Pulitzer Prize Recipient Author. She received international acclaim as an American author in the early 20th century. When World War I started, she was residing in Paris, France. She joined the war effort providing work, shelter, and food for refugees from Belgium and northern France. In addition, she provided for 900 Belgium orphans that escaped the war and were brought to Paris. For her work with this project, she was awarded France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, becoming the first American woman to receive this honor. She lived in France the rest of her life. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Literature in 1921 for her novel, "The Age of Innocence", becoming the first woman to be afforded the honor. She was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928, and 1930. Born into a wealthy family as Edith Newbold Jones, she was well-educated with private tutors. Starting at the age of four, she traveled to Europe often and had a formal debut into society. In 1885 after a broken marriage engagement and the love of her life never asking the question, she married a banker, Edward Wharton, thus this was the surname she used in her publications. In 1913, the poorly-suited couple divorced and she moved to Paris. She wrote, with great authenticity, novels which depict the old, rich New York aristocracy of the 19th and 20th centuries. Although not published until she was forty, she established herself as a novelist who could satisfy a large number of readers and yet win critical acclaim. In her lifetime, she wrote over fifty books including “Ethan Frome” in 1911, “House of Mirth” in 1905 and “The Age of Innocence” in 1920, which all have secured a lasting place in American literature. Early in her career, she wrote newspaper articles during World War I and later short stories for magazines. In 1996 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 1935, she had a stroke, which she recovered well, but by 1937 she had another followed by a heart attack. She was buried near beloved friend, Walter Berry's grave.