vivid portrayal of Cleopatra's life and times.[8][9] Michael Korda, writing for the Daily Beast, called Cleopatra "a masterpiece."[10] The book also won several awards, including the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography in 2011.[11]

In terms of commercial success, "Cleopatra: A Life" was also a bestseller, spending several months on the New York Times Best Seller list.[12][13] Overall, the book was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.

FEATURE FILM

The book was optioned as a film by Sony Pictures with producers Amy Pascal and Scott Rudin attached as producers and at various stages of development was reported to have cast Angelina Jolie and Gal Gadot in the lead role as Cleopatra.[14][15] As of February 2024, the film is currently being developed by director Denis Villeneuve and written by screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns.[16]

REFERENCES

1. W. Ralph Eubanks (1 November 2010). "How History And Hollywood Got 'Cleopatra' Wrong". NPR. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
2. Katha Pollitt (18 November 2010). "Cleopatra With Brains". NPR. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
3. Michiko Kakutani (1 November 2010). "The Woman Who Had the World Enthralled". NPR. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
4. Louisa Thomas (21 October 2010). "The Sexy Beast That Was Cleopatra". NPR. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
5. Amy S. Greenberg (7 November 2010). "Cleopatra: A Life". New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
6. Jonathan Yardley (5 November 2010). "Stacy Schiff's 'Cleopatra: A Life' separates myth from reality". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
7. Buzzy Jackson (31 October 2010). "Cleopatra reclaimed". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
8. Wendy Smith (7 November 2010). "Book review: 'Cleopatra' by Stacy Schiff". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
9. Maxwell Carter (25 November 2022). "'Cleopatra' Review: Ancient Egypt's Mysterious Queen". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
10. "Best Books of 2010: The Best of the Best List". Daily Beast. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
11. Carolyn Kellogg (11 August 2011). "PEN American Center's 2011 award winners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
12. "New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers April 17, 2011". New York Times. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
13. "New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers November 28, 2010". New York Times. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
14. Owen Williams (4 July 2016). "Angelina Jolie's Cleopatra biopic gets a new writer". Empire Online. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
15. Mike Flemming, Jr. (6 April 2016). "David Scarpa To Rewrite 'Cleopatra'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
16. Zacharek, Stephanie (31 January 2024). "Denis Villeneuve Refuses to Let Hollywood Shrink Him Down to Size". Time.

THE TELEGRAPH 9 DECEMBER 2010 - CLEOPATRA: A LIFE BY STACY SCHIFF: REVIEW

Miranda Carter praises Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, an evocative re-telling of the intriguing life of Cleopatra.

Do we need another book about Cleopatra of Egypt? There has already been one scholarly biography this year by Duane Roller, now here is Stacy Schiff, the author of a terrific Pulitzer-prize-winning biography of Véra Nabokov, with her version.

The facts, or what we think we know of them – along with the gaping holes in our knowledge – certainly make Cleopatra’s an intriguing story.

Goddess at birth, queen at 18, by 21 she had weathered a civil war and had a son with Julius Caesar; at 29 she bore Mark Antony twins; by 35 she had acquired an eastern Mediterranean empire including Cyprus, Libya, Lebanon, Syria and coastal Turkey; aged 39, after defeat by Octavian – the future Caesar Augustus, creator of Imperial Rome – she committed one of the most famous suicides in history, which may or may not have involved an asp.

She probably murdered her two younger brothers; a troublesome, plotting sister was executed by Mark Antony.

According to Schiff, the only surviving trace of her is a Greek word scribbled against an order on a strip of papyrus – “Ginesthoi”, meaning “let it be done”. There exist no contemporary images of her save a few coins, four much-disputed busts and some stone reliefs.

There were no Egyptian or Greek accounts of her life. The ancient Alexandria she presided over bears little relation to the modern city: most of it has sunk beneath the Mediterranean.

Every new biography of Cleopatra sets out to see what can be excavated from the myth, the almost total lack of primary sources and the Roman writers who portrayed her as a sorceress or a whore. [She became a political harlet of sorts]

What makes Schiff’s book stand out is its almost deliberate anti-scholarliness – though it is scrupulously referenced. Recent scholarly tomes have taken apart sources to remind us we can be sure of almost nothing, or showed what contemporary archaeological finds may say about the Egyptian queen.

Schiff has produced a highly literary, imaginative, coherent narrative, “restoring context” to the sources she delves into in an intelligent way. Her writing is energetic, evocative and sometimes a little too fragrant: “thick with legend”, “swathed in superstition”. She also has an unerring nose for what is interesting.

She reminds us that Cleopatra was Greek, not Egyptian, a product of a highly cultured, learned – if savage – dynasty, the Ptolemies, who had been bequeathed Egypt by Alexander the Great. The family took on the iconography of the pharaohs, along with the custom of marrying one’s siblings. They also developed a bad habit of murdering each other.

They made Alexandria the most cultured and sophisticated city of classical antiquity. Schiff conjures a vivid picture of this “miracle of a city… forged of a frantic accretion of cultures”. She points out that Cleopatra was the beneficiary of a hybrid Egypto-Grecian society that allowed women a far more independent public role than the silent, child-bearing matrons of Rome had (Herodotus said that in Egypt the women urinated standing up).

She was also the richest woman in the world, making Egypt a magnet for Rome and its ambitious generals. Schiff reminds us that Cleopatra spent the last two years of Caesar’s life in Rome as his mistress.

There her hairstyle (dozens of small plaits caught up into a bun) spawned a fashion, while her lover introduced a series of Egyptian-inspired reforms, bringing in the 12-month, 365-day Egyptian calendar, setting up the first public library, and commissioning the first census, all three of which Rome later exported to its colonies. Western culture arguably owes a vast debt to Cleopatra.

Schiff plausibly argues that Cleopatra was an extremely competent, focused ruler, and that her actions should be read as a brave but doomed attempt to maintain Egyptian independence.

Schiff overemphasizes, I think, the notion that Cleopatra needs rescuing from mistreatment. Even the most critical Roman accounts acknowledge her force.

Naturally they put this down to magic and sex. Even Horace’s poem “Nunc est bibendum”, which celebrated Cleopatra’s death, described her with reluctant admiration as “a woman who wouldn’t be humbled”. Plutarch admitted it wasn’t her beauty that won people over, but her intelligence, her charm, her conversation and her beautiful voice. Medieval Arab scholars described her as a great intellectual and alchemist, and Shakespeare wrote his most grown-up female role for her.

While hundreds of other client kings and queens of Rome have faded from memory, Cleopatra still jumps out from the pages of antiquity. Which is the reason she continues to inspire new versions of herself.

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