Biography of Kate Chopin
On February 8, 1950, Kate O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was an Irishman named Thomas O'Flaherty and her mother was an American-French woman named Eliza Faris O'Flaherty. She had four other brothers and sisters. Her sisters died as infants and her brothers before they turned 25.
When Kate was five and a half years old, she was sent to Sacred Heart Academy, a catholic boarding school. Two months later, her father died in a train accident, and she left school to live with her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, who were all widows.
Two years after moving in with her mother, Kate returned to Sacred Heart Academy, and was very successful there. One of her greatest achievements included being at the top of her class.
One of Kate's only friends, whose name was Kitty Garesche, was in a family who were slave owners.
Kate Chopin in 1894
Photoportrait of writer Kate Chopin
p04-sue_davidson-mother-kate-fatherThey were banned from St. Louis because during the Civil War, slave owners were not allowed in St. Louis. When the war was over, Kitty and Kate were friends again, until Kitty became a nun at Sacred Heart.
When Kate was 20, she married a 25 year old wealthy son of a cotton growing family, whose name was Oscar Chopin. Just as Kate was, Oscar was a French catholic. After they were married, Kate and Oscar had five sons and two daughters. Because Oscar was not a very good business man, he and his family moved back to Louisiana with his family, but Oscar later died of swamp fever in 1882.
Kate took over his plantation and store for about a year, but in 1884, she sold it and moved back to St. Louis with her mother. Her mother died the next year, and Kate was left by...