Nilla Cram Cook - Revision history

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	== Career ==		== Career ==
	In 1931, Cook left her husband in Greece and brought her young son to [[Kashmir]],<ref name=":2" /> where she became a follower of [[Mahatma Gandhi\|Gandhi]],<ref>{{Cite ~~news~~\|date=1933-12-11\|title=INDIA: INDIA Runaway Disciple\|language=en-US\|~~work~~=Time\|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746483,00.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book\|last=Kapoor\|first=Pramod\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0nTDQAAQBAJ&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PT345\|title=Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography\|date=2017-10-24\|publisher=Running Press\|isbn=978-0-316-55416-9\|language=en}}</ref> converted to [[Hinduism]],<ref>{{Cite news\|date=July 25, 1932\|title=American Girl Accepts Hinduism\|page=6\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.866/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and studied [[Sanskrit]], [[Hindi]], and [[Persian language\|Persian]] literatures. After she left Gandhi's [[ashram]],<ref>{{Cite news\|date=December 2, 1934\|title='Morbid Girls Not to Gandhiji's Taste'\|page=12\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.8922/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> with a shaved head and barefoot,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=October 17, 1933\|title=Nila Nagini Disappears\|page=12\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1160/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=October 20, 1933\|title=Nila Nagini Staying at Muttra?\|page=1\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1163/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> she crashed a car,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-02-18\|title=NEUROTIC NILA\|pages=11\|work=Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954)\|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198234015\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref> and was detained as a vagrant and hospitalized for a month in 1934, in [[Kolkata\|Calcutta]],<ref>{{Cite news\|date=January 11, 1934\|title=Gandhi's Disciple Without a Home\|page=1\|work=Manchester Evening Herald\|url=http://www.manchesterhistory.org/News/Manchester%20Evening%20Hearld_1934-01-11.pdf\|access-date=September 17, 2020}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite news\|date=January 10, 1934\|title=Nila Nagini Better\|page=1\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1225?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> then deported with her son back to the United States.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-01-14\|title=Nila Cram Cook to Get Her Son.\|language=en-US\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/01/14/archives/nila-cram-cook-to-get-her-son.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-02-14\|title=BEAUTIfUL WOMAN\|pages=6\|work=Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954)\|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article143587356\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> On arrival at [[Ellis Island]], she made odd pronouncements ("delusions of grandeur", according to her brother), and news stories remarked on the "dramatic" and "hectic" scene.<ref>{{Cite news\|last=McCoy\|first=Homer\|date=1934-03-24\|title=Nila Cram Cook Returns to U. S. -- Dramatically\|pages=1\|work=Globe-Gazette\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5782727/nila-cram-cook-detained-on-ellis-island/\|access-date=2020-09-17\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-03-25\|title=NILA GRAM COOK AND HER SON HERE; Former Disciple of Mahatma Gandhi Talks Volubly of 'Sunshine in Athens.' BOY SENT TO ELLIS ISLAND He Later Is Released in the Custody of Uncle -- Plans for Future Obscure.\|language=en-US\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/25/archives/nila-gram-cook-and-her-son-here-former-disciple-of-mahatma-gandhi.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She wrote about this part of her life in a memoir, ''My Road to India'' (1939).<ref>{{Cite book\|last=Cook\|first=Nilla Cram\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xX01AAAAIAAJ\|title=My Road to India\|date=1939\|publisher=L. Furman, Incorporated\|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1939-09-22\|title=Books of this Week\|pages=19\|work=The Boston Globe\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59516022/books-of-this-week/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [[Mary Sully]] painted an abstract portrait titled "Nila Cram Cook" in the 1930s.<ref name=":0" />		In 1931, Cook left her husband in Greece and brought her young son to [[Kashmir]],<ref name=":2" /> where she became a follower of [[Mahatma Gandhi\|Gandhi]],<ref>{{Cite magazine\|date=1933-12-11\|title=INDIA: INDIA Runaway Disciple\|language=en-US\|magazine=Time\|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746483,00.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book\|last=Kapoor\|first=Pramod\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0nTDQAAQBAJ&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PT345\|title=Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography\|date=2017-10-24\|publisher=Running Press\|isbn=978-0-316-55416-9\|language=en}}</ref> converted to [[Hinduism]],<ref>{{Cite news\|date=July 25, 1932\|title=American Girl Accepts Hinduism\|page=6\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.866/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and studied [[Sanskrit]], [[Hindi]], and [[Persian language\|Persian]] literatures. After she left Gandhi's [[ashram]],<ref>{{Cite news\|date=December 2, 1934\|title='Morbid Girls Not to Gandhiji's Taste'\|page=12\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.8922/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> with a shaved head and barefoot,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=October 17, 1933\|title=Nila Nagini Disappears\|page=12\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1160/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=October 20, 1933\|title=Nila Nagini Staying at Muttra?\|page=1\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1163/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> she crashed a car,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-02-18\|title=NEUROTIC NILA\|pages=11\|work=Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954)\|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198234015\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref> and was detained as a vagrant and hospitalized for a month in 1934, in [[Kolkata\|Calcutta]],<ref>{{Cite news\|date=January 11, 1934\|title=Gandhi's Disciple Without a Home\|page=1\|work=Manchester Evening Herald\|url=http://www.manchesterhistory.org/News/Manchester%20Evening%20Hearld_1934-01-11.pdf\|access-date=September 17, 2020}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite news\|date=January 10, 1934\|title=Nila Nagini Better\|page=1\|work=The Bombay Chronicle\|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1225?q=Nila+Cram+Cook\|access-date=September 17, 2020\|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> then deported with her son back to the United States.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-01-14\|title=Nila Cram Cook to Get Her Son.\|language=en-US\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/01/14/archives/nila-cram-cook-to-get-her-son.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-02-14\|title=BEAUTIfUL WOMAN\|pages=6\|work=Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954)\|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article143587356\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> On arrival at [[Ellis Island]], she made odd pronouncements ("delusions of grandeur", according to her brother), and news stories remarked on the "dramatic" and "hectic" scene.<ref>{{Cite news\|last=McCoy\|first=Homer\|date=1934-03-24\|title=Nila Cram Cook Returns to U. S. -- Dramatically\|pages=1\|work=Globe-Gazette\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5782727/nila-cram-cook-detained-on-ellis-island/\|access-date=2020-09-17\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1934-03-25\|title=NILA GRAM COOK AND HER SON HERE; Former Disciple of Mahatma Gandhi Talks Volubly of 'Sunshine in Athens.' BOY SENT TO ELLIS ISLAND He Later Is Released in the Custody of Uncle -- Plans for Future Obscure.\|language=en-US\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/25/archives/nila-gram-cook-and-her-son-here-former-disciple-of-mahatma-gandhi.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She wrote about this part of her life in a memoir, ''My Road to India'' (1939).<ref>{{Cite book\|last=Cook\|first=Nilla Cram\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xX01AAAAIAAJ\|title=My Road to India\|date=1939\|publisher=L. Furman, Incorporated\|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1939-09-22\|title=Books of this Week\|pages=19\|work=The Boston Globe\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59516022/books-of-this-week/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [[Mary Sully]] painted an abstract portrait titled "Nila Cram Cook" in the 1930s.<ref name=":0" />

	In 1939, she became Europe correspondent for an American weekly, ''Liberty.'' She covered [[World War II]] from Greece, until she escaped Nazi detention in July 1941, and fled with her son to [[Tehran]].<ref>{{Cite book\|last=Weller\|first=George\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38CiN8oS7YYC&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PA54\|title=Weller's War: A Legendary Foreign Correspondent's Saga of World War II on Five Continents\|date=2009-04-28\|publisher=Crown\|isbn=978-0-307-45224-5\|pages=53–54\|language=en}}</ref> She worked as a cultural attaché at the American Embassy in Tehran from 1941 to 1947. During that time, Cook converted to [[Islam]], and spent years on a personal project, editing and translating the [[Quran\|Koran]] into English, with her own commentary.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news\|date=1982-10-13\|title=Nilla Cram Cook, 74; A Writer and Linguist\|language=en-US\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/13/obituaries/nilla-cram-cook-74-a-writer-and-linguist.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1945-03-18\|title=Nila Cram Cook Working On New Version of Koran\|pages=2\|work=The Des Moines Register\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59493069/nila-cram-cook-working-on-new-version/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She held a high position in Iran's Ministry of Education, oversaw film censorship,<ref>{{Cite news\|last=Denato\|first=Pat\|date=1982-01-31\|title=Notorious Ladies from Iowa's Past\|pages=33\|work=The Des Moines Register\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523059/notorious-ladies-from-iowas-pastpat/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and went on radio to read her translations of poetry. She helped build national theatre,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1948-01-31\|title=Davenport Girl, Nila Cook, Once Follower of Ghandhi\|pages=8\|work=The Des Moines Register\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523560/davenport-girl-nila-cook-once/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> ballet,<ref>{{Cite news\|last=Crystal\|first=Charlotte\|date=1996-01-18\|title=Dancing to Health\|pages=32\|work=Daily Press\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59500361/dancing-to-healthcharlotte-crystal/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and opera programs in Iran in the 1940s.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Cook\|first=Nilla Cram\|date=1949\|title=The Theater and Ballet Arts of Iran\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4322114\|journal=Middle East Journal\|volume=3\|issue=4\|pages=406–420\|jstor=4322114\|issn=0026-3141}}</ref> She worked with a fellow American expatriate, dancer [[Xenia Zarina]], in Iran.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1948-08-04\|title=UNESCO May Miss Its Dancing Girls\|pages=3\|work=The Sydney Morning Herald\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59534605/unesco-may-miss-its-dancing-girls/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>		In 1939, she became Europe correspondent for an American weekly, ''Liberty.'' She covered [[World War II]] from Greece, until she escaped Nazi detention in July 1941, and fled with her son to [[Tehran]].<ref>{{Cite book\|last=Weller\|first=George\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38CiN8oS7YYC&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PA54\|title=Weller's War: A Legendary Foreign Correspondent's Saga of World War II on Five Continents\|date=2009-04-28\|publisher=Crown\|isbn=978-0-307-45224-5\|pages=53–54\|language=en}}</ref> She worked as a cultural attaché at the American Embassy in Tehran from 1941 to 1947. During that time, Cook converted to [[Islam]], and spent years on a personal project, editing and translating the [[Quran\|Koran]] into English, with her own commentary.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news\|date=1982-10-13\|title=Nilla Cram Cook, 74; A Writer and Linguist\|language=en-US\|work=The New York Times\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/13/obituaries/nilla-cram-cook-74-a-writer-and-linguist.html\|access-date=2020-09-17\|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|date=1945-03-18\|title=Nila Cram Cook Working On New Version of Koran\|pages=2\|work=The Des Moines Register\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59493069/nila-cram-cook-working-on-new-version/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She held a high position in Iran's Ministry of Education, oversaw film censorship,<ref>{{Cite news\|last=Denato\|first=Pat\|date=1982-01-31\|title=Notorious Ladies from Iowa's Past\|pages=33\|work=The Des Moines Register\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523059/notorious-ladies-from-iowas-pastpat/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and went on radio to read her translations of poetry. She helped build national theatre,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1948-01-31\|title=Davenport Girl, Nila Cook, Once Follower of Ghandhi\|pages=8\|work=The Des Moines Register\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523560/davenport-girl-nila-cook-once/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> ballet,<ref>{{Cite news\|last=Crystal\|first=Charlotte\|date=1996-01-18\|title=Dancing to Health\|pages=32\|work=Daily Press\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59500361/dancing-to-healthcharlotte-crystal/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and opera programs in Iran in the 1940s.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Cook\|first=Nilla Cram\|date=1949\|title=The Theater and Ballet Arts of Iran\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4322114\|journal=Middle East Journal\|volume=3\|issue=4\|pages=406–420\|jstor=4322114\|issn=0026-3141}}</ref> She worked with a fellow American expatriate, dancer [[Xenia Zarina]], in Iran.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1948-08-04\|title=UNESCO May Miss Its Dancing Girls\|pages=3\|work=The Sydney Morning Herald\|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59534605/unesco-may-miss-its-dancing-girls/\|access-date=2020-09-18\|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

->Nikkimaria: rm EL

2021-08-04T02:07:05Z

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{{short description|American writer}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Nilla Cram Cook
| image = NillaCramCook1933.png
| alt = A white woman with dark hair parted center, wearing a bindi and beads, smiling.
| caption = Nilla Cram Cook while she was living in India, from a 1933 Australian newspaper.
| other_names = Nila Nagini Devi (Hindu name)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = December 21, 1908
| birth_place = Davenport, Iowa
| death_date = October 11, 1982
| death_place = Neunkirchen, Austria
| occupation = Writer, translator, linguist, arts patron
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| parents = [[George Cram Cook]]
}}

'''Nilla Cram Cook''' (December 21, 1908 – October 11, 1982), also known as '''Nila Nagini Devi''', was an American writer, linguist, translator, and arts patron.

== Early life ==
Nilla Cram Cook was born in [[Davenport, Iowa]], the daughter of playwright [[George Cram Cook]] and his second wife, journalist Mollie Anastasia Price. Her father and stepmother [[Susan Glaspell]] brought her to Greece as a girl, to study languages and culture there.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Deloria|first=Philip J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJeTDwAAQBAJ&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PA78|title=Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract|date=2019-04-16|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-74524-4|pages=78–82|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Barker|first=Ama|date=1933-12-03|title=Too Much Cleopatra Turns U. S. Girl from Gandhi to Whoopee|pages=257|work=Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59499083/too-much-cleopatra-turns-u-s-girl/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== Career ==
In 1931, Cook left her husband in Greece and brought her young son to [[Kashmir]],<ref name=":2" /> where she became a follower of [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=1933-12-11|title=INDIA: INDIA Runaway Disciple|language=en-US|work=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746483,00.html|access-date=2020-09-17|issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kapoor|first=Pramod|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0nTDQAAQBAJ&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PT345|title=Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography|date=2017-10-24|publisher=Running Press|isbn=978-0-316-55416-9|language=en}}</ref> converted to [[Hinduism]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 25, 1932|title=American Girl Accepts Hinduism|page=6|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.866/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and studied [[Sanskrit]], [[Hindi]], and [[Persian language|Persian]] literatures. After she left Gandhi's [[ashram]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 2, 1934|title='Morbid Girls Not to Gandhiji's Taste'|page=12|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.8922/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> with a shaved head and barefoot,<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 17, 1933|title=Nila Nagini Disappears|page=12|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1160/page/12/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=October 20, 1933|title=Nila Nagini Staying at Muttra?|page=1|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1163/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> she crashed a car,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1934-02-18|title=NEUROTIC NILA|pages=11|work=Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198234015|access-date=2020-09-18|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref> and was detained as a vagrant and hospitalized for a month in 1934, in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 11, 1934|title=Gandhi's Disciple Without a Home|page=1|work=Manchester Evening Herald|url=http://www.manchesterhistory.org/News/Manchester%20Evening%20Hearld_1934-01-11.pdf|access-date=September 17, 2020}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite news|date=January 10, 1934|title=Nila Nagini Better|page=1|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1225?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> then deported with her son back to the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1934-01-14|title=Nila Cram Cook to Get Her Son.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/01/14/archives/nila-cram-cook-to-get-her-son.html|access-date=2020-09-17|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1934-02-14|title=BEAUTIfUL WOMAN|pages=6|work=Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article143587356|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> On arrival at [[Ellis Island]], she made odd pronouncements ("delusions of grandeur", according to her brother), and news stories remarked on the "dramatic" and "hectic" scene.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McCoy|first=Homer|date=1934-03-24|title=Nila Cram Cook Returns to U. S. -- Dramatically|pages=1|work=Globe-Gazette|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5782727/nila-cram-cook-detained-on-ellis-island/|access-date=2020-09-17|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1934-03-25|title=NILA GRAM COOK AND HER SON HERE; Former Disciple of Mahatma Gandhi Talks Volubly of 'Sunshine in Athens.' BOY SENT TO ELLIS ISLAND He Later Is Released in the Custody of Uncle -- Plans for Future Obscure.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/25/archives/nila-gram-cook-and-her-son-here-former-disciple-of-mahatma-gandhi.html|access-date=2020-09-17|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She wrote about this part of her life in a memoir, ''My Road to India'' (1939).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cook|first=Nilla Cram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xX01AAAAIAAJ|title=My Road to India|date=1939|publisher=L. Furman, Incorporated|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1939-09-22|title=Books of this Week|pages=19|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59516022/books-of-this-week/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [[Mary Sully]] painted an abstract portrait titled "Nila Cram Cook" in the 1930s.<ref name=":0" />

In 1939, she became Europe correspondent for an American weekly, ''Liberty.'' She covered [[World War II]] from Greece, until she escaped Nazi detention in July 1941, and fled with her son to [[Tehran]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Weller|first=George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38CiN8oS7YYC&q=Nila+Cram+Cook&pg=PA54|title=Weller's War: A Legendary Foreign Correspondent's Saga of World War II on Five Continents|date=2009-04-28|publisher=Crown|isbn=978-0-307-45224-5|pages=53–54|language=en}}</ref> She worked as a cultural attaché at the American Embassy in Tehran from 1941 to 1947. During that time, Cook converted to [[Islam]], and spent years on a personal project, editing and translating the [[Quran|Koran]] into English, with her own commentary.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=1982-10-13|title=Nilla Cram Cook, 74; A Writer and Linguist|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/13/obituaries/nilla-cram-cook-74-a-writer-and-linguist.html|access-date=2020-09-17|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1945-03-18|title=Nila Cram Cook Working On New Version of Koran|pages=2|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59493069/nila-cram-cook-working-on-new-version/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She held a high position in Iran's Ministry of Education, oversaw film censorship,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Denato|first=Pat|date=1982-01-31|title=Notorious Ladies from Iowa's Past|pages=33|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523059/notorious-ladies-from-iowas-pastpat/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and went on radio to read her translations of poetry. She helped build national theatre,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1948-01-31|title=Davenport Girl, Nila Cook, Once Follower of Ghandhi|pages=8|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523560/davenport-girl-nila-cook-once/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> ballet,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crystal|first=Charlotte|date=1996-01-18|title=Dancing to Health|pages=32|work=Daily Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59500361/dancing-to-healthcharlotte-crystal/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and opera programs in Iran in the 1940s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cook|first=Nilla Cram|date=1949|title=The Theater and Ballet Arts of Iran|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4322114|journal=Middle East Journal|volume=3|issue=4|pages=406–420|jstor=4322114|issn=0026-3141}}</ref> She worked with a fellow American expatriate, dancer [[Xenia Zarina]], in Iran.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1948-08-04|title=UNESCO May Miss Its Dancing Girls|pages=3|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59534605/unesco-may-miss-its-dancing-girls/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Cook took a renewed interest in Kashmir in 1954,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weller|first=George|date=1954-03-25|title=Nila Cook Involved in India's Kashmir Issue|pages=15|work=The Daily Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59523259/nila-cook-involved-in-indias-kashmir/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and compiled a book of translated poems, titled ''The Way of the Swan: Poems of Kashmir'' (1958).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pandita|first=S. N.|date=August 28, 2015|title=Nilla Cram Cook : The Maverick Genius|url=http://earlytimesnews.com/newsdet.aspx?q=157480|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cook|first=Nilla Cram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lshHAAAAMAAJ|title=The Way of the Swan: Poems of Kashmir|date=1958|publisher=Asia Publishing House|language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
At age 18, in 1927, Nilla Cram Cook married Greek poet and government official Nikos Proestopoulos; they had a son, Serios Nicholas Proestopoulos (also known as Sirius Cook),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Senate|first=United States Congress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zy1kwIYiAb0C&q=Sirius+Cook+Proestopoulos&pg=RA91-PA2|title=Report on a Bill for the Relief of Sirius Proestopoulos|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|date=May 10, 1950|pages=1–2|language=en}}</ref> and divorced in 1932. She married again very briefly, to Albert Nathaniel Hutchins in 1934;<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 28, 1934|title=Nila Nagini Weds Chicago Writer|page=10|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.1308?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> that marriage was annulled.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Nila C. Cook's Romance Ends|page=6|work=Victoria Daily Times|url=https://archive.org/details/victoriadailytimes19340416/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Nila+Cram+Cook|access-date=September 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1934-09-22|title='GODDESS' SUES|pages=14|work=Mirror (Perth, WA : 1921 - 1956)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75995738|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Trove}}</ref>

Cook toured in Greece with her son and cousin and their wives in 1965.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weise|first=Mabel|date=1965-10-28|title=People You See and Hear About|pages=23|work=The Dispatch|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59515712/people-you-see-and-hear-aboutmabel/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She died in 1982, aged 74 years, in [[Neunkirchen, Austria]].<ref name=":1" /> Her gravesite is in [[Delphi|Delphi, Greece]], next to her father's grave there.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Longden|first=Tom|date=2006-05-21|title=Wanderer Cook Loved Adventure|pages=27|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59499824/wanderer-cook-loved-adventuretom/|access-date=2020-09-18|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://digital.hagley.org/75360_00603 "Nila Cram Cook Takes First Flight"] (1934), photograph in the Lammot du Pont, Jr. collection of aeronautical photographs, [[Hagley Museum and Library]] in Delaware.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Nilla Cram}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Davenport, Iowa]]
[[Category:American Hindus]]
[[Category:American Muslims]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]
[[Category:American women writers]]
[[Category:American translators]]