LEONOWENS, ANNA HARRIETTE

ne Crawford born Nov. 5, 1834, Carnarvon, Carnarvonshire, Wales died Jan. 19, 1914, Montreal, Que., Can. British writer and governess employed by King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam for the instruction of his children, including his son and successor, Prince Chulalongkorn. At age 15 Anna went to Asia, where she married Maj. Thomas Lewis Leonowens of the Indian Army. After the major died in 1858, she lived in Singapore with her two children until she was invited (1862) by King Mongkut to serve as governess to the royal children. For five years she was part of the royal household in Bangkok. After leaving Siam she wrote two books, The English Governess at the Siamese Court (1870) and The Romance of the Harem (1872). According to King Mongkut's biographer, Abbot Low Moffat (Mongkut, the King of Siam), Mrs. Leonowens' accounts of Siamese court life were greatly exaggerated, and her description of King Mongkut as a cruel tyrant was totally unfair. Her adventures in Siam inspired a popular book by Margaret Landon, Anna and the King of Siam (1944), on which was based the musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, The King and I, two motion pictures, and a television serial.