Mary de Rachewiltz
Italian-American poet and translator (1925–2026)
Mary de Rachewiltz (born Maria Rudge, July 9, 1925 – July 24, 2026) was an Italian-American poet and translator. She was the daughter of the American poet Ezra Pound, whose Cantos she translated into Italian. Her childhood memoir Discretions was published in 1971.
Early life and education
Mary de Rachewiltz was born Maria Rudge in Brixen, Italy, on July 9, 1925, the daughter of Olga Rudge, a classical violinist, and Ezra Pound, who was married to Dorothy Shakespear. Her mother placed the girl in the care of a peasant couple after her birth; she was raised on their farm in Gais in the Italian Tyrol. She grew up on a farm speaking the local dialect of German, but when she was older, she began to join her mother, and sometimes Pound, at Olga's house in Venice. There Maria was exposed to a world of culture, literature, and politics. In the Tyrolean village, she had access to only two books, but when with her parents, she made full use of a large library, was expected to speak Italian and wear white gloves. As a teenager, she moved away from the mountains and at that point, Pound took her education in hand. During World War II while Pound was making fascist radio broadcasts for Rome radio, he simultaneously took time to teach his daughter literature, telling her "I can only teach you the profession I know."
Middle years
During World War II Olga lost possession of her home in Venice, and Maria moved for a period with her mother to Rapallo.
The public source identifies “Mary de Rachewiltz” as italian-American poet and translator (1925–2026). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mary, Rachewiltz and Italian-American.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q137683. VIAF identifies the subject as 22269373. The Library of Congress control number is n50054907. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 2026 and 1971.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mary de Rachewiltz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.