Emily Shanks

Emily Shanks, also known in Russian sources as Emiliya Yakovlevna Shanks (Russian: Эми́лия Я́ковлевна Шанкс; 1 August 1857, in Moscow – 13 January 1936, in London), was an English painter, active in Moscow during the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II. She was the first woman to be elected to the Peredvizhniki Company. Early life Emily Shanks was born in Moscow, the second daughter of James Steuart Shanks and Mary Louisa Schilling. James arrived in Moscow in 1852 where he went into partnership with Swede Henrik Conrad Bolin to found Shanks & Bolin, Magasin Anglais (The English Shop). The shop was financially successful and the Shanks family led a comfortable life allowing the daughters the time and means to engage with the Moscow intelligentsia. Emily's older sister Louise Shanks married Aylmer Maude and translated Tolstoy's novels into English; these translations...