Who is Adah Isaacs Menken?

Adah Isaacs Menken (June 15, 1835 – August 10, 1868) was an American actress, painter and poet, and was the highest earning actress of her time. She was best known for her statute in the hippodrama Mazeppa, with a climax that featured her apparently nude and riding a horse upon stage. After good success for a few years subsequently the play-act New York and San Francisco, she appeared in a production in London and Paris, from 1864 to 1866. After a brief vacation back to the United States, she returned to Europe. However, she became sick within two years and died in Paris at the age of 33.

Menken told many versions of her origins, including her name, place of birth, ancestry, and religion, and historians have differed in their accounts. Most have said she was born a Louisiana Creole Catholic, with European and African ancestry. A celebrity who created sensational performances in the United States and Europe, she married several epoch and was then known for her affairs. She had two sons, both of whom died in infancy.

Though she was better known as an actress, Menken sought to be known as a writer. She published roughly 20 essays, 100 poems, and a folder of her collected poems, from 1855 to 1868 (the photo album was published posthumously). Early statute was devoted to relatives and after her marriage, her poetry and essays featured Jewish themes. However, beginning with piece of legislation published after distressing to New York, with which she misused her style, Menken expressed a broad range of emotions and ideas practically women’s place in the world. Her collection Infelicia went through several editions and was in print until 1902.