She was one of seven children from a prominent Boston family, born to a professor at the Harvard Medical School and his German-born wife. She was named for her father's favorite sister and had an identical twin, Selma, named for their mother. Her family spent two years in Germany when she was eight, and her son, Gerard, would later claim, "in spirit Eliza remained a European." According to family, she passed the entrance examinations at two women's colleges, but was denied the opportunity to enroll, when her twin sister showed no aspirations to attend college. At age 23 she vacationed in Europe with family members and sailed home from Amsterdam. Aboard the ship she met Hendrik Willem van Loon, who was studying at Cornell. They were married two years later and had two sons. The marriage ended in divorce after 14 years. She spent her final decades in New York.
She was one of seven children from a prominent Boston family, born to a professor at the Harvard Medical School and his German-born wife. She was named for her father's favorite sister and had an identical twin, Selma, named for their mother. Her family spent two years in Germany when she was eight, and her son, Gerard, would later claim, "in spirit Eliza remained a European." According to family, she passed the entrance examinations at two women's colleges, but was denied the opportunity to enroll, when her twin sister showed no aspirations to attend college. At age 23 she vacationed in Europe with family members and sailed home from Amsterdam. Aboard the ship she met Hendrik Willem van Loon, who was studying at Cornell. They were married two years later and had two sons. The marriage ended in divorce after 14 years. She spent her final decades in New York.
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