Emily Hahn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Emily Hahn
Born	January 14, 1905 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	February 18, 1997(1997-02-18) (aged 92) Manhattan, New York
Occupation	Journalist, biographer, novelist
Spouse(s)	Charles Boxer ​ (m. 1945)​
Partner(s)	Shao Xunmei (Sinmay Zau)
Children	2, including Amanda Boxer
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	項美麗
Simplified Chinese	项美丽
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàng Měilì Wade–Giles Hsiang Mei-li Yue: Cantonese Jyutping hong6 mei5 lai6

Emily "Mickey" Hahn (Chinese: 項美麗, January 14, 1905 – February 18, 1997) was an American journalist and author. She was known for her many books and articles. People called her "a forgotten American literary treasure." She wrote 54 books and over 200 articles and short stories.

Emily Hahn's travels around the world and her love for animals greatly influenced her writing. She was the first woman to earn a degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After living in Europe, she traveled to the Belgian Congo and hiked across Central Africa in the 1930s. In 1935, she moved to Shanghai, China, where she taught English and met important people like the Soong sisters.

Emily Hahn's Early Life

Emily Hahn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 14, 1905. She was one of six children. Her father, Isaac Newton Hahn, was a salesman. Her mother, Hannah Hahn, was a suffragette, meaning she supported women's right to vote.

Her family was of German-Jewish background. Her mother gave her the nickname "Mickey" after a cartoon character. Close friends and family always called her Mickey. When she was in high school, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois.

Becoming a Mining Engineer

Emily loved reading and writing. She first studied arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. However, she changed her major to mining engineering. She did this after being told she couldn't join a chemistry class mostly for engineering students.

In her book No Hurry to Get Home, she wrote that no woman had ever studied mining engineering there. A professor told her that "The female mind is incapable of grasping mechanics." This made her even more determined. In 1926, she became the first woman to get a degree in Mining Engineering from the university. Her hard work showed everyone how smart and persistent she was.

Her First Steps as a Writer

Before graduating in 1924, Emily traveled about 2,400 miles (3,862 km) across the United States. She drove a Model T-Ford with her friend, Dorothy Raper. They dressed as men during their trip.

While driving through New Mexico, she wrote letters about her adventures to her brother-in-law. He secretly sent these letters to The New Yorker magazine. This was the start of her writing career. Emily Hahn wrote for The New Yorker from 1929 to 1996.

In 1930, she traveled to the Belgian Congo. There, she worked for the Red Cross. She lived with a Pygmy tribe for two years. After that, she walked across Central Africa by herself. Her first book was published in 1930.

Life in China and Hong Kong

Emily Hahn lived in Shanghai, China, from 1935 until 1941. These were very busy years for her. In Shanghai, she met important people like Sir Victor Sassoon. She often brought her pet gibbon, Mr. Mills, to dinner parties. Mr. Mills wore a diaper and a small dinner jacket!

She earned money by writing for The New Yorker. She became close with the Chinese poet and publisher Shao Xunmei (Sinmay Zau). He helped her learn about Chinese culture. This allowed her to write a book about the famous Soong sisters. One of the sisters was married to Sun Yat-sen, and another to Chiang Kai-shek.

Emily often visited Shao Xunmei's house. This was unusual for a Western woman in the 1930s. Shanghai was a city divided between Chinese and Westerners at that time.

During World War II

Later, Emily moved to Hong Kong. There, she met Charles Boxer, who was in charge of British army intelligence. Their daughter, Carola Militia Boxer, was born in Hong Kong on October 17, 1941.

A few weeks later, the Japanese army took over Hong Kong. Charles Boxer was sent to a POW camp. Emily was questioned by the Japanese. She told them she was married to Shao Xunmei. This helped her avoid being sent to a camp. The Japanese treated her as an "honorary Asian."

In her book China to Me (1944), Emily wrote about her experiences. She had to give English lessons to Japanese officials to get food. She even slapped the Japanese Chief of Intelligence once. He slapped her back the day before she left in 1943.

China to Me became very popular. Roger Angell from The New Yorker said Emily was "a woman deeply, almost domestically, at home in the world." She was curious and full of energy. She would go places, do things, and then write about them simply.

Life in England and Return to the US

In 1945, Emily married Charles Boxer after he was released from the POW camp. Their reunion was big news in the United States. They moved to "Conygar," Charles's 48-acre (194,249 m2) estate in Dorset, England. In 1948, they had a second daughter, Amanda Boxer, who later became an actress.

However, Emily found family life too limiting. In 1950, she got an apartment in New York City. From then on, she visited her husband and children in England only sometimes. She kept writing articles for The New Yorker. She also wrote biographies about famous people like Leonardo da Vinci, Chiang Kai-shek, and D. H. Lawrence.

According to her biographer Ken Cuthbertson, Emily could write well about almost any topic. This made it hard for her publishers to promote her books. She didn't fit into one specific category because she could write about so many different things.

In 1978, she published Look Who's Talking. This book was about how animals and humans communicate. It was her favorite non-fiction book. Her last book, Eve and the Apes, was written in 1988 when she was in her eighties.

Emily Hahn reportedly went to her office at The New Yorker every day. She continued this routine until just a few months before she passed away. She died on February 18, 1997, in Manhattan, at the age of 92. She passed away due to problems after surgery for a broken leg bone.

Emily Hahn's Legacy

Emily Hahn's granddaughter, Alfia Vecchio Wallace, gave a loving speech about her. She said, "Chances are, your grandmother didn't smoke cigars and let you hold wild role-playing parties in her apartment." She added that Emily might have taught you Swahili words or whooped loudly at the zoo's gibbon cage. "Sadly for you ... your grandmother was not Emily Hahn." This shows how unique and adventurous Emily was.

In 1998, Canadian author Ken Cuthbertson wrote a book about her life called Nobody Said Not to Go: The Life, Loves, and Adventures of Emily Hahn. "Nobody said not to go" was a phrase Emily often used.

In 2005, a book called Xiang Meili was published in China. This book looked back at Emily Hahn's life and experiences in Shanghai during the 1930s.

See also

In Spanish: Emily Hahn para niños