Durham, Mary Edith (1863–1944)

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Durham, Mary Edith (1863–1944)

English artist, writer, and anthropologist. Born Dec 8, 1863, in London, England; died Nov 15, 1944; received artist training at Royal Academy schools.

The 1st woman vice president of Royal Anthropological Institute, traveled to Balkans, conducted relief work during Macedonian insurrection (1903), and lobbied British Parliament to alert public to Albanian problems; established Anglo-Albanian Society with Aubrey Herbert; donated Albanian artifacts to Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, folk costume collections to Bankfield Museum in Halifax, and photographs and sketches to Royal Anthropological Institute. Publications include High Albania (1909), Some Tribal Origins, Laws and Customs of the Balkans (1928), illustrations for reptile volumes of Cambridge Natural History (1901), and dispatches for Times and Manchester Guardian.