Lincoln Kirstein
| Lincoln Kirstein | |
|---|---|
Lincoln Kirstein by Walker Evans
|
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 4, 1907 Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 1996 (aged 88) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Fidelma Cadmus (m. 1941; her death 1991) |
| Parents | Louis E. Kirstein Rose Stein |
| Education | Berkshire School |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Writer, philanthropist |
| Known for | Co-founder of the New York City Ballet |
| Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (1984) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Unit | MFAA |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 – January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City, noted especially as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. He developed and sustained the company with his organizing ability and fundraising for more than four decades, serving as the company's General Director from 1946 to 1989. According to the New York Times, he was "an expert in many fields," organizing art exhibits and lecture tours in the same years.
Kirstein was born in Rochester, New York to Jewish parents, the son of Rose Stein (1873–1952) and Louis E. Kirstein (1867–1942). His sister was Mina Kirstein and his paternal grandparents were Jeanette (née Leiter) and Edward Kirstein, a successful Rochester clothing manufacturer who ran E. Kirstein and Sons, Company. He grew up in a wealthy Jewish Bostonian family and attended the private Berkshire School, along with George Platt Lynes, graduating in 1926. He then attended Harvard, where his father, the vice-president of Filene's Department Store, had also attended, graduating in 1930. His maternal grandfather was Nathan Stein, a senior executive at the Stein-Bloch & Co., in Rochester.
In 1927, while still an undergraduate at Harvard, Kirstein was annoyed that the literary magazine The Harvard Advocate would not accept his work. With a friend Varian Fry, who met his wife Eileen through Lincoln's sister Mina, he convinced his father to finance their own literary quarterly, the Hound & Horn. After graduation, he moved to New York in 1930, taking the quarterly with him. The publication gained prominence in the artistic world and ran until 1934 when Lincoln instead decided to fund the Russian choreographer George Balanchine in his development of an American ballet school and company.
...
Wikipedia