Edith O'Shaughnessy

Born Edith Louise Coues, she was an American journalist, biographer, and screenwriter who wrote under the name Edith O'Shaughnessy. She became especially closely linked with Mexico after marrying U.S. diplomat Nelson O'Shaughnessy and living there during a turbulent period of the Mexican Revolution.

Her best-known book, A Diplomat's Wife in Mexico (1916), grew out of letters and observations from Mexico City during the crisis years of 1913 and 1914. That firsthand account helped preserve the atmosphere of embassy life, political uncertainty, and international tension from an unusually intimate point of view.

She wrote beyond memoir as well, publishing fiction and biographical work, and later worked in film screenwriting. Archival records also describe her as active in causes connected with the Roman Catholic Church, adding another dimension to a life shaped by public events, travel, and writing.