Theodore Frederick Spicer-Simson

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1871, June 25 Born in le Havre, France

1874 Moved to Tasmania

1879 Returned to France and enrolled in boarding school near London.

1882 Sent to school at Neuweid-am-Rhein in Germany.

1884 Returned to France

1892-1895 Studied art at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris.

1896, July 1 Married to Margaret Schmidt in Washington, D.C.

1901 Elected Associate, Soci‚t‚ National des Beaux Arts, Paris, France.

1911-1912 Recipient, Highest Award for Medals at Brussels, Belgium and Grand

International Exhibitions.

1915 Awards for medals, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco,California.

1955 Award for his body of work, National Sculpture Society.

1956 Received J. Stanford Saltus Medal, American Numismatic Society.

                           Fellow, American Numismatic Society.

1959, February 1 Dies at home in Coconut Grove, Florida

Theodore Spicer-Simson was born at le Havre, France on June 25, 1871, the first son of Frederick John Simson and Dora Mary Spicer. His education was in various boarding schools in London, Germany and France. After his graduation, he enrolled in the Ecole

des Beaux-Arts in Paris to study sculpture.

In Paris he met Margaret Schmidt and followed her to Washington, D.C. where they were married on July 1, 1896. When the United States entered the Spanish American War in 1899, they moved to Paris where he met and worked with sculptor Jean Dampt. Living

in the Montparnasse section of Paris he met many artists and literary figures, many of which were later to be subject of his medallions, including Leo and Ella Mielziner, Henri Monod, James Stephens, and many others.

Many prominent people on both sides of the Atlantic sat for Spicer-Simson, including three United States Presidents. President William Howard Taft sat for him in 1911 for a medallion that was later reduced and used as a campaign button. In 1914 he did a cast

of President Woodrow Wilson's right hand which was going to be used in propaganda for wartime with the slogan "Uphold the President's Hand." However, this was never used. Also, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sat for him for a medal commissioned by the French Mint. He also made a medallic portrait of Ignance Jean Paderewski, a famous Polish pianist, who, between sittings for Spicer-Simson, was chosen the first President of independent Poland, forcing Spicer-Simson to finish the medallion in a hurry.

In 1921 he started work on Men of Letters of the British Isles a volume containing medallic portraits of the prominent writers of England and Ireland of the time. These were to be accompanied by critical essays on each author's work by Stuart P. Sherman.

Included among the authors that sat for Spicer-simson were George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, A.E. Houseman, G.K. Chesterton, and others.

In 1925, during a visit to the United States, he was invited to visit Miami by his old friend David Fairchild. Spicer-Simson liked Miami so much that, on his return to France, he had a home built in Coconut Grove. During the world-wide depression of the 1930's their Florida home was rented out and they returned to like at a home at les Volets Verts, Bourron, France.

The Spicer-Simsons were in France during the outbreak of World War II. Since Spicer-Simson was of British citizenship, he was arrested in 1940 by the German army which was arresting British nationals living in occupied France. Margaret was not arrested

because she was an American citizen and the U.S. was not directly involved in the war at that time. He was released, after spending time in a prisoners' camp, in April, 1941 and remained the rest of the war at Les Volets Verts.

After the war, in late 1946, they were able to return to their home in Coconut Grove. Here Spicer-Simson made a medallion of Robert Frost who was associated with the University of Miami at the time. He remained in the United States until his death in Miami

after a long illness on February 1, 1959.

Among the honors Spicer-Simson received during his lifetime, he was named fellow of the Numismatic Association and Recipient of the J. Stanford Saltus Medal of the American Numismatic Society. He was also named fellow of the National Sculpture Association,

member of the National Academy of Design, and associataire de Salon des Beaux-Arts, Paris. His work is contained in various museums, libraries, and private collections world-wide. Notable among these are a tablet honoring Alexander Graham Bell displayed at the

National Geographic Society Building and one honoring Hervey J. Allen on display at the American Museum of Natural History, both in Washington, D.C.

The medallions and personal papers of Theodore Spicer-Simson were presented to the Archives and Special Collections, Otto G. Richter Library, University of Miami

Coral Gables, Florida Library in 1960 by Margaret Spicer-Simson for eventual purchase by the Library. These medallions caused the organization of the Friends of the University of Miami Library which set out to purchase the collection, which was presented to the Archives and Special Collections Department in 1971.

Theodore Spicer-Simson was a world famous sculptor and medalist and many world and literary figures of the first half of the 20th century are among his subjects. He lived in Coconut Grove for a portion of his life and therefore his wife wanted the collection held at the University of Miami.

The collection had no restrictions placed on it at the time of purchase.

The Theodore Spicer-Simson Collection is available to researchers investigating the fields of art, sculpture, and literature. It is held in the Archives and Special Collections Department of the University of Miami Library.

The Theodore Spicer-Simson Collection contains the Spicer- Simson medallions as well as photographs, correspondence, typescripts and other related material.

The bulk of the collection consists of the Spicer-Simson medallions. These are portrait medallions cast in bronze of major world and literary figures from Spicer-Simson's lifetime. All of these were sculpted from life. Notable among these are David Fairchild, Padraic Colum, Henry Ford, Sir Ernest Rutherford, Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Dreiser, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and other important figures in addition to person friends and family members of Spicer-Simson.

The collection contains many other examples of Spicer-Simson medals in the form of medals, awards, and sculptings that Spicer- Simson created. Included in these are medals sculpted for the National Academy of Sciences, Princeton University, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the U.S. Congress. The collection also contains clay and plaster molds of medallions, including some small pieces of sculpture. In addition to all his sculpture and medallions, the collection contains examples of Spicer-Simson's other artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and bookplates.

Spicer-Simson's autobiography, A Collector of Characters is held in the collection, along with the typescripts of the book. The collection's correspondence includes correspondence from Hervey Allen, Padraic Colum, H.L. Mencken, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sir Ernest Rutherford, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas. The photographs include mostly photographs of medallions and sculpture, including some not in the collection, but also contain many photos of Spicer-Simson's subjects, some of these mounted and autographed.