Profile Text
Date of Birth: October 27, 1932
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Date of Death: 11 February, 1963
Place of Death: London, England, U.K.
Ethnicity: * father – German, likely some Polish * mother – Austrian
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She wrote the 1963 novel The Bell Jar . She also wrote under the name Victoria Lucas.
Sylvia was the daughter of Aurelia Frances (Schober) Plath and Otto Emil Plath, who was an entomologist and professor of biology, at Boston University. Her father was born in Grabow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, and came to the U.S. in 1900. Her mother was born in Boston, to Austrian parents.
She was married to English poet, translator, and children’s writer Ted Hughes, until her death, with whom she had two children, poet and painter Frieda Hughes and fisheries biologist Nicholas Hughes.
Sylvia’s paternal grandfather was Theodore Friedrich Plath (the son of Johann/John D. Plath and Karoline/Caroline Henriette Katzsezmadek). Theodore was born in Posne, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, to parents who were also born there. Johann was the son of Julius Carl Plath.
Sylvia’s paternal grandmother was Ernestine Wilhelmine Kottke (the daughter of Johann Michael Kottke and Anna Christina Witt). Ernestine was born in Chodziez, Chodzież County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland.
Sylvia’s maternal grandfather was Francis/Franz Richard “Frank” Schober (the son of Joseph Schober and Theresia Kroberger/Koberger). Francis was born in Bad Aussee, Gröbming, Liezen District, Styria, Austria.
Sylvia’s maternal grandmother was Aurelia Romana Grünwald/Greenwood (the daughter of Mathias Grünwald and Barbara Josephine “Betty” Bayer/Heimer). Aurelia was born in Vienna. Barbara was the daughter of Franz Beyer and Josepha Magdalena Schmid.
Sources: Genealogies of Sylvia Plath – https://www.geni.com https://www.wikitree.com https://www.findagrave.com