Mamah Borthwick

Mamah Borthwick
Borthwick in a newspaper in December 1911.
Born	Martha Borthwick (1869-06-19)June 19, 1869 Boone, Iowa, U.S.
Died	August 15, 1914(1914-08-15) (aged 45) Spring Green, Wisconsin, U.S.
Other names	Mamah Borthwick
Spouse(s)	Edwin Cheney
Children	2

Martha "Mamah" Borthwick (June 19, 1869 – August 15, 1914) was a translator and a cultural operator primarily noted for her relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright, which ended when she was murdered. She and Wright were instrumental in bringing the ideas and writings of Swedish feminist Ellen Key to American audiences. Wright built his famous settlement called Taliesin in Wisconsin for her, in part, to shield her from aggressive reporters and the negative public sentiment surrounding their non-married status. Both had left their spouses and children in order to live together and were the subject of relentless public censure.

Borthwick earned her BA at the University of Michigan in 1892. She later worked as a librarian in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1899, Borthwick married Edwin Cheney, an electrical engineer from Oak Park, Illinois, United States. They had two children: John (1902) and Martha (1905).

Mamah met Wright's wife, Catherine, through a social club. Soon after, Edwin commissioned Wright to design them a home, now known as the Edwin H. Cheney House. Mamah's sister, Elizabeth Bouton Borthwick, lived in an apartment on the lower level of the house.

In 1909, Mamah and Wright left their spouses and separately traveled to Europe to rejoin. Most of their friends and acquaintances considered their open closeness to be scandalous, especially since Catherine had refused to agree to a divorce. The Chicago newspapers criticized Wright, implying that he would soon be arrested for immorality, despite statements from the local sheriff that he could not prove that the couple was doing anything wrong. After the couple moved to Taliesin, the editor of the Spring Green, Wisconsin newspaper condemned Wright for bringing scandal to the village. The press which reported the European trip as a "spiritual hegira", Mamah and Wright as the "soul mates" also referred to Taliesin as the "love castle" or "love bungalow". The scandal affected Wright's career for several years; he did not receive his next major commission, the Imperial Hotel, until 1916.