Anna Harriette Leonowens
| Anna Leonowens | |
|---|---|
Anna Leonowens, c. 1905
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| Born |
Anna Harriette Emma Edwards 5 November 1831 Ahmednagar, India |
| Died | 19 January 1915 (aged 83) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Spouse(s) | Thomas Leon (or Lane/Lean) Owens (c.1849–1859) |
| Children | Avis Annie Crawford Connybeare Louis T. Leonowens |
Anna Harriette Leonowens (born Anna Harriet Emma Edwards; 5 November 1831 – 19 January 1915) was an Anglo-Indian or Indian-born British travel writer, educator and social activist.
She became well-known with the publication of her memoirs, beginning with The English Governess at the Siamese Court (1870), which chronicled her experiences in Siam (modern Thailand), as teacher to the children of the Siamese King Mongkut. Leonowens' own account has been fictionalised in Margaret Landon's 1944 best-selling novel Anna and the King of Siam, as well as films and television series based on the book, most notably Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1951 hit musical The King and I.
During the course of her life, Leonowens also lived in Aden, Australia, Singapore, the United States and Canada. Among other achievements, she co-founded the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Anna Leonowens' mother, Mary Ann Glascott, married her father, Sergeant Thomas Edwards, a non-commissioned officer in the Honourable East India Company's Corps of Sappers and Miners, on 15 March 1829 in St James's Church, Tannah, Bombay Presidency, British India. Edwards was from London and a former cabinetmaker. She was born in Ahmednagar district, India, on 5 November 1831, three months after the death of her father. While she was christened Anna Harriet Emma Edwards, Leonowens later changed Harriet to "Harriette" and ceased using her third given name (Emma).
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