Grace Alekhine
Encyclopedia
Grace N. Alekhine (26 October 1876 – March 1956), was an American
–British
–French
female artist, chess
master and the fourth and last wife of World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine
. Photo of Grace Wishaar, c. 1901
She was born in New Jersey
(her parents were Emile Bernard Wishard and Marie Ida Smith). She received training at the New York School of Art under William Chase, and began her career in painting there. In 1898, she married a man named (Whitney?) Eisler and moved to Seattle, Washington; that same year her son was born there (he was known as Carroll Earl Beauchamp Peeke throughout his life: it is uncertain where the name "Peeke" came from. She herself was also sometimes known by this name.).
Sometime early in the new 20th century, she moved to Oakland, California
: there, again as Grace Wishaar, she established a career as a visual artist. Interestingly, her work became known on both a large and small scale: as a theatrical scenery painter (in San Francisco's Majestic Theatre, and Oakland's Ye Liberty Playhouse), and as a miniature portraitist (with no less a client than author Jack London
, for whom she painted his young daughters).
Of her stage work, it was reported:
By the spring of 1914, she was exhibiting her portraiture work at the Spring Salon des Beaux Arts in Paris: this also seems to be the year that marked her departure from the United States.
Examples of her miniature work are found here (exhibited in 1910 and 1914, respectively): Giralamo Savonarola and Countess Walewska
She later married Archibald Freeman, a British tea-planter in Ceylon (he died in the early 1930s), and she retained British citizenship to the end of her life. Grace, the widow of Freeman, had won a minor chess tournament in Tokyo, and played Alexander Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition
at Tokyo
1933. Her prize was one of Alekhine's books. She asked him to sign the book and their relationship developed from that moment.
They were married in March 1934 at Villefranche-sur-Mer
, near Nice, France. The marriage certificate says her maiden name was Wishaar. She was 16 years older than her husband and wealthy, with a magnificent chateau called La Chatellenie Saint-Aubin-le-Cauf
, a few miles southwest of Dieppe
in Normandy, and an art studio in Paris
.
In 1935, she finished outside the top four in the French Championship
(Paulette Schwartzmann
won) in Paris. In April 1936, she with her husband came to Sofia (Alekhine’s Simultaneous Exhibition).
Both competed at Hastings
in 1936/7 when he won the Premier and she won 3rd prize in the 3rd Class Morning A. They both came to Plymouth in 1938 for the Golden Jubilee Congress, where they attended a civic reception in their honour.
During World War II, the Nazis took over their chateau and looted it. She moved to Paris. Alekhine was free to travel, but no exit visa was given to Grace. He was effectively exiled to Portugal while Grace elected to remain in France to monitor the welfare of her various properties at the mercy of the invaders. She even found time to compete in the Paris Championship
of 1944 when she became the Ladies Champion.
After World War II
, she sold her chateau under American Embassy protection. She spent her final years in her studio in Paris, but visited St. Ives, Cornwall, where she was a member of the local chess club.
In the early 1950s, she was visited in Paris by her granddaughter Roberta Peeke: the young woman was invited to her address her as "Lady Grace." She died in Paris
, 1956 and was buried next to Alexander in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris, to where Alekhine's body had been transferred from Portugal after a long campaign she had led. Her grave spells her maiden name as Wishar.
After she died, the notes in Alekhine's handwriting were allegedly found in 1956 in her effects to prove he wrote six-part Pariser Zeitung article, entitled Aryan and Jewish Chess, published in March 1941 (an antisemitic slander of Jewish chess strategies). This was particularly ironic, as Grace herself was likely of Jewish ancestry (surviving the Nazi occupation of France). Her son, however, was raised an Episcopalian, and it is unlikely she practiced Judaism.
There are reports that Grace Wishaar had at least two additional marriages (before Archibald Freeman): they cannot as yet be verified.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
–British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
–French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
female artist, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
master and the fourth and last wife of World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
. Photo of Grace Wishaar, c. 1901
She was born in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
(her parents were Emile Bernard Wishard and Marie Ida Smith). She received training at the New York School of Art under William Chase, and began her career in painting there. In 1898, she married a man named (Whitney?) Eisler and moved to Seattle, Washington; that same year her son was born there (he was known as Carroll Earl Beauchamp Peeke throughout his life: it is uncertain where the name "Peeke" came from. She herself was also sometimes known by this name.).
Sometime early in the new 20th century, she moved to Oakland, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: there, again as Grace Wishaar, she established a career as a visual artist. Interestingly, her work became known on both a large and small scale: as a theatrical scenery painter (in San Francisco's Majestic Theatre, and Oakland's Ye Liberty Playhouse), and as a miniature portraitist (with no less a client than author Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, for whom she painted his young daughters).
Of her stage work, it was reported:
- One of the bright women in Mr. Harry Bishop's employ is Miss Grace Wishaar, whose picture we publish on this page. Miss Wishaar is interesting from many points, but she is distinctively interesting from the fact that she is the only woman scenic artist. Photo of Grace Wishaar, painting stage scenery in Seattle, 1902
- She began her work at the Herald Square Theatre, New York. That is, she was grudgingly allowed to make a trial there, after showing a persistence that no amount of rebuff could discourage. It was not long, however, until she won the respect of the men with whom she worked, for she never took advantage of her womanhood to shirk any part of her duty. Indeed, these men soon learned to refer to her finer, womanly understanding in the preparation of home scenes, and her settings for the various Bishop productions are particularly remarked for their dainty finish in their decorations of such scenes.
By the spring of 1914, she was exhibiting her portraiture work at the Spring Salon des Beaux Arts in Paris: this also seems to be the year that marked her departure from the United States.
Examples of her miniature work are found here (exhibited in 1910 and 1914, respectively): Giralamo Savonarola and Countess Walewska
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She later married Archibald Freeman, a British tea-planter in Ceylon (he died in the early 1930s), and she retained British citizenship to the end of her life. Grace, the widow of Freeman, had won a minor chess tournament in Tokyo, and played Alexander Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition
Simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
at Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
1933. Her prize was one of Alekhine's books. She asked him to sign the book and their relationship developed from that moment.
They were married in March 1934 at Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera.-Geography:...
, near Nice, France. The marriage certificate says her maiden name was Wishaar. She was 16 years older than her husband and wealthy, with a magnificent chateau called La Chatellenie Saint-Aubin-le-Cauf
Saint-Aubin-le-Cauf
Saint-Aubin-le-Cauf is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A village of farming and lakes, situated by the banks of the Bethune and Varenne Rivers in the Pays de Bray at the junction of the D1 and the D149 roads, some southeast of...
, a few miles southwest of Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
in Normandy, and an art studio in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
In 1935, she finished outside the top four in the French Championship
French Chess Championship
The French Chess Championship is the annual, national chess tournament of France. It was officially first played in 1923after the formation of the Fédération Française des Echecs in 1921. The first unofficial national tournament was played in 1880, in the Café de la Régence, where further edition...
(Paulette Schwartzmann
Paulette Schwartzmann
Paulette Schwartzmann was a Latvian–French–Argentine chess player.Born in Riga, she emigrated to France. She won seven times French Chess Championship , although she was awarded the title only thrice. She became French citizen in 1933.She played twice in Women's World Chess Championship...
won) in Paris. In April 1936, she with her husband came to Sofia (Alekhine’s Simultaneous Exhibition).
Both competed at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
in 1936/7 when he won the Premier and she won 3rd prize in the 3rd Class Morning A. They both came to Plymouth in 1938 for the Golden Jubilee Congress, where they attended a civic reception in their honour.
During World War II, the Nazis took over their chateau and looted it. She moved to Paris. Alekhine was free to travel, but no exit visa was given to Grace. He was effectively exiled to Portugal while Grace elected to remain in France to monitor the welfare of her various properties at the mercy of the invaders. She even found time to compete in the Paris Championship
Paris City Chess Championship
The first Paris City Chess Championship was held in 1925....
of 1944 when she became the Ladies Champion.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she sold her chateau under American Embassy protection. She spent her final years in her studio in Paris, but visited St. Ives, Cornwall, where she was a member of the local chess club.
In the early 1950s, she was visited in Paris by her granddaughter Roberta Peeke: the young woman was invited to her address her as "Lady Grace." She died in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1956 and was buried next to Alexander in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris, to where Alekhine's body had been transferred from Portugal after a long campaign she had led. Her grave spells her maiden name as Wishar.
After she died, the notes in Alekhine's handwriting were allegedly found in 1956 in her effects to prove he wrote six-part Pariser Zeitung article, entitled Aryan and Jewish Chess, published in March 1941 (an antisemitic slander of Jewish chess strategies). This was particularly ironic, as Grace herself was likely of Jewish ancestry (surviving the Nazi occupation of France). Her son, however, was raised an Episcopalian, and it is unlikely she practiced Judaism.
There are reports that Grace Wishaar had at least two additional marriages (before Archibald Freeman): they cannot as yet be verified.