Clara Langdon Clemens

Clara Clemens was born on 8 June 1874 on [Quarry Farm] in Elmira, N.Y., and the second daughter of Samuel L. Clemens and his wife [Olivia Langdon Clemens]. Compared to her sisters, [Susy] and [Jean], Clara was more open to travelling and sometimes accompanied her parents when Suzy and Jean would not. For example, Clara was the only one of the three sisters to join her parents on her father’s lecture tour around the world in 1895-1896 (see Rasmussen et al. 2:635). The family’s move to [Vienna] in 1897 and the extent of their stay there was largely motivated by Clara Clemens’ desire to study piano with Theodor Leschtizky and later to take singing lessons from Marianne Brandt - both of them renowned in the musical circles of Europe and beyond (see LeMaster and Wilson, MTE 49). During the time in Vienna Clara met her future husband, [Ossip Gabrilowitsch].
Back in the US, she continued to study singing and had her stage debut in Norwalk, Ct., in 1906 (see e.g. [[Clara Clemens’ American debut as singer] | 18 Sept. 1906] or “Miss Clemens in Concert,” The New York Times, 23 Sep. 23, 1906). She also wrote several books, among them My Father, Mark Twain.
Clara Clemens was the only child of Samuel Clemens to survive him. According to Rasmussen et al., she not only supported her aging father by running his houshold and “advis[ing] him on his social behavior” (2:635), but also “played and important role in the development of her father’s posthumous image” (2:636).
She and Gabrilowitsch had a daughter, named Nina, who was born at Stormfield shortly following Samuel Clemens’ death in 1910. The family eventually settled in Detroit, Mich., where they lived until Gabrilowitsch died in 1936 (see LeMaster and Wilson, MTE 650) and Clara Clemens moved to Los Angeles. In 1944, she married her second husband, the musician Jacques Samssoud (see Rasmussen et al. 2:636).
Clara Clemens died, aged 88, on 19 November 1962 in San Diego, Calif..

Musical Education

Before coming to Vienna, Clara Clemens had already studied with different acclaimed musicians in Europe, like Helen Hope Kirk and Moritz Moszkowsky (see the news report “Twain’s Talented Daughter Will Be Professional Singer,” The San Francisco call, 9 Nov. 1900, 2). Her focus at that time was still mostly on playing the piano. That is why she wanted to study with Theodor Leschetitzky, a famous Austrian pianist and piano teacher. In My Father Mark Twain, Clara Clemens explains that she had heard many stories, good and bad, about Leschetitzky and that she was intrigued to become his pupil (see 189). It is not clear, what Mark Twain thought about his daughter’s musical ambitions, as he mostly talked about music in a satirical way. But on some occasions, he showed pride for his daughter (see Dolmetsch). Clara Clemens was allowed to study under Leschetitzky and the Clemens family stayed in Vienna. During the summer of 1898, Alice Barbi, an American singer, convinced Clara Clemens to take vocal instead of piano lessons, after hearing her sing. So Clara Clemens ended her studies with Leschetitzky and started training with the famous singer Marianne Brandt. Clara Clemens made some attempts as a concert singer (see “Miss Clemens in Concert,” The New York Times, 23 Sep. 1906, 9), but ended her professional music career after her marriage to the pianist and conductor [Ossip Gabrilowitsch] (see Dolmetsch).

Article Pages

linked to Clara Langdon Clemens (22)

• IA-034 • Der trauernde Humorist • 11 Jan 1910
• IL-100 • Wiener Brief • 22 Nov 1899
• MD-097 • [W. W. Phelps in Dresden] • 21 Dec 1891
• MD-161 • [MT plans to spend winter in Vienna] • 22 Jul 1897
• MD-217 • Aus Europa zurückgekehrt • 17 Oct 1900
• MD-336 • Mark Twain's Tochter heirathet • 7 Oct 1909
• MD-337 • Todt in Badewanne • 25 Dec 1909
• MD-339 • Mark Twain todt • 22 Apr 1910
• MD-345 • Mark Twain zur Ruhe gebettet • 25 Apr 1910
• MD-347 • Mark Twain's Testament • 5 May 1910
• MD-354 • Eine Enkelin Mark Twain's geboren • 20 Aug 1910
• ND-002 • [Death of Jean Clemens] • 6 Jan 1910
• ND-004 • Mark Twains Nachlaß • 1 Dec 1910
• NE-039 • Mark Twains Nachlaß • 18 Nov 1910
• OH-045 • Der trauernde Humorist • 27 Jan 1910
• OH-049 • [Death of MT] • 28 Apr 1910
• OH-053 • Ossip Gabrilowitsch Vater geworden • 20 Aug 1910
• TX-034 • Mark Twains Rückreise nach der Heimath • 12 Jun 1899
• TX-071 • [MT’s books given to Mark Twain Library] • 14 Jul 1910
• TX-073 • [MT’s estate] • 31 Oct 1910
• WI-022 • Heirath in Künstlerkreisen • 8 Oct 1909
• WI-023 • Heirath in Künstlerkreisen • 10 Oct 1909