Scholar and preservationist Elling Oliver Eide (1935–2012) was born in Chicago and raised in Sarasota, Florida on his family’s compound alongside Little Sarasota Bay. He attended Sarasota High School and later Harvard University, where he graduated in 1957 summa cum laude with a degree in Far Eastern Languages.
A passionate researcher and gifted translator of Chinese poetry, Eide served in East Asia with the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of lieutenant. In the late 1960s, as a Harvard Junior Fellow, he studied in Taiwan and began collecting Chinese literature and art. Eide’s time abroad inspired him to create a comprehensive research library and nature preserve that would attract Asian Studies scholars from across the world. Elling also had deep expertise in horticulture and he planted hundreds of rare plants and trees from around the world.
Bequeathed by Eide, the Center brings together Old Florida and modern architecture. Sarasota architect Guy Peterson, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), designed the Center’s research library, which shares the landscape with a rich assortment of native and exotic plants of the 72-acre preserve. For his design of the Eide Center, Peterson won an American Institute of Architects Honor Award of Excellence in New Work in 2017.
The Elling Eide Center Research Library and Preserve opened its doors in the fall of 2016. The Center provides scholars and students with opportunities to research Chinese and East Asian culture, history, and art on a pristine nature preserve. The Center also hosts conferences, special lectures, and tours.
