Lucretia Xavier Floyd

Lucretia Xavier Floyd
Lucretia Xavier Floyd, from an 1896 publication
Born
Lucretia M. F. Xavier

1860s
Spain
DiedAugust 20, 1922
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Other namesLucrecia Xavier de Floyd
OccupationsTranslator, writer, educator
Known forA Sunny Morning (1914)

Lucretia Marie Frances Xavier Floyd (1860s – August 20, 1922) was a Spanish-born American writer, translator and educator based in Boston. Her English translation of the Quintero brothers' one-act comedy A Sunny Morning (1914) was widely anthologized.

Early life and education

Xavier was born in Spain[1] and raised in the United States, the daughter of Antonio Xavier and Mary R. Xavier. Her father was born in Portugal and her mother was born in Spain.[2] She attended from Girls' High School in Boston.[3]

Career

Xavier taught Spanish in Amherst and Boston,[4] and at the University of Vermont.[5] She taught French, Spanish and Italian at Wellesley College in 1893 and 1894,[3][6] and English at a summer school in Cuba.[5] She was one of the organizers of Boston's El Club Español in 1901, with Carolina Huidobro and others,[1] and she gave readings of Spanish poetry and prose there.[7][8][9] She also worked as secretary and translator at the Spanish and French consulates in Boston.[5] She was active in the Woman's Relief Corps and the Sons of Veterans Auxiliary.[10][11]

Xavier wrote short stories[3] and made translations from Spanish. Her 1914 translation of the Spanish one-act comedy A Sunny Morning was widely anthologized.[12][13][14] She starred in the first production of her translation, in 1915.[15] Stephen Allard pronounced it "a bright little duologue" and recommended it for use in little theatres.[16] In 1916 she acted in plays by Cervantes, to mark the Spanish writer's tercentenary.[17]

Publications

  • "Love's Sacrifice" (1896, short story)[3]
  • The Practical Home Physician (translator)[5]
  • "A Romance of Santiago" (1912, short story)[18]
  • Joaquín Alvarez Quintero and Serafín Alvarez Quintero, A Sunny Morning: A Comedy of Madrid (1914, translator)[19]

Personal life

Xavier married publisher and customs official Ira Waldo Floyd in 1894.[20][21] She moved to Cuba with him while he was collector of customs at Guantánamo.[22] She died in 1922, at about age 60, in Cambridge.[23] Her grave was in Saco, Maine.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b "For the Study of Spanish; El Club Espanol Organized in Boston". The Boston Globe. 1901-04-04. p. 14. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ 1910 United States census, via Ancestry.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Prize Winners; Bright Lady Writers of the Post's Short Stories for the Week". Boston Post. 1896-08-02. p. 14. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Amherst College Summer School of Languages (1880). Circular and Programme. D. Appleton & Company. pp. 2, 20.
  5. ^ a b c d "Cuban Summer School". The Daily Item. 1900-08-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Collection: Spanish Department records". Wellesley College Archives. Archived from the original on 2025-09-10. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  7. ^ "Readings from Spanish Poets". Boston Evening Transcript. 1903-02-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Spanish Club Entertained". Boston Evening Transcript. 1904-03-16. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Entertained Spanish Club". Boston Evening Transcript. 1905-01-04. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "With Triple Ceremony; Woman's Relief Corps, Sons of Veterans, and Auxiliar Officers are Installed". The Boston Globe. 1914-01-06. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Interesting Exercises; New Auxiliary of the Sons of Veterans Instituted in Arlington". The Boston Globe. 1912-06-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Shay, Frank; Loving, Pierre (1920). Fifty Contemporary One-act Plays. Stewart & Kidd Company.
  13. ^ Dane, Essex (1923). One Act Plays. Walter H. Baker Company.
  14. ^ Webber, James Plaisted; Webster, Hanson Hart (1923). One-act Plays. Houghton Mifflin.
  15. ^ "Plays of the Week at the Toy Theatre". The Boston Globe. 1915-01-12. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Allard, Stephen (December 1917). "Plays for Little Theatres". Theatre Arts Magazine. 2 (1): 45.
  17. ^ "To Honor Cervantes". Boston Globe. April 16, 1916. p. 133 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  18. ^ Floyd, Lucretia Xavier (November 6, 1912). "A Romance of Santiago". Boston Post. p. 12 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  19. ^ Quintero, Serafín Álvarez; Quintero, Joaquín Álvarez (1914). A Sunny Morning: A Comedy of Madrid. Translated by Lucretia Xavier Floyd. S. French.
  20. ^ "Cupid Appears, and Miss Xavier Gives Up High Ambitions to Marry a Boston Man". Boston Post. 1894-07-22. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Floyd-Xavier; Son of the South Boston Editor Wedded to a Spanish Woman, who is Well Known as a Linguist". The Boston Globe. 1894-07-24. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "I. Waldo Floyd Sails for His Post". The Boston Globe. 1898-12-29. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Floyd, Lucretia X. (death notice)". Boston Post. August 21, 1922. p. 22 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  24. ^ "Mrs. Lucretia FLoyd". Biddeford-Saco Journal. 1922-08-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-01-20 – via Newspapers.com.
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