Cynthia

Ozick, Cynthia, 1928-, American writer, b. New York City, studied New York Univ. (B.A., 1949), Ohio State Univ. (M.A., 1950). Her fiction, written with high intelligence, elegant incisiveness, and sharp, frequently satiric wit, is mainly concerned with facets of Jewish life and thought including the Holocaust and its legacy, the Jewish presence in contemporary life, and Jewish mysticism and legend. Ozick's novels began with the lengthy Trust (1966) and continued with The Cannibal Galaxy (1983), The Messiah of Stockholm (1987), The Shawl (1989), The Puttermesser Papers (1997), and Heir to the Glimmering World (2004). Her collections of short fiction are The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories (1971), Bloodshed and Three Novellas (1976), Levitation: Five Fictions (1982), and Dictation: A Quartet (2008). Ozick's literary criticism and other intellectually rigorous essays have been collected in Art and Ardor (1983), Metaphor and Memory (1989), Fame and Folly (1996), Quarrel and Quandary (2000), and The Din in the Head (2006). Early in her career Ozick published poetry, and in her later years she has written plays.

(born April 17, 1928, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. She graduated from New York University and received an M.A. from Ohio State University. She wrote often on Jewish themes, and much of her work presents a struggle with the notion that artistic creation can be a hubristic attempt to rival the Creator. Among these works are Trust (1966), Leviathan (1982), The Messiah of Stockholm (1987), The Shawl (1990), and The Puttermesser Papers (1997). Her essays have been collected in Art & Ardor (1983), Metaphor & Memory (1989), and Fame & Folly (1996).

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(born April 17, 1928, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. She graduated from New York University and received an M.A. from Ohio State University. She wrote often on Jewish themes, and much of her work presents a struggle with the notion that artistic creation can be a hubristic attempt to rival the Creator. Among these works are Trust (1966), Leviathan (1982), The Messiah of Stockholm (1987), The Shawl (1990), and The Puttermesser Papers (1997). Her essays have been collected in Art & Ardor (1983), Metaphor & Memory (1989), and Fame & Folly (1996).

Learn more about Ozick, Cynthia with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cynthia is a personal name of Greek origin meaning "from Mount Cynthus." It can be abbreviated as Cindy.

Cynthia was originally an epithet of the Greek goddess of the moon, Artemis, who was sometimes called "Cynthia" because, according to legend, the goddess was born on Mount Cynthus.

Notable people with the name Cynthia include:

• Cynthia Bremser
• Cynthia Deyanira Rodríguez Ruiz
• Cynthia Herrup
• Cynthia Tse Kimberlin
• Cynthia Lennon
• Cynthia McKinney
• Cynthia Nixon
• Cynthia Glassman
• Cynthia Olavarría
• Cynthia Ozick
• Cynthia Rowley
• Cynthia Gregory
• Cynthia Watros
• Cynthia Maddy
• Cynthia Rangel

Fictional characters with this name include:

• Cynthia - Champion of the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (video games)

Other uses of Cynthia are:

• Cynthia, a subgenus of butterflies in the genus Vanessa containing the painted ladies
• Samia cynthia is a species of moth sometimes used to produce silk fabric