Agnes Murgoci
Agnes Murgoci | |
|---|---|
| Born | Agnes Kelly 1875 (1875) |
| Died | 7 May 1929(1929年05月07日) (aged 53–54) Isle of Wight, England |
| Education | Dollar Academy |
| Alma mater | Bedford College, London Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München |
| Employer | King Edward VI High School for Girls |
| Organization(s) | Bucharest Science Society The Folklore Society |
| Spouse | Gheorghe Munteanu-Murgoci (m. 1904, d. 1925) |
| Children | 2 |
Dr. Agnes Murgoci (née Kelly, 1875 – 7 May 1929), was an Australian-born, English zoologist, folklorist and teacher. She is most known for her work on Romanian folklore, especially early studies on vampirism.
Biography
[edit ]Agnes Kelly was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1875.[1] [2] She was the daughter of Adam Kelly, formerly of Glasgow, Scotland, and Helen Kelly (née Beveridge), formerly of Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.[3] Her mother returned to Britain with Agnes, when she was three years old. Her father moved to Auckland, New Zealand.[2]
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Kelly attended school at Dollar Academy and entered Bedford College, London in 1892, the beneficiary of a scholarship.[1] [3] She graduated in 1896, obtaining her B.Sc. with first class honours in zoology.[2] She also was awarded the Weldon Gold Medal.[3] After graduating, she taught at King Edward VIII High School for Girls in Birmingham, England.[4]
Kelly moved to Germany to undertake a PhD at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. She graduated alongside Maria Gordon, as the first women to obtain a PhD from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 1900.[2]
Kelly met Gheorghe Munteanu-Murgoci, a Romanian professor of mineralogy and geology, during her time in Munich.[2] They married in 1904 and went on a long trip to the United States together.[3] They moved to Bucharest, Romania. Their children, Helen and Radu-Maxwell were both born in Romania.[2] They both became members of the Bucharest Science Society.[3]
Murgoci published articles on the folklore of her new home of Romania, especially early studies on vampirism,[5] [6] and a book titled Rumania and the Rumanians (1918). Her works also appeared in the journal of the Folklore Society.[7] [8]
In 1926, Murgoci recorded that Romanian vampire lore claimed that vampires can take on sizes which allow them to enter a house through a keyhole and also held that vampires could take milk from nursing mothers and cows.[9] She also noted that in the Romanian language the words strigoi and moroii were the most commonly used for vampires in folklore and made translations into English of legends.[10] She noted that the Ruthenian word for a dead vampire was oper.[5]
In 1927, Murgoci read a paper to the Folklore Society on vampirism.[10]
During World War I, Murgoci and her children took refuge in Iași, then fled to England and settled in Bristol.[2] She made Bristol an important centre for information on Romanian culture, gave talks and conferences, and also returned to teaching.[4]
Murgoci's husband died in 1925.[2] Murgoci died in England on 7 May 1929, following a car accident on the Isle of Wight.[2]
Legacy
[edit ]Murgoci collected many traditional Romanian peasant costumes and rugs. These were donated to the Scottish National Museum by her daughter as the Murgoci collection.[2] Her papers are held in the Royal Holloway, University of London archives.[7]
References
[edit ]- ^ a b Crane, Rosi (2024). "Women naturalists in Tuhura Otago Museum, Dunedin". Journal of New Zealand Studies (37). Victoria University of Wellington: 47–63. doi:10.3316/informit.T2024071200006000365662138 . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Herklots, John (2015). "Agnes Murgoci (1875-1929)" (PDF). Ryde Social Heritage Group.
- ^ a b c d e "Aspecte din activitatea desfășurată de Agnes Kelly Murgoci în sprijinul cauzei naționale românești în timpul primului război mondial". Centrul Județean de Excelență Alba (in Romanian). Retrieved 14 March 2026.
- ^ a b Adamson, Robert; Evans, Ben (1994). Dunfermline to Down Under: James and Elizabeth Adamson and Family : Early Pioneers of South Australia. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-646-20676-9.
- ^ a b Murgoci, Agnes (1 December 1926). "The Vampire in Roumania" . Folklore. 37 (4): 320–349. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718370. ISSN 0015-587X . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
- ^ Perkowski, Jan Louis (1989). The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism. Slavica. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-89357-200-6.
- ^ a b AIM25: Archives in London and the M25 area. MURGOCI, Dr Agnes (1875–1929) . Archived 30 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine from the original on.
- ^ Vampirism of New and Old Ottomans. Centre for Romanian Studies. 2004. Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Rose, Christine (2004). Bodies that Splatter: Bodily Fluids in Nineteenth-century Imperial Discourse. University of California, Santa Cruz. p. 71.
- ^ a b Dundes, Alan (15 October 1998). The Vampire: A Casebook. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 8–9, 12. ISBN 978-0-299-15923-8.
External links
[edit ]
- 1875 births
- 1929 deaths
- People educated at Dollar Academy
- English folklorists
- Australian folklorists
- Australian people of Scottish descent
- Australian women folklorists
- Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Alumni of Bedford College, London
- Australian emigrants to Germany
- LMU Munich alumni
- British folklorists
- British women folklorists
- Romanian folklorists
- Romanian women folklorists
- Translators from Romanian
- Translators to English