Rita Lydig

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Giovanni Boldini : Rita de Acosta Lydig, oil on canvas, 1902

Rita de Alba y de Acosta (* around 1875 in Madrid ; † October 19, 1929 in Manhattan , New York ) was a Spanish high society lady and author .

Life

Rita de Acosta was the eldest daughter of the wealthy businessman Ricardo de Acosta and his wife Micaela Hernandez y de Alba . Through her mother she descended from the dukes of Alba, an old Spanish noble family. Her younger sister Mercedes de Acosta was also a writer and best known for her lesbian affair with Greta Garbo .

Her first husband was millionaire WE Stokes , with whom she had a son. After the divorce in 1902, she fell in love with Phillip Mesier Lydig , whom she married on February 5, 1902.

Rita was considered an extraordinary beauty, was the muse of the painters John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini , who immortalized her in paintings, and was known for her extravagant lifestyle. In 1927 she wrote the novel Tragic Mansons about America's great millionaire families.