Dorothy

Parker, Dorothy (Dorothy Rothschild Parker), 1893-1967, American short-story and verse writer, b. West End, N.J. While serving as drama critic for Vanity Fair (1916-17) and book critic for the New Yorker (1927), she gained an almost legendary reputation for her sardonic wit. Her first volume of poetry, Enough Rope (1926), brought her fame, and she followed it with such volumes as Death and Taxes (1931) and Not So Deep as a Well (1936). Although decidedly light and often flippant, Parker's satiric verse is carefully crafted and stunningly concise. Her short stories satirizing aspects of modern life are witty, wry, and often poignant. "Big Blond" is probably her best-known story. Collections of stories include Laments for the Living (1930) and Here Lies (1939). Her Collected Stories was published in 1942 and her Collected Poetry in 1944. She collaborated with Arnaud d'Usseau on the play Ladies of the Corridor (1953).

Canfield, Dorothy: see Fisher, Dorothy Canfield.

Wordsworth, Dorothy: see under Wordsworth, William.

Osborne, Dorothy, later Lady Temple, 1627-95, English letter writer. The daughter of a royalist, she became engaged to Sir William Temple against the wishes of her family. Her letters to Temple, both through their long engagement and after their marriage in 1655, show her as a woman of wit, learning, and strong character, and form an excellent picture of the period.

(born June 13, 1893, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.—died Dec. 17, 1957, Witham, Essex) English scholar and writer. In 1915 Sayers became one of the first women to graduate from Oxford University. Her first major work was Whose Body? (1923), in which she created the detective Lord Peter Wimsey, a witty, dashing young gentleman-scholar who would be featured in such later short-story collections and novels as Strong Poison (1930), The Nine Tailors (1934), and Busman's Honeymoon (1937). After the 1930s she concentrated on theological dramas and books, radio plays, and scholarly translations, notably of Dante's Divine Comedy.

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(born May 17, 1873, Abingdon, Berkshire, Eng.—died June 17, 1957, Beckenham, Kent) English novelist. From age 17 she engaged in teaching, clerical work, and journalism. For much of her life she worked on her sequence novel Pilgrimage, comprising 13 volumes beginning with Pointed Roofs (1915). The final volume, March Moonlight, was published a decade after her death. A sensitive autobiographical account of a woman's developing consciousness, it was a pioneering work in stream-of-consciousness fiction.

Learn more about Richardson, Dorothy M(iller) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Dorothy Rothschild

(born Aug. 22, 1893, West End, near Long Beach, N.J., U.S.—died June 7, 1967, New York, N.Y.) U.S. short-story writer and poet. She grew up in affluence in New York City. She was a drama critic for Vanity Fair and wrote book reviews for The New Yorker (1927–33). Her poetry volumes include Enough Rope (1926) and Death and Taxes (1931). Her short stories were collected in Laments for the Living (1930) and After Such Pleasures (1933). She also worked as a film writer, reported on the Spanish Civil War, and collaborated on several plays. A member of the Algonquin Round Table, she is chiefly remembered for her wit.

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orig. Dorothy Mary Crowfoot

(born May 12, 1910, Cairo, Egypt—died July 29, 1994, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, Eng.) English chemist. After studying at Oxford and Cambridge, she went to work at Oxford. From 1942 to 1949 she worked on a structural analysis of penicillin. In 1948 she and her colleagues made the first X-ray photograph of vitamin B₁₂, one of the most complex nonprotein compounds, and they eventually completely determined its atomic arrangement. In 1969 she completed a similar three-dimensional analysis of insulin. Her work won her a 1964 Nobel Prize. She was chancellor of Bristol University (1970–88) and was known for her work for peace and international scientific cooperation. In 1965 she became the second woman ever awarded the Order of Merit.

Learn more about Hodgkin, Dorothy M(ary) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Dorothy Rothschild

(born Aug. 22, 1893, West End, near Long Beach, N.J., U.S.—died June 7, 1967, New York, N.Y.) U.S. short-story writer and poet. She grew up in affluence in New York City. She was a drama critic for Vanity Fair and wrote book reviews for The New Yorker (1927–33). Her poetry volumes include Enough Rope (1926) and Death and Taxes (1931). Her short stories were collected in Laments for the Living (1930) and After Such Pleasures (1933). She also worked as a film writer, reported on the Spanish Civil War, and collaborated on several plays. A member of the Algonquin Round Table, she is chiefly remembered for her wit.

Learn more about Parker, Dorothy with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 17, 1873, Abingdon, Berkshire, Eng.—died June 17, 1957, Beckenham, Kent) English novelist. From age 17 she engaged in teaching, clerical work, and journalism. For much of her life she worked on her sequence novel Pilgrimage, comprising 13 volumes beginning with Pointed Roofs (1915). The final volume, March Moonlight, was published a decade after her death. A sensitive autobiographical account of a woman's developing consciousness, it was a pioneering work in stream-of-consciousness fiction.

Learn more about Richardson, Dorothy M(iller) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Dorothy Mary Crowfoot

(born May 12, 1910, Cairo, Egypt—died July 29, 1994, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, Eng.) English chemist. After studying at Oxford and Cambridge, she went to work at Oxford. From 1942 to 1949 she worked on a structural analysis of penicillin. In 1948 she and her colleagues made the first X-ray photograph of vitamin B₁₂, one of the most complex nonprotein compounds, and they eventually completely determined its atomic arrangement. In 1969 she completed a similar three-dimensional analysis of insulin. Her work won her a 1964 Nobel Prize. She was chancellor of Bristol University (1970–88) and was known for her work for peace and international scientific cooperation. In 1965 she became the second woman ever awarded the Order of Merit.

Learn more about Hodgkin, Dorothy M(ary) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born June 13, 1893, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.—died Dec. 17, 1957, Witham, Essex) English scholar and writer. In 1915 Sayers became one of the first women to graduate from Oxford University. Her first major work was Whose Body? (1923), in which she created the detective Lord Peter Wimsey, a witty, dashing young gentleman-scholar who would be featured in such later short-story collections and novels as Strong Poison (1930), The Nine Tailors (1934), and Busman's Honeymoon (1937). After the 1930s she concentrated on theological dramas and books, radio plays, and scholarly translations, notably of Dante's Divine Comedy.

Learn more about Sayers, Dorothy L(eigh) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Dorothy-Grace Elder is a journalist and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament.

She first came to the public eye in the 1970s as a television journalist, on BBC Scotland's news programme Reporting Scotland. She also worked on the ill-fated Scottish Daily News. She was a Reporter of the year(investigations)and has won the UK Press Award and the Oliver Award for services to Scotland.

Noted for her campaigning abilities, she was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as a Scottish National Party (SNP) representative for Glasgow. A left-winger, she supported Alex Neil in the SNP leadership election of 2000. She became dissatisfied with the way in which the SNP was being run and in 2002 she quit the SNP and sat as an independent MSP.

She did not stand for re-election at the 2003 election, returning to journalism instead.

She is also a former Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association candidate for the post of rector of the University of Glasgow, losing to Richard Wilson in 1996.

During the Glasgow East by-election, 2008, she attacked the SNP candidate, John Mason, for his bitter attacks on her when she was an SNP MSP.

See also

• Scottish Daily News