Sawitzky, Susan Clay, 1897-1981

Susan Clay Sawitzky (July 21, 1897 – July 11, 1981) was an American poet and art historian. She was born Susan Jacob Clay in Frankfort, Kentucky, to Charles Donald Clay and his wife, the former Mariah Hensley Pepper. Susan was raised on her father's thoroughbred farm outside of Lexington, Kentucky and in the strict Victorian homes of her grandmothers. She was a great-granddaughter of Henry Clay and a granddaughter of James Brown Clay. Much of her life she felt a deep ambivalence toward her heritage. On the one hand, she found that legacy a source of pride, satisfaction, and strength. At the same time, she felt constricted and obligated to live up to a name that carried high expectations in her native Bluegrass region of Kentucky. She also chafed under the restrictions placed on women of her class, time, and place. In the early 1920s Clay worked as a reporter and feature writer for the Louisville Herald newspaper. But on the advice of the writer Edna Ferber, Susan quit that job. Ferber had said that working as a reporter would not help Susan develop as a poet. On May 5, 1927, at age 29, Susan Clay shocked her family and local society by eloping with a divorced, much older Russian émigré named Vassili (William) Sawitzky (1879 – February 2, 1947). He was an art historian and dealer. The couple lived in New York City and Connecticut. They had one child, who was stillborn. At nearly age 84, Susan Sawitzky died in New Haven, Connecticut. She lived alone in a dark, one-room apartment in a dangerous section of the city. Her ashes were scattered near a pond in Stamford, Connecticut.