Maud Karpeles

Maud Karpeles (12 November 1885 – 1 October 1976) was a collector of folksongs and dance teacher.

Maud Karpeles was born in London in 1885 to Jewish parents. In Berlin at the "Hochschule für Musik" she studied piano for six months. In 1892 a women's settlement had been created in Cumberland Road, Canning Town in 1892. The purpose was to enable the poorest girls to take part in sport and cultural activities. Karpeles became a Fabian and joined the settlement as a social worker. She began look for "something creative for a girls' club to do".

Together with her sister Helen Karpeles (1887–1976) she went to the Stratford-upon-Avon Festival in 1909, where they first encountered folk dances and songs. This inspired Maud to create a folk dance club at the Canning Town Settlement. When Cecil Sharp gave lectures on folk dance, it was her folk dance club that demonstrated them. The English Folk Dance Society (EFDS) was founded in 1911, with Karpeles' dancers at the heart of it. Karpeles became as much interested in the songs as the dances, and joined Sharp on collecting expeditions. Sharp, a married man with children, allowed Karpeles to share his house for long periods.