{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{short description|American Journalist}} {{Infobox person | name = Ella Winter | birth_name = Eleanora Sophie Wertheimer | image = Ella Winter.jpg | caption = Winter in her study in Carmel-by-the-Sea | birth_date = {{birth date|1898|03|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Nuremberg, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1980|08|05|1898|03|17}} | death_place = Hampstead, London | nationality = | occupation = Journalist and activist | spouse = {{plainlist| *{{marriage|Lincoln Steffens |1924|1929|end=div}} *{{marriage|Donald Ogden Stewart|1939}}}} | children = 1 }} '''Ella Winter Stewart''' (17 March 1898 – 5 August 1980) was an Australian-British journalist and activist, and champion of migrant farm workers. She was married first to investigative journalist Lincoln Steffens and then to Hollywood screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-obituary-for-ella-winter/128003705/ |title=Ella Winter Stewart|work=Oakland Tribune |place=Oakland, California |date=August 5, 1980|access-date=2023-07-10}}</ref>
== Early life == Ella was born Leonore Sophie Wertheimer in Melbourne (Caulfield) on 17 March 1898.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria |url=https://bdm.vic.gov.au |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Britannica - Ella Winter Stewart |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ella-Winter-Stewart}}</ref> Her parents were Freda Lust and Adolph Wertheimer of Nürnberg, who lived in London, Melbourne, Australia, and again in London, when they changed their name to Winter (around 1910). She was the double first cousin of the psychiatrists Fredric Wertham and Ida Macalpine and first cousin once removed of the humanitarian Nicholas Winton.<ref>{{cite book | last=Winton | first=Barbara | title=One Life: The True Story of Sir Nicholas Winton and the Prague Kindertransport | publisher=Simon and Schuster | date=5 November 2024 | isbn=978-1-63936-739-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcryEAAAQBAJ&q=%2522nicholas%2520winton%2522%2520%2522ida%2522&pg=PT71 | access-date=5 November 2025}}</ref> Ella studied at the London School of Economics in England.<ref name="Obituary"/>
==Career==
Ella met the U.S. journalist and muckraker Lincoln Steffens at the Versailles Conference, where she was secretary to US Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. She was greatly influenced by Steffens in her political views, which moved from liberalism and moderate, Fabian socialism to more radical socialism and communism.<ref name="Pesman 107">Ros Pesman. "'Red Virtue': Ella Winter and the Soviet Union." ''Political Tourists: Travellers from Australia to the Soviet Union in the 1920s–1940s.'' Sheila Fitzpatrick and Carolyn Rasmussen, eds. Melbourne University Press, 2008. P.107. {{ISBN|9780522855333}}</ref> Winter and Steffens married in 1924, after she had become pregnant from him. Ella was a New Woman and the two had agreed in advance that they would divorce five years later so that she could have her freedom and he would be spared "the anxiety and embarrassment of a wandering wife".<ref name="Pesman 106">Ros Pesman. "'Red Virtue': Ella Winter and the Soviet Union." ''Political Tourists: Travellers from Australia to the Soviet Union in the 1920s–1940s.'' Sheila Fitzpatrick and Carolyn Rasmussen, eds. Melbourne University Press, 2008. P.106. {{ISBN|9780522855333}}</ref> They moved to Italy, where their son, Peter, was born in San Remo.<ref name="Obituary"/> Two years later, they moved to the largest art colony on the Pacific Coast, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Where their social circle included photographer Edward Weston, poet Robinson Jeffers, philosopher/mythologist Joseph Campbell, nutritionist/author Adelle Davis, short story writer/poet Clark Ashton Smith, marine biologist/ecologist Ed Ricketts, Nobel prize winner Sinclair Lewis, and novelists John Steinbeck and Henry Miller.<ref name="Edwards">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Robert W.|url=https://tfaoi.org/cm/10cm/10cm69.pdf |title=Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies|work=East Bay Heritage Project|place=Oakland, California|date=2012|chapter=Chapter Two – Western Frontiers: Birth of the Carmel Art Colony (1896-1909)|isbn=978-1467545679|pages=39|access-date=April 7, 2023}}</ref>
When two Carmel reactionaries, artist William Silva and writer/editor Perry Newberry, tried to ban her local chapter of the communist-affiliated John Reed Club as well as her "socialist reading room", the press as far away as Los Angeles reported on the violation of her civil rights.<ref>''The Carmelite'', 14 April 1932, p. 9.</ref><ref>''Los Angeles Times'', 22 April 1932, p. I-2.</ref> The Steffens's also joined controversial national campaigns, including the Scottsboro Boys Defense Fund which sought to free nine black men who were still incarcerated after the Supreme Court of the United States twice reversed their convictions for rape.<ref name=":0">''The San Francisco News'', 24 February 1934, p. 11.</ref><ref name=":1">''Carmel Pine Cone'', 23 February 1934, p. 5.</ref><ref name=":2">''The Oakland Tribune'', 24 February 1934, p. 9.</ref>
Ella divorced Steffens on 21 June 1929<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-divorce/128003549/ |title=Lincoln Steffens Wins Divorced by Wife|work=The San Francisco Examiner|place=San Francisco, California |date=June 21, 1929|access-date=2023-07-10}}</ref>, as they had agreed. However, the two continued to live together until Steffens' death.<ref name="Pesman 106"/> Lincoln Steffens died on August 9, 1936, of a heart condition in Carmel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lincoln Steffens, First Muckraker Dies At 70 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2pErAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y3EFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3980,3333463&dq=lincoln+steffens&hl=en |newspaper=Associated Press |date=August 10, 1936 |access-date=2011-05-10 }}</ref>
==''The Carmelite''== thumb|The Carmelite (1928)
''The Carmelite,'' a weekly newspaper, was published in Carmel-by-the-Sea from 1928 to 1932. Its inception was fueled by the desire to provide an alternative to the town's conventional publication, the ''Carmel Pine Cone.'' Spearheaded by Ella Winter and Steffens in 1928, ''The Carmelite'' swiftly gained recognition for its unique perspective on art, establishing itself as one of California's most contentious periodicals. Within its pages, Ella fearlessly explored an array of subjects, captivating readers with her diverse writings.<ref name="Edwards"/>
The Carmel Colony was sharply divided between conservative and liberal factions; the latter quickly coalesced around the Steffenses, who publicly debated the most controversial topics. The Irish poet and folklorist Ella Young, as well as the local press, described the relaxed social intercourse in this counterculture world.<ref name="young">{{cite book|last1=Young|first1=Ella| title=Flowering Dusk, Things Remembered Accurately and Inaccurately| date=1945|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co.| location=New York, NY| pages=297–301}}</ref><ref>''Carmel Pine Cone'', 1 November 1935, p. 6; 14 February 1936, p.11.</ref>
With contributions by numerous leftist literati, including Jeffers, Martin Flavin, Lewis and the Steffenses, along with theater, dance and art reviews by feminist artists such as Alberta Spratt, Jennie V. Cannon, and Roberta Balfour, ''The Carmelite'' became one of California’s most controversial publications.<ref name="Edwards"/>{{failed verification|date=November 2025}}
Pauline Gibling Schindler, an educator, editor, and advocate of the arts, took on the role of editor at ''The Carmelite.'' During her tenure, tensions arose between her and fellow editor Steffens, leading to clashes behind the scenes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hartshorn|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNoREAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Have+Seen+the+Future:+A+Life+of+Lincoln+Steffens%22&pg=PA1611|title=I Have Seen the Future: A Life of Lincoln Steffens|work=Counterpoint Press |date=2011|publisher=Catapult |isbn=978-1582436470}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.carmelresidents.org/assets/docs/VoicePDFs/CRANews2012_11_12.pdf|title=Pauline Schindler and ''The Carmelite'' Two Meteors in Carmel's Orbit|work=Carmel Residents Association Newsletter|date=November–December 2010|access-date=2023-06-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2001664/pauline_schindler_and_the_carmelite/ |title=Dispute Over Carmel Paper Amuses Coast|work=Daily Capital Journal|date=February 26, 1929|page=3|access-date=2023-06-28}}</ref>
Its illustrations ranged from Weston’s enigmatic photos to the "anarchist" prints of James Blanding Sloan. The Steffenses also arranged for public exhibits of Europe’s most avant-garde art, including Dada, Surrealism and the paintings of Paul Klee. Ella wrote on various topics and once reported on the very unusual meeting between the popular Modernist artists John O’Shea and Frederick O’Brien.<ref>''The Carmelite'', 3 April 1929, p. 3.</ref> The Steffens' support of the art community extended to their own home where they entertained local painters and offered to display their work.<ref>''Carmel Pine Cone'', 19 April 1929, p. 14.</ref>
== Publications ==
A close associate with the Communist Party USA and strong supporter of the Soviet Union under Stalin, she wrote her first book, ''Red Virtue'', after visiting the Soviet Union in 1932.<ref name="Pesman 102">Ros Pesman. "'Red Virtue': Ella Winter and the Soviet Union." ''Political Tourists: Travellers from Australia to the Soviet Union in the 1920s–1940s.'' Sheila Fitzpatrick and Carolyn Rasmussen, eds. Melbourne University Press, 2008. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HBcF0gDAINoC&pg=PA102 pp.102–104.] {{ISBN|9780522855333}}</ref>
She returned to the Soviet Union in 1944 and published ''I Saw the Russian People'' the following year.<ref name="Pesman 102"/> In her autobiography, ''And Not to Yield'' published in 1963, she affirmed her support for the Soviets while admitting that she had concealed negative aspects of the regime.<ref name="Pesman 116">Ros Pesman. "'Red Virtue': Ella Winter and the Soviet Union." ''Political Tourists: Travellers from Australia to the Soviet Union in the 1920s–1940s.'' Sheila Fitzpatrick and Carolyn Rasmussen, eds. Melbourne University Press, 2008. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HBcF0gDAINoC&pg=PA116 pp.116.] {{ISBN|9780522855333}}</ref> At the time, she told a friend that she was not part of the "'God that failed' brigade and did not want her book to be of advantage to that group".<ref name="Pesman 116"/>
In 1939, Ella married the screenwriter and humorist Donald Ogden Stewart and became stepmother to his sons, Donald and Ames. They lived in California and then in Hampstead, London.
In conversation with Thomas Wolfe, Winter once said: "Don't you know you can't go home again?" Wolfe then asked Winter for permission to use the phrase as the title of his book ''You Can't Go Home Again''.<ref name="Yale Quotations">{{cite book | title = The Yale Book of Quotations | title-link = The Yale Book of Quotations |editor1= Fred R. Shapiro |editor-link= Fred R. Shapiro | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 2006 | location = New Haven, Connecticut | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300107982/page/832 832] | isbn = 978-0-300-10798-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Godwin | first1 = Gail | author-link1 = Gail Godwin | title = You Can't Go Home Again | chapter = Introduction | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 2011 | page = xii | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yybDMC0TRIwC&pg=PR12 | access-date = 2013-03-05 | isbn = 9781451650488}}</ref>
==Death== Ella died of a stroke on 5 August 1980 at her home in Hampstead, London. She was 82 years old.<ref>{{cite news |first= Joan|last= Cook|title=Ella Winter Stewart, Journalist and Widow Of Donald O. Stewart; Was War Correspondent Back After 17 Years. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/08/05/archives/ella-winter-stewart-journalist-and-widow-of-donald-o-stewart-was.html |work=The New York Times |date=August 5, 1980|access-date=2008-04-18 }}</ref><ref name="Obituary"/>
==Bibliography== * ''[https://archive.org/details/RedVirtue Red Virtue: Human Relations in the New Russia]''. Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York 1933 * Ella Winter, Granville Hicks (eds.): ''The Letters of Lincoln Steffens''. Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York 1938 * ''I Saw the Russian People''. Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1945 * Ella Winter, Herbert Shapiro (eds.): ''The World of Lincoln Steffens''. 1962 * ''And Not to Yield: An Autobiography''. Harcourt, Brace & World, New York 1963
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{commons category}} *Donald Ogden Stewart and Ella Winter Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813041030/http://newcriterion.com:81/archive/12/nov93/koch.htm Lying for Truth: Münzenberg & the Comintern (Stephen Koch)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Ella}} Category:1898 births Category:1980 deaths Category:American socialist feminists Category:20th-century British journalists Category:German emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Communists from California Category:Activists from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Category:Writers from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California