Marie Russak
Marie Russak (born Marie Elaine Barnard ; born October 7, 1865 in Four Corners, Butte County , California , † March 4, 1945 in Hollywood , Los Angeles ) was the daughter of Sarah Ann McIntosh and Allyn Barnard. In addition to her professional activities as a singer and architect, she was an active theosophist and Rosicrucian .
Life
She studied music at Mills College in Oakland , later taught music in San Francisco and performed as a singer in several European cities. On stage she called herself Marie Barna and sang with the military band of John Philip Sousa and later with the Boston Symphony . As early as 1898, Marie began to be very interested in the Theosophical Society and became a member of the Theosophical Society Adyar (Adyar-TG). In 1899 she married the opera writer Frank Russak and moved with him to Paris in 1901.
From 1906 to 1910 she lived in Adyar , India , where she was able to deepen her esoteric studies. Over the years she has developed into one of the company's most important international speakers. During this time she was also actively involved in the co-Freemasonry Le Droit Humain and was one of the co-founders of the Order of the Temple of the Rosy Cross (OTRC) together with Annie Besant in 1912 . Towards the end of the First World War , however, this order was dissolved again. Despite everything, Russak continued her work in the Theosophical Society and was written to in California by Harvey Spencer Lewis , who founded his own Rosicrucian Order AMORC as early as 1915 .
After the death of her husband Frank Russak in 1914, she married Harry Hotchener in 1916 and called herself Mary Russak Hotchener from then on. She also worked as an architect, which was very unusual for her time. Its buildings include the Moorcrest (1921) in the Theosophical Society's Krotona Colony , which was rented to Charlie Chaplin until 1925 and later sold to the Langhanke family. Her daughter Lucille later became famous by the stage name Mary Astor .
Mary Russak Hotchener died on March 4, 1945 and was buried in an Independent Order of Odd Fellows cemetery in Chico .
Web links
- Biography and Images (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Russak, Marie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Barnard, Marie Elaine; Russak Hotchener, Mary |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer, architect, theosophist and Rosicrucian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 7, 1865 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Four Corners, Butte County (California) |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 4, 1945 |
| Place of death | Hollywood |