Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi personal and literary papers 

MLMSS 12029

fonds

1890s-1990s

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Drawings

9591375

1.28 metres of textual material (8 boxes), includes photographs
1 drawing

Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi (1926-1976) was born in Rome, Italy and came to Australia in 1954 after studying and teaching English, classic poetry and literature in Italy and India. In Australia Anna was a founding member and editor of the Women's Redress Press publishing collective (1982), on the editorial committee of the Italo-Australian Writers Association and a member of organisations such as the Australian Society of Women Authors and the Australian Writers Guild. Anna won the Giuseppe Ungaretti Poetry Prize in 1983 and her work was read and discussed in Australia and internationally.

Reference
“Anna Maria Kahan Guidi”. Austlit. Viewed 26 October 2023, https://www.austlit.edu.au

Donated by Mrs. Felicia Kurzer, a friend of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi.

Collection of diaries and family and literary papers compiled by Italian-born Australian author, Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi, 1890s-1990s.
In Italian and English.

BOX 1

Diaries of Anna Maria Guidi (in Italian)
Diario, 1 Marzo-2 Giugno, 1942
Diario, 4 Giugno-16 Settembre, 1942
Diario, 18 Settembre, 1942-Aprile, 1943
Diario, 4 Aprile 1943-4 Febbraio, 1944
Diario, 14 Febbraio, 1944-3 Febbraio, 1945
Diario, 3 Febbraio-26 Novembre, 1945
Diario, 15 Ottobre, 1946-11 Ottobre 1948 (some pages missing)
Diario, 9 Novembre 1948-28 Giugno, 1949
‘Album di poesie’, 1921-1922, being an album of handwritten poems by Angela Gentilezza
Corso elementare di lingua inglese di L. Georg tradotto in Italian … dal sacerdote Francesco Anelli. Roma, 1854. Signed ‘F. Anelli’ on title page verso
Correspondence between Anna Maria Guidi and Alexander Kahan, 25 March 1950-January 1953 (mainly in English). Includes letters from family members.
Letters from Alexander Kahan to Anna Maria Guidi, 21 March 1950-20 January 1953

BOX 2

Folder 1
Correspondence of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi and Alexander Kahan chiefly with her parents and siblings (In English and Italian), 1952-1954
Folder 2
Correspondence of Anna Maria Kahan-Giudi with her parents, Giorgio and Angelina Guidi (In Italian), 1971-1977
Folder 3
Correspondence of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi, November 1982-1994
Includes letters from Alexander Kahan (addressed to ‘Kiciu’) and copy of her letter to Kiss and ‘Four Musketeers’, 12 November 1982
Folder 4
Papers of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi relating to the funeral of Alexander (Sasha) Kahan, 11 July 1994
Folder 5
Award and certificates received by Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi, 1965, 1983
Includes Certificate of Naturalisation as an Australian Citizen, 1 March 1965
Folder 6
Pencil portrait of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi, 1949
Folder 7
Family photographs, ca. 1926-1989
Includes photographs of Anna Maria and Alexander with family and friends in Italy, India and Australia, their son, George, Anna Maria’s parents, the Kahan’s 1952 wedding in Calcutta and class photographs of George Kahan at Elwood Central, 1969 and Prahran High School, 1972-1973.

BOX 3

Folder 1
Albero e Storia della famiglia de Conti Guidi, 1650 / Scipione Ammirato (In Italian)
English title: History of the Conti Guidi
Folder 2
I Guidi di Montefeltro e di Roma, ca. 1952, carbon typescript genealogy of the Guidi family (In Italian) and book, Famiglie romane / P. Romano, Roma : Tipografia Agostiniana, 1943
Folder 3
Papers relating to genealogical research on the Guidi family, 1943-1976 Includes letters from Bertrando del Balzo to Giorgio Guidi, 1951.
Folder 4
Storia dei Conti Guidi, compiled by Luciano Pelliccioni di Poli, Direttore, Istituto Storico Araldico Genealogico Internazionale (ISAGI), Roma, 1950 (In Italian)
Folder 5
Guidi family photographs, ca. 1890-1930s

BOX 4

Folder 1
Papers of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi relating to the Italo-Australian Writers Association (IAWA), 1989-1994. Includes draft Rules of the Italo-Australian Writers Association and issues of the Association’s journal, La Scuola
Folder 2
Italo-Australian literature and National Italian Australian Women’s Association and its literary competition and book, Give me strength (1989), 1982-1990
Folder 3
Papers mainly related to IAWA poetry and anthologies
Includes correspondence and poems received. Correspondents include Gaetano Rando and Enoe di Stefano. Poets include Aldo Quagliata and Virgilio Gnata with biographical notes on Umberto Gnata.
Folder 4
Poems by and translated by, Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi, 1984-1989
With list of members of the IAWA (In Italian), maggio 1989
Folder 5
Correspondence and selected literary manuscripts receive, 1986-1989
Relating to the collection of bilingual stories by Italo-Australian women published as Give me strength / Forza e coraggio, edited by Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi and Elizabeth Weiss, 1989
Folder 6
Correspondence relating to the conference, Pluralism and Literature: Italian-Canadian writing in a Multicultural World, Carleton University, Ottawa, 24-27 October 1990
Attended by Kahan-Guidi representing the IAWA
Folder 7
‘Italian Poems’, 1981-1984
Draft poems by Kahan-Guidi with photocopied correspondence with Societa Italiana autori ed editori (Italian Society of Authors and Editors), 1982 and Consorzio Editorale Italiano (CIE), 1945
Books
Language and Cultural Identity: proceedings of the Conference on the Italians in Australia: the first 200 years, held at the University of Wollongong and Macquarie University, 27-29 August 1988 / edited by Gaetano Rando. Wollongong, N.S.W. : Dante Alighieri Society, 1990 (In English and Italian)
Italians in Australia the literary experience: proceedings of the Conference on the Italians in Australia – the first 200 years, held at the University of Wollongong and Macquarie University, 27-29 August 1988 / edited by Michael Arrighi, with an introduction by Gaetano Rando. Wollongong, N.S.W.: Department of Modern Languages, University of Wollongong, 1991 (In English and Italian)

BOX 5

Literary manuscripts submitted for IAWA Italian Literary Prize ‘La Bella Scuola’, ca. 1989
Includes issue of La Fiamma, 13 Settembre 1990, featuring article ‘Premiati I vincitori del Premio Letterario La Bella Scuola’ on the launching at Leichhardt Town Hall of the Association’s book, Italo-Australian poetry in the 80’s II: a selection of poems from the Italo-Australian Writers Association / edited b Vincenzo Cincotta.
Conference on the Italian Community in Australia: the first 200 years, 1988
Includes photocopied abstracts and speakers’ papers and publicity for Australia’s Immigration Heritage, Fourth Vaccari Conference, Footscray Institute of Technology, 2 September 1988.

BOX 6

Printed material and books, 1946, 1969, 1983-1992
Copies of ‘Omicidio premeditato’ and ‘Come la leggenda’ being short stories by Anna Maria Guidi from ‘Bella setimanale illustrato di novella e varieta, 19 Marzo 1946, poster for ‘Italian Poetry Reading’, Carnevale ’84’, news cutting about Anna Maria Guidi, fashion designer and creator of the Annabella collection from The News (Adelaide), 8 October 1969.
Publications mainly on Italo-Australian literature, 1983-1992 with examples of Anna Maria Kahan-Guidi’s poetry and translations.

BOX 7

Manuscripts of George R. Kahan, including a first novel titled ‘Post-Tricentennial 2088’, 1991

BOX 8

British Bata Shoe Company Ltd. manual, circulars, displays and photographs, 1952-1953
Manual relating to shoe manufacture, display and retailing, including certificate awarded to Mr. A. Kahan for attending Bata Shoe Managers’ Course at Manco Conference, 29 June-11 July 1953, at the British Bata Shoe Company Ltd., East Tilbury and photograph.
Modern Shoe Design by the Advertising Department, The British Bata Shoe Co. Ltd., East Tilbury, Essex, including circulars, photographs of window displays and Supply Manual (Revised Third Edition), issued by Supply Department, Bata Shoe Co. Ltd. Calcutta, January 1952 Including ‘How to Achieve a First-Class Coronation Display’
Introducing Modern Display, issued by the British Bata Shoe Co Ltd, East Tilbury, Essex, including circulars and photographs of window displays.

Italian, English

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Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Multicultural Collections Project 2023-2024