Queer Places:
Campo Cestio, Via Caio Cestio, 6, 00153 Roma RM
Anita Herriman Vedder (October 28, 1873 - June 15, 1954) was born in Rome, Italy, on October 28, 1873, the daughter of the esteemed American symbolist
painter, illustrator, and poet Elihu Vedder and his wife, Caroline Beach Rosekrans Vedder. Growing up in an
artistic and international milieu, she was part of a family that deeply shaped her life's trajectory, though her brothers, Alexander Madison Vedder and
Enoch Rosekrans Vedder, both predeceased her, with Enoch passing away in Italy in 1916. While little documentation captures her personal life in
extensive detail, Anita played a vital and indispensable role as her father's business manager, expertly handling his professional affairs, commissions,
and practical arrangements to compensate for his notorious indifference to mundane administrative details.
Her life and social circle intimately intersected with the expatriate and artistic communities of Italy, particularly on the Isle of Capri, which
served as a haven for artists, writers, and male aesthetes during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Anita's presence in these creative circles is
notably captured in Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen’s 1909 roman à clef Et le feu s'éteignit sur la
mer… (And the fire was smothered by the sea), a novel dedicated to Kate Wolcott Perry and
Saidee Wolcott Perry. The book's plot wove together elements of Fersen's own life alongside figures like
Nino Cesarini and Anita Vedder, functioning simultaneously as a personal narrative and a sharp critique of
Capri society. Furthermore, her close connection to her father's network of avant-garde and expatriate friends extended beyond his lifetime; notably, the
American artist Charles Caryl Coleman named Anita in his June 1916 will as a contingent beneficiary to
inherit his estate should other primary beneficiaries predecease her.
Anita lived out the remainder of her life in Rome, passing away at the age of 80 on June 15, 1954. She was laid to rest alongside her family at the
Protestant Cemetery, also known as Campo Cestio, in Rome, where her headstone bears the poignant and fitting inscription: "LET ME DREAM."
References:
Other references:
- Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen’s 1909 novel Et le feu s'éteignit sur la mer… (And the fire was smothered by the sea), which features Anita Vedder within its plot alongside the author, Nino, and others.
- The June 1916 last will and testament of American artist Charles Caryl Coleman (1840–1928), which designated Anita Vedder as a contingent beneficiary to inherit his estate under specific conditions.
- Birth records detailing her birth on October 28, 1873, in Rome, Italy, to parents Elihu Vedder and Caroline B. Rosekrans (Caroline Beach "Carrie" Rosekrans Vedder).
- Death records indicating her passing on June 15, 1954, in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- Burial and cemetery records from the Protestant Cemetery (Campo Cestio) in Rome, noting her final resting place and the headstone inscription "LET ME DREAM."
- Historical accounts and auction records (such as those from Christie's) documenting her role as the daughter of symbolist painter Elihu Vedder and her vital administrative work managing his professional business affairs.
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