Abigail May Alcott

Biography

Abigail May Alcott Nieriker (26 July 1840 – 29 December 1879), usually known as May Alcott, was an American artist and the youngest sister of author Louisa May Alcott. She is particularly remembered as the real-life inspiration for Amy March in Louisa's novel Little Women.

May was born in Concord, Massachusetts, the youngest daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott. Her sisters were Anna Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, and Elizabeth Sewall Alcott.

Unlike Louisa, whose great passion was writing, May devoted herself to art. She studied drawing and painting in Boston and later continued her artistic education in Europe. She spent significant periods in London, Paris, and other European artistic centers, studying and developing her skills as a professional artist.

May particularly admired European art and became accomplished in drawing and painting. Her work received recognition during her lifetime, including the acceptance of one of her paintings for exhibition at the Paris Salon, an important achievement for an American woman artist of the period.

Louisa helped finance May's European travels after the enormous success of Little Women. Although the sisters sometimes had disagreements—elements of which can be recognized in the relationship between Jo and Amy March—they remained closely connected.

While living in Europe, May met Ernest Nieriker, a Swiss businessman. Despite their age difference—May was considerably older than Ernest—the two fell in love and married in London on 22 March 1878.

They settled in Europe, and May gave birth to their daughter, Louisa May “Lulu” Nieriker, on 8 November 1879.

Tragically, May developed complications following childbirth and died in Paris on 29 December 1879, only weeks after Lulu's birth. She was thirty-nine years old.

Before her death, May expressed the wish that Louisa should care for Lulu if anything happened to her. The little girl was subsequently sent to America and lived with her famous aunt for several years.

May's legacy extends beyond being the model for Amy March. She was a serious nineteenth-century woman artist who pursued professional artistic training at a time when women faced significant barriers in the art world.

Through Little Women, however, part of May's personality became immortalized in Amy March—the artistic, ambitious youngest March sister who ultimately travels to Europe to pursue her art.