Noël Haskins Murphy

Noël Haskins Murphy (December 25, 1896 – 1982)[1][2] was an American performer, best-known as the wife and widow of Frederic Timothy Murphy (who died in 1924 of wounds suffered during World War I). She was also the lover of Paris-based American news correspondent Janet Flanner.

Nöel Haskins Murphy by George Hoyningen-Huene

Early life

Born Noël Haskins into the distinguished Havemeyer family, Haskins was one of two daughters of Charles Waldo Haskins (1852-1903), co-founder of the accounting firm Haskins and Sells, a predecessor to Deloitte, and Henrietta Sherman Havemeyer (1854-1928), the daughter of the wealthy sugar merchant Albert Havemeyer, whose brother, businessman William F. Havemeyer, was twice elected mayor of New York City.[3][4]

Haskins trained to be a singer and was involved in theatre, performing with the Washington Square Players under the name Noël Haddon.[4]

Personal life

Noël Haskins Murphy lived in France from 1920 onward, after she married Frederic Timothy Murphy (1885-1924), brother of Gerald Murphy.[4][5] Frederic, who was seriously wounded during World War I, died on May 23, 1924. Haskins Murphy, inconsolable, bought a house in the village of Orgeval, Yvelines, northeast of Paris, not far from the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Old Communal Cemetery where her husband was buried.[6][3]

In 1931, Janet Flanner fell in love with Noël, whom she called Noeline, and they had a short-lived romance with Flanner spending a lot of time at Orgeval. Solita Solano, Flanner's long-time lover, accepted the relationship and was a frequent visitor at Murphy's country house.[6] They separated in 1933.[4] After Flanner, Solano started a relationship with Elizabeth Jenks Clark; in 1958 the two women moved to Orgeval as well. Solano died in 1975 and was buried in Orgeval.[6]

During World War II, Haskins Murphy served with the Comité Américain de Secours Civil and refused to leave her Orgeval home or her husband's nearby gravesite. She was sent by the Nazis to an internment camp in Vittel.[4]

Death

She died in France in 1982. She is believed to have been 85.

References
  1. Copy of US passport #401369 of Noël Haskins Murphy (spelled as Noel Murphy), dated April 26, 1924, giving her age as 27 years old. However, other sources and certain travel manifests have given her year of birth as 1894 or 1895.
  2. Passport image, worthpoint.com. Accessed August 16, 2022.
  3. Murray, William (2000). Janet, My Mother, and Me: A Memoir of Growing Up with Janet Flanner and Natalia Danesi Murray. Simon and Schuster. p. 46. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  4. Wineapple, Brenda (1992). Gen?t: A Biography of Janet Flanner. University of Nebraska Press. p. 114. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  5. "Murphy, Gerald, 1888-1964". Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  6. Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing, edited by Gabriele Griffin
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