# Nilla Cram Cook

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**Nilla Cram Cook** (December 21, 1908 – October 11, 1982), also known as **Nila Nagini Devi**, was an American writer, linguist, translator, and arts patron.

## Early life

Nilla Cram Cook was born in [Davenport, Iowa](/source/Davenport,_Iowa), the daughter of playwright [George Cram Cook](/source/George_Cram_Cook) and his second wife, journalist Mollie Anastasia Price. Her father and stepmother [Susan Glaspell](/source/Susan_Glaspell) brought her to Greece as a girl, to study languages and culture there.[1][2]

## Career

In 1931, Cook left her husband in Greece and brought her young son to [Kashmir](/source/Kashmir),[2] where she became a follower of [Gandhi](/source/Mahatma_Gandhi),[3][4] converted to [Hinduism](/source/Hinduism),[5] and studied [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit), [Hindi](/source/Hindi), and [Persian](/source/Persian_language) literatures. After she left Gandhi's [ashram](/source/Ashram),[6] with a shaved head and barefoot,[7][8] she crashed a car,[9] and was detained as a vagrant and hospitalized for a month in 1934, in [Calcutta](/source/Kolkata),[10][11] then deported with her son back to the United States.[12][13] On arrival at [Ellis Island](/source/Ellis_Island), she made odd pronouncements ("delusions of grandeur", according to her brother), and news stories remarked on the "dramatic" and "hectic" scene.[14][15] She wrote about this part of her life in a memoir, *My Road to India* (1939).[16][17] [Mary Sully](/source/Mary_Sully) painted an abstract portrait titled "Nila Cram Cook" in the 1930s.[1]

In 1939, she became Europe correspondent for an American weekly, *Liberty.* She covered [World War II](/source/World_War_II) from Greece, until she escaped Nazi detention in July 1941, and fled with her son to [Tehran](/source/Tehran).[18] She worked as a cultural attaché at the American Embassy in Tehran from 1941 to 1947. During that time, Cook converted to [Islam](/source/Islam), and spent years on a personal project, editing and translating the [Koran](/source/Quran) into English, with her own commentary.[19][20] She held a high position in Iran's Ministry of Education, oversaw film censorship,[21] and went on radio to read her translations of poetry. She helped build national theatre,[22] ballet,[23] and opera programs in Iran in the 1940s.[24] She worked with a fellow American expatriate, dancer [Xenia Zarina](/source/Xenia_Zarina), in Iran.[25]

Cook took a renewed interest in Kashmir in 1954,[26] and compiled a book of translated poems, titled *The Way of the Swan: Poems of Kashmir* (1958).[27][28]

## Personal life

At age 18, in 1927, Nilla Cram Cook married Greek poet and government official Nikos Proestopoulos; they had a son, Serios Nicholas Proestopoulos (also known as Sirius Cook),[29] and divorced in 1932. She married again very briefly, to Albert Nathaniel Hutchins in 1934;[30] that marriage was annulled.[31][32]

Cook toured in Greece with her son and cousin and their wives in 1965.[33] She died in 1982, aged 74 years, in [Neunkirchen, Austria](/source/Neunkirchen,_Austria).[19] Her gravesite is in [Delphi, Greece](/source/Delphi), next to her father's grave there.[34]

## References

1. Deloria, Philip J. (2019-04-16). [*Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract*](https://books.google.com/books?id=zJeTDwAAQBAJ&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PA78). University of Washington Press. pp. 78–82. ISBN 978-0-295-74524-4.

1. Barker, Ama (1933-12-03). ["Too Much Cleopatra Turns U. S. Girl from Gandhi to Whoopee"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59499083/too-much-cleopatra-turns-u-s-girl/). *Daily News*. p. 257. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. ["INDIA: INDIA Runaway Disciple"](https://web.archive.org/web/20211002051744/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746483,00.html). *Time*. 1933-12-11. [ISSN 0040-781X](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0040-781X). Archived from [the original](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746483,00.html) on 2021-10-02. Retrieved 2020-09-17.

1. Kapoor, Pramod (2017-10-24). [*Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography*](https://books.google.com/books?id=c0nTDQAAQBAJ&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PT345). Running Press. ISBN 978-0-316-55416-9.

1. ["American Girl Accepts Hinduism"](https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.866/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *The Bombay Chronicle*. July 25, 1932. p. 6. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["'Morbid Girls Not to Gandhiji's Taste'"](https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.8922/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *The Bombay Chronicle*. December 2, 1934. p. 12. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["Nila Nagini Disappears"](https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1160/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *The Bombay Chronicle*. October 17, 1933. p. 12. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["Nila Nagini Staying at Muttra?"](https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1163/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *The Bombay Chronicle*. October 20, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["NEUROTIC NILA"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198234015). *Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954)*. 1934-02-18. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via [Trove](/source/Trove)

1. ["Gandhi's Disciple Without a Home"](http://www.manchesterhistory.org/News/Manchester%20Evening%20Hearld_1934-01-11.pdf). *Manchester Evening Herald*. January 11, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved September 17, 2020.

1. ["Nila Nagini Better"](https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1225?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *The Bombay Chronicle*. January 10, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["Nila Cram Cook to Get Her Son."](https://www.nytimes.com/1934/01/14/archives/nila-cram-cook-to-get-her-son.html). *The New York Times*. 1934-01-14. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2020-09-17.

1. ["BEAUTIfUL WOMAN"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article143587356). *Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954)*. 1934-02-14. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. McCoy, Homer (1934-03-24). ["Nila Cram Cook Returns to U. S. -- Dramatically"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5782727/nila-cram-cook-detained-on-ellis-island/). *Globe-Gazette*. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-09-17. – via Newspapers.com.

1. ["NILA GRAM COOK AND HER SON HERE; Former Disciple of Mahatma Gandhi Talks Volubly of 'Sunshine in Athens.' BOY SENT TO ELLIS ISLAND He Later Is Released in the Custody of Uncle -- Plans for Future Obscure."](https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/25/archives/nila-gram-cook-and-her-son-here-former-disciple-of-mahatma-gandhi.html). *The New York Times*. 1934-03-25. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2020-09-17.

1. Cook, Nilla Cram (1939). [*My Road to India*](https://books.google.com/books?id=xX01AAAAIAAJ). L. Furman, Incorporated.

1. ["Books of this Week"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59516022/books-of-this-week/). *The Boston Globe*. 1939-09-22. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Weller, George (2009-04-28). [*Weller's War: A Legendary Foreign Correspondent's Saga of World War II on Five Continents*](https://books.google.com/books?id=38CiN8oS7YYC&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PA54). Crown. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-0-307-45224-5.

1. ["Nilla Cram Cook, 74; A Writer and Linguist"](https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/13/obituaries/nilla-cram-cook-74-a-writer-and-linguist.html). *The New York Times*. 1982-10-13. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2020-09-17.

1. ["Nila Cram Cook Working On New Version of Koran"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59493069/nila-cram-cook-working-on-new-version/). *The Des Moines Register*. 1945-03-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Denato, Pat (1982-01-31). ["Notorious Ladies from Iowa's Past"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523059/notorious-ladies-from-iowas-pastpat/). *The Des Moines Register*. p. 33. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. ["Davenport Girl, Nila Cook, Once Follower of Ghandhi"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523560/davenport-girl-nila-cook-once/). *The Des Moines Register*. 1948-01-31. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Crystal, Charlotte (1996-01-18). ["Dancing to Health"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59500361/dancing-to-healthcharlotte-crystal/). *Daily Press*. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Cook, Nilla Cram (1949). ["The Theater and Ballet Arts of Iran"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/4322114). *Middle East Journal*. **3** (4): 406–420. [ISSN 0026-3141](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0026-3141). [JSTOR 4322114](https://www.jstor.org/stable/4322114)

1. ["UNESCO May Miss Its Dancing Girls"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59534605/unesco-may-miss-its-dancing-girls/). *The Sydney Morning Herald*. 1948-08-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Weller, George (1954-03-25). ["Nila Cook Involved in India's Kashmir Issue"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523259/nila-cook-involved-in-indias-kashmir/). *The Daily Times*. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Pandita, S. N. (August 28, 2015). ["Nilla Cram Cook : The Maverick Genius"](http://earlytimesnews.com/newsdet.aspx?q=157480). *Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir*. Retrieved 2020-09-17.

1. Cook, Nilla Cram (1958). [*The Way of the Swan: Poems of Kashmir*](https://books.google.com/books?id=lshHAAAAMAAJ). Asia Publishing House.

1. Senate, United States Congress (May 10, 1950). [*Report on a Bill for the Relief of Sirius Proestopoulos*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Zy1kwIYiAb0C&q=Sirius+Cook+Proestopoulos&pg=RA91-PA2). U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 1–2.

1. ["Nila Nagini Weds Chicago Writer"](https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1308?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *The Bombay Chronicle*. March 28, 1934. p. 10. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["Nila C. Cook's Romance Ends"](https://archive.org/details/victoriadailytimes19340416/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook). *Victoria Daily Times*. p. 6. Retrieved September 17, 2020. – via Internet Archive.

1. ["'GODDESS' SUES"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75995738). *Mirror (Perth, WA : 1921 - 1956)*. 1934-09-22. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Trove.

1. Weise, Mabel (1965-10-28). ["People You See and Hear About"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59515712/people-you-see-and-hear-aboutmabel/). *The Dispatch*. p. 23. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

1. Longden, Tom (2006-05-21). ["Wanderer Cook Loved Adventure"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59499824/wanderer-cook-loved-adventuretom/). *The Des Moines Register*. p. 27. Retrieved 2020-09-18. – via Newspapers.com.

## External links

- ["Nila Cram Cook Takes First Flight"](https://digital.hagley.org/75360_00603) (1934), photograph in the Lammot du Pont, Jr. collection of aeronautical photographs, [Hagley Museum and Library](/source/Hagley_Museum_and_Library) in Delaware.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nilla Cram Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilla_Cram_Cook) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilla_Cram_Cook?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.