Editing Isadora Duncan (section)

== Personal life ==

===Children===
[[File:Isadora Duncan and her children.jpg|thumb|left|Duncan with her children Deirdre and Patrick, in 1913]]
Duncan bore three children, all out of wedlock. Deirdre Beatrice was born September 24, 1906. Her father was theatre designer [[Edward Gordon Craig|Gordon Craig]]. Patrick Augustus was born May 1, 1910,<ref name=kurthbook>Kurth (2001)</ref> fathered by [[Paris Singer]], one of the many sons of [[sewing machine]] magnate [[Isaac Singer]]. Deirdre and Patrick both died by drowning in 1913; while out on a car ride with their nanny, the automobile accidentally went into the [[Seine|River Seine]].<ref name=kurthbook /> Following this tragedy, Duncan spent several months on the Greek island of [[Corfu]] with her brother and sister, then several weeks at the [[Viareggio]] seaside resort in [[Italy]] with actress [[Eleonora Duse]].

In her autobiography, Duncan relates that in her deep despair over the deaths of her children, she begged a young Italian stranger, the sculptor [[Romano Romanelli]], to sleep with her because she was desperate for another child.<ref>Gavin, Eileen A. and Siderits, Mary Anne, ''Women of vision: their psychology, circumstances, and success'' (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=2LQfmHb64CgC&q=Romanelli+%22Isadora+Duncan%22&pg=PA267 p. 267]</ref> She gave birth to a son on August 13, 1914, but he died shortly after birth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.darklanecreative.com/blog/isadora-duncan-and-paris-singer|title=Isadora Duncan and Paris Singer|date=2013-07-03|work=Dark Lane Creative|access-date=2018-04-17|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gerrie-thefriendlyghost.blogspot.com/2014/09/isadora-duncan-taste-for-life.html|title=The Linosaurus: Isadora Duncan: a taste for life|last=Gerrie|date=2014-09-24|website=The Linosaurus|access-date=2018-04-17}}</ref>

===Relationships===
[[File:1923. Esen duncan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Duncan and [[Sergei Yesenin]] in 1923]]
When Duncan stayed at the Viareggio seaside resort with Eleonora Duse, Duse had just left a relationship with the rebellious and epicene young [[feminist]] [[Lina Poletti]]. This fueled speculation as to the nature of Duncan and Duse's relationship, but there has never been any indication that the two were involved romantically.

Duncan was loving by nature and was close to her mother, siblings and all of her male and female friends.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.glbtq.com/arts/duse_e.html |title=Duse, Eleanora (1859–1924) |encyclopedia=glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture |date=2006-09-10 |access-date=2007-07-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703160440/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/duse_e.html |archive-date=2007-07-03 }}</ref> Later on, in 1921, after the end of the Russian Revolution, Duncan moved to Moscow, where she met the poet [[Sergei Yesenin]], who was eighteen years her junior. On May 2, 1922, they married, and Yesenin accompanied her on a tour of Europe and the United States. However, the marriage was brief as they grew apart while getting to know each other. In May 1923, Yesenin returned to Moscow. Two years later, on December 28, 1925, he was found dead in his room in the [[Hotel Angleterre]] in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] (formerly St Petersburg and Petrograd), in an apparent suicide.<ref name="chronology">[https://serge-esenin.jimdo.com/биография/хронологическая-канва-жизни-и-творчества-с-а-есенина/ S.A. Yesenin. Life and Work Chronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918055525/http://serge-esenin.jimdo.com/%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%8F/%D1%85%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%B8-%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D1%81-%D0%B0-%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0/ |date=2016-09-18 }}. The Complete Works by S.A. Yesenin in 7 Volumes. Nauka Publishers, 2002 // Хронологическая канва жизни и творчества. Есенин С. А. Полное собрание сочинений: В 7 т. – М.: Наука; Голос, 1995–2002.</ref>

Duncan also had a relationship with the poet and playwright [[Mercedes de Acosta]], as documented in numerous revealing letters they wrote to each other.<ref>Hugo Vickers, ''Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta Garbo, Cecil Beaton, and Mercedes de Acosta'', Random House, 1994.</ref> In one, Duncan wrote, "Mercedes, lead me with your little strong hands and I will follow you – to the top of a mountain. To the end of the world. Wherever you wish."<ref>Schanke (2006)</ref>

However, the claim of a purported relationship made after Duncan’s death by de Acosta (a controversial figure for her alleged relations) is in dispute.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnett |first=David |date=2024-03-02 |title=Mercedes de Acosta: The poet who had affairs with the 20th century's most famous women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/02/mercedes-de-acosta-the-poet-who-had-affairs-with-the-20th-centurys-most-famous-women |access-date=2024-10-15 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=GarboForever - Garbo's letters to Mercedes de Acosta |url=http://www.garboforever.com/Letters_to_or_by_Garbo-5.htm |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=www.garboforever.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Salter |first=Stephanie |date=April 20, 2000 |title=The proof is in Garbo's letters: The best is silence |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/the-proof-is-in-garbo-s-letters-the-best-is-3064454.php |access-date=October 15, 2024 |website=SFGate.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite video|title=Greta Garbo: A Lone Star|year=2001|author=Cole, Steve (director)|publisher=[[American Movie Classics]]|medium=Television production|minutes=39.98–40.5}}</ref> Friends and relatives of Duncan believed her claim is false based on forged letters and done for publicity’s sake.<ref name=":2" /> In addition, Lily Dikovskaya, one of Duncan’s students from her Moscow School, wrote in ''In Isadora’s Steps'' that Duncan “was focused on higher things”.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Dikovskaya |first=Lily |title=In Isadora's Steps: The Story of Isadora Duncan's School in Moscow, Told By Her Favourite Pupil |publisher=Book Guild Ltd |year=2008 |isbn=978-1846241864 |pages=25, 39, 48}}</ref>{{clear left}}

=== Later years ===
By the late 1920s, Duncan, in her late 40s, was depressed by the deaths of her three young children. She spent her final years financially struggling, moving between Paris and the Mediterranean, running up debts at hotels. Her autobiography ''My Life'' was published in 1927 shortly after her death. The Australian composer [[Percy Grainger]] called it a "life-enriching masterpiece."<ref>{{cite book| editor-last1= Gillies  | editor-first1= Malcolm | editor-last2= Pear | editor-first2= David | editor-last3= Carroll | editor-first3= Mark | title= Self Portrait of Percy Grainger | publisher= Oxford University Press | year= 2006 |page= 116}}</ref> 

In his book ''Isadora, An Intimate Portrait'', [[Sewell Stokes]], who met Duncan in the last years of her life, described her extravagant waywardness. In a reminiscent sketch, [[Zelda Fitzgerald]] wrote how she and her husband, author [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], sat in a Paris cafe watching a somewhat drunken Duncan. He would speak of how memorable it was, but all that Zelda recalled was that while all eyes were watching Duncan, she was able to steal the salt and pepper shakers from the table.<ref>{{cite book| last= Milford | first= Nancy | title= Zelda: A Biography |place= New York | publisher= HarperCollins| year= 1983 |page= 118| isbn=}}</ref>