Assia Wevill
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Assia Wevill (May 15, 1927 - March 29, 1969) was born in Berlin, of German, Russian, and Jewish descent. She is most well-known for having an affair with Ted Hughes.
Early life
She was the daughter of a Jewish physician of Russian origin and spent her youth in Tel Aviv and Canada, and had worked in the advertising industry. A refugee from Nazi Germany after the beginning of World War II, Assia was herself an aspiring poet. Wevill’s third husband was the Canadian poet David Wevill.
Ted Hughes
In 1961, poet Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath took up residence at North Tawton, Devon. Wevill began her affair with Hughes, which continued after Plath committed suicide.
Hughes moved her into Court Green (a Mid Devon home that he had bought for Plath). Wevill was haunted by Plath's memory; she even began using things that had once belonged to the poet.[[Citing sources citation needed]] On March 3, 1965, Wevill gave birth to Alexandra Tatiana Eloise, nicknamed "Shura". However, she began becoming anxious and believed that Hughes would leave her.
Death
On March 25, 1969, Assia Wevill took her own life and that of their daughter in a manner that nearly reenacted Plath's suicide. Dragging a mattress into the kitchen, Assia sealed the door and window, dissolved sleeping pills in a glass of water and gave them to Shura. Taking the rest of the pills, she turned on the gas stove, and lay down on the mattress with her daughter.
Legacy
Ted Hughes' book "Crow" was dedicated to the memory of Assia and Shura. His poem "Folktale" deals with his relation to Assia:
- She wanted the silent heraldry
- Of the purple beach by the noble wall.
- He wanted Cabala the ghetto demon
- With its polythene bag full of ashes.
Sources
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