Olga de Meyer
Baroness Maria Beatrice Olga Alberta de Meyer (born August 8, 1871 in London as Olga Caracciolo dei Duchi di Castelluccio ; † July 16, 1930 ibid) was a British heiress, muse , art patron and high society lady at the beginning of the 20th century .
Life
Maria Beatrice Olga Alberta was the daughter of the Italian Marchesa di Castelluccio, and rumored to be the natural daughter of the Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII. Olga, who was named Alberta in honor of the prince, was his godchild.
Her childhood revolved around perfect behavior and social representation, which she refined at the French boarding school Les Ruches in Fontainebleau by Mademoiselle Marie Souvestre . After her mother's early death, she became one of the wealthiest heiresses in Britain .
On May 11, 1892, Marchesa Olga married the aristocrat Mariano di Brancaccio (1865–1941), the youngest son of Prince Carlo di Brancaccio, in Naples . The marriage, which was reportedly unhappy, remained childless and was divorced in June 1899. One year later, at the age of 29, she entered into a "separate bed marriage" with the homosexual art collector and first fashion photographer Adolphus Meyer (1868–1946), son of a German - Jewish Parisian banker. Shortly after the marriage, her husband was taken over by the Saxon King Friedrich August III. ennobled Baron de Meyer through the efforts of her godfather .
Her beauty and elegance made her the muse and preferred model of some artists , including Jacques-Émile Blanche , James McNeill Whistler , Giovanni Boldini , Walter Sickert , John Singer Sargent and Paul César Helleu . Between 1901 and 1905, Olga de Meyer had a love affair with Winnaretta Singer and then with the painter Romaine Brooks .
literature
- Adolf de Meyer (Author), G. Ray Hawkins (Ed.): Of passion and tenderness. Portrait of Olga . Greystone Books, Marina del Rey, Calif. 1992, ISBN 0-96305-70-1-4 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meyer, Olga de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Olga Caracciolo dei Duchi di Castelluccio |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British heiress, muse and high society lady |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 8, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 16, 1930 |
| Place of death | London |