N

Naamah – (fl. c967 – c930 BC)
Hebrew queen
Naamah was born into the Ammonite tribe, who resided east of the river Jordan in Palestine. She became the second wife of Solomon, king of Israel (c987 – 926 BC) as part of a deliberate political alliance. Naamah was granted the title of queen, but remained a secondary wife, though she was the mother of Solomon’s ultimate successor, King Rehoboam (c967 – 910 BC). Queen Naamah died before her son’s accession (926 BC). As queen, she was  permitted to worship her own deity, the Ammonite gold Molech one of the foreign gods referred to in the biblical book of Kings I (11: 5 & 7), to which Solomon erected an altar. The book of Chronicles II mentions her, but only as the mother of her son.

Nadaillac, Marquise de   see   Escars, Duchesse d’

Nadasdy de Nadasd, Erzsebet Christine – (c1648 – 1682)
Hungarian countess
Erzsebet Nadasdy was the daughter of Count Ferenc Nadasdy de Nadasd et Fogarasfold, and his wife Countess Anna Julia Esterhazy de Galantha. Through her father she was a descendant of the infamous ‘Blood Countess,’ Erzsebet Bathory, after whom she was named. Erzsebet was married (1667) to Count Nicholas Draskovitch von Trakostjan (died 1687), whom she predeceased (March 12, 1682). She left three children,

• Count Pal Draskovitch von Trakostjan (1667 – 1693). He was married to Countess Magdalena Erdody, but died childless.
• Countess Katalin Draskovitch von Trakostjan (1667 – 1703). She was a twin with her brother, and married Count Franz von Auersperg (1659 – 1729) and left descendants.
• Count Adam Draskovitch von Trakostjan (1673 – 1749). He was married three times and left descendants.

Naeff, Top – (1878 – 1953)
Dutch writer
Top Naeff was born into a wealthy middle class family and resided most of her life at Dordrecht. She remained unmarried. Naeff was best remembered for her books written for juvenile girls, notably Schoolidyllen (1900) which achieved literary recognition for her. This and other of Naeff’s works explore the themes of childhood rebellion against what is seen as parental hypocrisy, and the later gradual acceptance and conformity to their assigned fate.
Naeff also wrote two collections of novellas Voorbijgangers (Passers-By) (1925) and Juffrouw Stolk en andere verhalen (Miss Stolk and Other Stories) (1936). She worked for a considerable period as a theatre critic for Elseviers Maanblad and De Groene Amsterdammer publications, and wrote her autobiography Zo was het ongeveer (That’s More or Less the Way it Was) (1950).

Naevia Galla – (fl. c400 – c413 AD) 
Roman Christian founder
Naevia Galla was the wife of Claudius Postumius Dardanus, praetorian prefect of Gaul (412 – 413 AD). With her husband and her brother-in-law Claudius Lepidus, Naevia founded the Christian community of Theopolis on their estates at Sisteron, which they then fortified it with walls and gates in order to protect it from barbarian incursions, and provide safety for everyone living on their estates. Naevia Galla, her family and their activities are attested by the so-called ‘Pierr Ecurite’ inscription near Alabonte, in Narbonne, France, which styles her clar(issima) et in(lustris) fem(ina), mater fam(iliae) eius (sc. Dardani). A chapel on the slopes pf Rocher de Dromon, near St Geniez overlies some early Roman columns, and it has been tentatively suggested that they may have once formed part of a monument erected over Dardanus and Naevia.

Nafije Zogyu – (1900 – 1955)
Princess of Albania
Princess Nafije was born (Sept 12, 1900) at Mati, the second daughter of Xhemel Pasha and his wife Sadije Toptani, and sister to King Zogyu I. Nafije was married to the famous political figure, Ceno Bey Kryezieu (1887 – 1927), whom she survived. Nafije was famous for her beauty, as were all her sisters, and was known for her regular appearances at Monte Carlo. Princess Nafije died (March 21, 1955) aged fifty-four, in Egypt. She was the mother of Tati Esad Murad Bey Kryezieu (1923 – 1993), who was assassinated in Prague, Bohemia, by political rivals.

Nagako – (1903 – 2000)
Japanese empress consort (1926 – 1989)
Kuni Nagako was born (March 6, 1903) in Tokyo, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi (1873 – 1929) and his wife Princess Shimazu Chikako (1879 – 1956), the daughter of Tadayoshi Shimazu, a powerful political figure. Nagako attended the Gakushuin School and became the wife at Kyoto (1924) of the Emperor Hirohito (later Showa) (1901 – 1989) and bore him seven children. She had been considered for this position since the age of fourteen (1918) and had been trained specifically for her future Imperial role, studying history, French, Chinese and Japanese literature, and calligraphy, as well as the exacting court ceremonial. The couple had been formally betrothed (1919) and the marriage went ahead despite objections made by General Yamagata Aritomo who had attempted to slander Nagako’s family because theu were not members of the Fujiwara clan. This action only made Hirohito the more determined to marry her.
When Hirohito succeeded to the Imperial throne as the 124th Emperor (Dec 25, 1926), Crown Princess Nagako received the Imperial titles and styles. Due to his great attachment to Nagako one of the emperor’s first edicts was to abolish the practice of emperors keeping concubines, and dismissed the thirty or so then resident within the Imperial palace. Both government and court became alarmed at the lack of a male heir when after almost a decade of marriage the empress ahd produced only four daughters. Finally the succession was assured with the birth of Prince Akihito (1933) and was furthered cemented by the birth of his younger brother Masahito (1935). During WW II the empress became popularly known as Kokubo Heika (Her Majesty of the Motherhood) the symbolic mother of Japan and her people. She wrote tanka poetry for children beimg evacuated to safer and remote areas, and wrote letters to the families of the bereaved, as well as supporting the Japanese Imperial forces with the help of many ladies from Japanese society.
After the defeat of Japan Empress Nagako served as the honorary president of the Japanese Red Cross and created history when she made her inaugural address as president over the radio (1946) as it was the first time the Japanese people had heard the voice of their empress. With the 1947 constitution the Empress consort Nagako became a benevolent figurehead and was seen accompanying her husband on ceremonial occasions. She remained incredibly discreet and none of her own opinions were ever quoted by the press. She received the Order of the Precious Crown and the Order of the Sacred Treasure.
The empress was a talented amateur artist and produced landscapes and still-life paintings. She presented one of these works to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain during a state visit to that country with her husband (1971). At this time she visited several European countries with Hirohito including the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, West Germany and Denmark. The Imperial couple later made a state visit to the USA (1975). With her husband’s death she became the Empress Dowager (kotaigo) (1989 – 2000) and resided in seclusion at the Fukiage Palace for the last years of her life due to ill-health and infirmity. Empress Nagako died (June 16, 2000) aged ninety-seven, in Tokyo. Her children were,

• Princess Teru of Japan, later Princess Shigeko (1925 – 1961). She married her cousin Prince Higashikuni Morihiro (1916 – 1969) whose family was relegated to commoner status (1947). She left five children.
• Princess Sachiko of Japan, later Princess Hisa (1927 – 1928). She died young.
• Princess Kazuko of Japan, later Princess Taka (1929 – 1989). She was married to Takatsukasa Toshimichi (died 1966) and left an adopted son.
• Princess Yori of Japan, later Princess Atsuko (born 1931). She was married to Ikeda Takamasa and left issue.
• Crown Prince Akihito (born 1933). He succeeded his father as Emperor Akihito (Heisei) of Japan (1989) and left issue.
• Prince Masahito of Japan (born 1935), later Prince Hitachi. He was married to Tsugaru Hanako (Princess Hitachi) but remained childless.
• Princess Suga of Japan, later Princess Takako (born 1939). She became the wife of Hisanoges Shimazu and left issue.

Nagel, Anne – (1912 – 1966)
American actress
Born Anne Dolan (Sept 29, 1912) in Boston, Massachusetts, she appeared in her first film I Loved You Wednesday (1933), at the age of twenty. She made many films throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, usually in sympathetic, supporting roles. Anne Nagel became the second wife of the famous actor and director, Ross Alexander (1907 – 1937), who later committed suicide by shooting himself. Other film credits for Nagel included Hot Money (1936), Call a Messenger (1939), Black Friday (1940), The Green Hornet (1940), Women in Bondage (1943), Spirit of West Point (1947), and many others. Anne Nagel died (July 6, 1966) aged fifty-three.

Nagle, Nano – (1728 – 1784)
Irish educator and religious founder
Honora Nagle was born at Ballygriffin, Cork, the daughter of rich landed gentry, and the niece of the lawyer and financier, David Nagle. Educated in a Paris convent, Nagle resided there for a decade, moving amongst fashionable circles in St Germain society, and attended the court of Louis XV. Returning to Ireland at the death of her father (1746), Nagle opened a school in Dublin (1754). With the aid of a family inheritence she managed to establish seven more such schools for the benefit of children from poor families by 1769. Her health deteriorated and despite importing Ursuline nuns from France to Dublin, these sisters were prevented by their rule of enclosure to work amongst the poor in the proximity that Nagle envisaged. Nano Nagle built a new convent in Dublin, which she entered with three companions (1777), thus founding the Sisters of Charitable Instruction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which became known after her death as the Sisterhood of the Presentation. She also established an alms house for destitute women (1783) before her death (April 28, 1784) at the age of fifty-five. By 1900 there were over fifty Presentation schools established in Ireland and round the world, including America, Australia, India, and New Zealand.

Nagrodskaya, Evdokia Apollovna – (1866 – 1930)
Russian novelist
Evdokia Golovacheva was the daughter of the journalist Apollon Golovachev and his wife, the author Avdotia Panaeva. Her first novel The Wrath of Dionysius (1910) proved immensely popular and went through ten editions by 1916.  With the outbreak of the revolution, Evgenia Nagrodskaia and her husband immigrated to Paris in France (1917). Her close connection with the Masonic movement remains evident in her trilogy of historical novels The River of Time (1924 – 1926).

Nagy, Agnes Nemes     see     Nemes Nagy, Agnes

Nagy, Helena Jo – (c1565 – 1611)
Hungarian murderess
Helena Jo Nagy was the main accomplice in the crimes of Countess Erszebet Bathory. Nagy personally organized and participated in the tortures and deaths inflicted upon many girls who died under the countess’s roof in Hungary. When these crimes were exposed, Nagy was arrested, interrogated, condemned and executed by order of Count Thurzo in the name of the Emperor Matthias. Extracts of her ‘confession’ have survived.

Nahon, Alice – (1896 – 1933)
Dutch poet
Alice Nahon was born at Antwerp in Belgium. She worked as a nurse at the front during WW I, but contracted tuberculosis and then spent several years in a sanitarium (1917 – 1923). Her sentimental, but simplistic verses, influenced by the style of Guido Gezelle, resonated with the public, and Nahon has remained one of the most popular of Flemish female poets.
Her works included Vondelingskens (1920), Op Zachte Vooizekens (1921), Schaduw (1928) which had been strongly influenced by the work of the humanitarian expressionists, and Gedichten (1930). Alice Nahon died (May 21, 1933) aged thirty-six, in Antwerp.

Naidu, Padmaja – (1900 – 1975)
Indian politician and statesman
Padmaja Naidu was born in Hyderabad the daughter of the physician Govindararjulu Naidu and his wife, the politician poet Sarojini Naidu. Raised by her mother to become involved with politics from an early age, Naidu later suffered imprisonment for her participation in the Quit India Movement (1942).
Elected a member of the political organization the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha (1950 – 1952), she was forced to resign because of ill-health, but later served a successful and lengthy term as governor of West Bengal (1956 – 1967). Padmaja Naidu later served as the chairman of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (1968 – 1974).

Naidu, Sarojini – (1879 – 1949)  
Indian poet, mystic and politician
Sarojini Chattopadhya was born at Hyderabad the daughter of the scientist and educator Aghorenath Chattopadhya. She was educated at home in Madras, and then travelled to England to study at Girton College, Cambridge and in London (1895). Sarojini was later married to a physician, Govindarajulu Naidu (1898) and was the mother of Padmaja Naidu. She first became interested in politics in 1906 and achieved notice for her help with the organisation of relief for flood-stricken Hyderabad (1908). She then lectured publicly to instigate the abolition of the ancient Indian system of purdah, which kept women in subjection.
Later associated with the work and career of Mahatma Gandhi and was the first Indian woman to be appointed President of the Indian National Congress (1925). She suffered periods of imprisonment because of her involvement with Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) and attended the famous Round Table Conference with Gandhi (1931).  With the achievement of independence (1947) Naidu was appointed to be governor of Uttar Pradesh (then the United Provinces), the fist woman ever to hold such an office in Indian.
Naidu wrote a great deal and, under the literary influence of the British poet Edmund Gosse, whom she had met in England,  produced several volumes of poetry all with Indian themes including The Golden Threshold (1905), The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death, and Spring (1912) and The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death, and Destiny, 1915 – 1916 (1917). She also produced The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India (1928). Her talent with lyric verse earned her the popular epithet the ‘nightingale of India.’ Sarojini Naidu died (March 2, 1949) aged seventy, at Lucknow. She was publicly saluted by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a national figure.

Nairne, Carolina Oliphant, Lady – (1766 – 1845) 
Scottish lyricist
Carolina Oliphant was born (Aug 16, 1766) in Gask, Perthshire, the daughter of Laurence Oliphant, a Jacobite laird. She was married (1806) to Lord William Murray Nairne (1757 – 1830) at the age of forty, and bore him a son and heir, William, sixth Baron Nairne (1808 – 1837). Greatly interested in the folksong tradition Gask, she wrote eighty-seven songs which all remained unpublished until 1821 when she began to contribute under the pseudonym of ‘Mrs Bogan of Bogan’ to the Scottish Minstrel magazine.
Four of her most famous compositions were the Lard o’ Leal (1798), Caller Herrin, Charlie Is My Darling, The Laird of Cockpen, The Hundred Pipers, and The Auld Hoose. But the best remembered of all is Annie Laurie, sometimes incorrectly assumed to have been penned by the poet Robert Burns. Only a few years before her death she composed the moving line ‘ Would ye be young again ’ to the traditional tune of Robin Adair. Lady Nairne died (Oct 27, 1845) aged seventy-nine, at Gask.

Naiying, Zhang    see   Hong, Xiao

Najmajer, Marie von – (1844 – 1904)
Hungarian poet and feminist
Marie von Najmajer was born in Budapest, the daughter of Franz von Najmajer, a councillor at the Austro-Hungarian court. As a child she moved with her family to Vienna. The early death of her father (1854) precipitated Najmajer’s writing of lyric poetry, as a means of dealing with her grief. Her verses attracted the attention of the poet Franz Grillparzer, and a collection of her lyric verse was published as Schneeglocken (Snowdrops) (1868).
Marie Najmajer never married, and whilst she never officially joined any organisation of the suffrage movement, she was concerned over the conditions of single working mothers, and published a number of articles in this field. She established the first scholarships for women students at the University of Vienna, and gave her financial support to the Association of Women Writers and Artists.
Other works included the epic poem Grafin Ebba (Countess Ebba) (1877), the two volume novel Schwedenkonigin (Queen of Sweden) (1882), and the plays Hildegun (1899) and Kaiserin Julian (Empress Julian) (1903). Marie von Najmajer died (Aug 25, 1904) aged sixty, in Aussee, Austria, aged sixty.

Nakamura, Kiharu – (1913 – 2004)
Japanese geisha and author
Kiharu Ihara Nakamura was born in Tokyo, the daughter of a physician, and trained as a geisha at her won wish. She became one of the last authentic Japanese geisha girls she was the first to learn her profession in English. She was the author of six books including The Memoir of a Tokyo-born Geisha and Lexicon of Obsolete Witty Japanese Phrases, which became best-sellers in Japan. The French poet Jean Cocteau was inspired by her write his poem Geisha.
Despite this career she became the first Japanese woman to gain her pilot’s license. With the arrival of WW II she was married to a diplomat and removed to India to live, and where the Japanese government used her to smuggle secret documents to the anti-British independence leader Chandra Bose in the Himalayas. With her divorce from her husband Nakamura returned to Tokyo but ultimately remarried and went to live in the USA (1956). Kiharu Nakamura died aged ninety in New York.

Nakamura, Takako – (1941 – 1969)
Japanese industrial accident victim
Takako Nakamura worked as a lathe operator for the Toho Zinc Company. Nakamura became ill and it was discovered that she had been poisoned by the inhalation of cadmium fumes during the course of her work. She then committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a train, aged only twenty-eight. Her death was followed by the introduction of stringent anti-pollution laws by the Japanese government.

Nakatsukasa – (912 – 991)
Japanese Waka poet
Nakatsukasa was the daughter of Prince Katura and his wife, the poet Lady Ise, the daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, the governor of Ise. She was the paternal granddaughter of the Emperor Uda of the middle Heian period. She became the wife of the poet Minamoto no Saneakira, and was one of the five women listed amongst the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. Her verses appeared in the imperial anthology Gosen Wakashu (951).

Nakayama, Yoshiko – (1836 – 1907)
Japanese Imperial mother
Yoshiko Nakayama was born (Jan, 1836) the daughter of Nakayama Tadayasu, a member of the the powerful Fujiwara clan who served as an Imperial minister. She was sent to the palace to serve as a lady-in-waiting to the empress, and then became the concubine of the Emperor Komei. Yoshiko
Nakayama was the mother of the Emperor Meiji (1852 – 1912). She was the grandmother of Emperor Taisho (1912 – 1926) and Emperor Showa (Hirohito) (1926 – 1989). Yoshiko Nakayama died (Oct 5, 1907) aged seventy-one. She was interred within the Toshimagaoka cemetery in Bunyo, Tokyo.

Nakazato, Tsuneko – (1909 – 1987)
Japanese novelist
Born Nakazato Tsune (Dec 23, 1909) in Fujisawa City in Kananawa prefecture, she attended secondary school there before her early work attracted the attention of Yokomitsu Riichi, who encouraged her literary efforts. Her short story Noriai bashi caused her to be awarded the Akutagawa Prize (1938), the first time it was awarded to a woman.
This was followed by the novels, Mariannu monogatari (MaryAnn’s Story) (1946) and Kusari (Chain) (1959). Her later novel Utamakura (Song Pillow) was awarded the Yomiuri Prize (1973). She was the recipient of the Japan Art Academy Prize (1974) and of the Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize (1976). Tsuneko Nakazato died (April 5, 1987) aged seventy-six, at Zushi in Kanagawa.

Nakou, Lilika – (1903 – 1989)
Greek novelist, biographer and feminist
Lilika Nakou was born in Athens, the daughter of a politician, but was raised in Geneva, Switzerland, where she studied piano and philosophy. Lilika then worked as a piano teacher in Athens. Influenced by the socialist ideals of Henri Barbusse (1874 – 1935), Nakou went to reside in Paris, where she joined the intellectual circles frequented by Andre Gide and Albert Einstein, amongst others.
Both in Athens and abroad, Nakou worked as a journalist for the Greek newspaper Akropolis, and she became increasingly involved with social issues concerning Greek women. She achieved recognition with the publication of her first collection of short stories entitled The Deflowered Maiden (1931), which told the sad story of a woman’s life under misogynistic oppression. Her work Children’s Hell (1944), dealt with the sufferings of children endured during the Nazi occupation. She also wrote two novels Nausika (1954) and the light-hearted Madame Doremi (1953).

Naksidil – (c1766 – 1817)
Ottoman Valide Sultan
Naksidil was of possibly Greek origins and entered the harem of Sultan Abdulhamid I and was the mother of Sultan Mahmud II (1785 – 1859). With her husband’s death she became Valide Sultan (queen mother) until her death (Aug 22, 1817) in Constantinople.
It was this lady who was mistakenly identified as Marie Marthe Aimee Dubuc de Rivery, alleged kinswoman of the French empress Josephine, who was captured at sea and taken into the sultan’s harem as a concubine. The long and popularly believed tale was perpetuated and elaborated in the book The Veiled Empress (1923) by B.A. Marta, but has now been disproved.

Nalandil – (1829 – 1890)
Ottoman sultana
Nalandil was born in the Caucasus region and taken to the harem of Sultan Abdulmecid I (1823 – 1861), whose concubine she became. Her daughter Princess Semiha Osmanoglu (1851 – 1931), became the wife of the minister of Justice, Asaf Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha (1853 – 1903). With the sultan’s death, Nalandil was forced to retire to the Old Seray Palace, and survived a further thirty years. Sultana Nalandil died (Dec 23, 1890) aged sixty-one, at Bechiktache.

Naldi, Nita – (1897 – 1961)
Italian-American actress
Born Anita Donna Dooley (April 1, 1897) in New York of Irish-Italian parentage, she trained as a dancer appearing in the Ziegfeld Follies before appearing in silent films after nbeing discovered by the actor John Barrymore, where she became a popular leading lady throughout the 1920’s. Her film credits included Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920), The Ten Commandments (1923) directed by Cecil B. De Mille, A Sainted Devil (1925), The Lady Who Lied (1927) and What Price Beauty (1928) amongst many others.
However, her most famous role was as the seductive temptress in, Blood and Sand (1922) opposite Rudolph Valentino with whom she also co-starred in Cobra (1925). Her last film was You Can’t Fool Your Wife (1940) though she emerged from retirement to appear with Uta Hagen in the stage play In Any Language (1952). Nita Naldi was married once but died childless (Feb 17, 1961) aged sixty-three.

Nalkowska, Zofia – (1884 – 1954) 
Polish author and novelist
Zofia Nalkowska was born in Warsaw, the daughter of a famous geographer and scholar and was excellently educated at home. Associated with the youthful Positivist movement in her youth, her first novel Kobiety (Women) (1906), did not pander to the contemporary male notion concerning women. Her second novel Romans Teresy Hennert (Teresa Hennert’s Affair) (1924) was a scathing social satire of the bourgeois attitude to adultery in Poland.
With the end of WW II, Zofia actively supported the Communist regime in Poland. Her works included Granica (1935) (Boundary Line) which is considered by many to be her greatest work and Niecierpliwi (1939) (The Impatient). Her novels dealt with all aspects of Polish life. Her collection of short stories entitled Medaliony (1946) (Medallions) dealt with eye-witness accounts of genocide in Poland as recalled to the author. Her own personal diary entitled Dzieniki, published in 1975, covered most of her life.

Name, Pearl von    see   Bayne, Beverly

Namia Pudentilla – (c320 – c350 AD)
Roman provincial patrician
Namia Pudentilla was the daughter of Attusius Lucanus Talisius, of an old senatorial family from Bordeaux in Gaul, and was the sister of Attusia Lucana Sabina, the wife of the poet Decimus Ausonius (c310 – 394 AD). Namia Pudentilla became the wife of Flavius Sanctus, who held the office of praeses in Britain.
During her husband’s absence in that land she managed the administration of their private estates. She predeceased her husband, leaving a son, Lucanus Talisius, who left descendants. Namia Pudentilla was mentioned in the Parentalia of Ausonius.

Nampeyo – (1856 – 1942)
American Indian potter
Nampeyo was a resident of Hano in northern Arizona. Already established within her own region as a famous potter, when a prehistoric village was uncovered at Sikyati a few miles away, Nampeyo copied the ancient designs with paper and pencil, and with variations of her own design, including motifs of various animals and feathers, and produced the new classic Hopi pottery, especially noted for its orange toned background. When she lost her sight in old age, Nampeyo still produced pottery, though her daughter painted the decoration. Many of her descendants remain prominent potters and artists.

Namur, Marie de Saint-Mauris, Vicomtesse de – (1834 – 1914)
Belgian peeress
Marie de Saint-Mauris was born (May 8, 1834) the daughter of Charles Emanuel, Marquis de Saint-Mauris and his wife Adelaide Caroline de Moustier. She became the wife (1857) of Charles Claude Florimon (1826 – 1890), Vicomte de Namur in Flanders, and became the Vicomtesse de Namur (1857 – 1890). The Vicomte de Namur was the vice-president of the Belgian Senate and the couple attended the courts of kings Leopold I (1830 – 1865) and Leopold II of the Belgians (1865 – 1909).
Marie de Namur was appointed as a Lady of the Order of the Starry Cross (sternkreuzordensdame) and survived her husband as the Dowager Vicomtesse de Namur (1890 – 1914). Madame de Namur died (Feb 18, 1914) aged seventy-nine. There were no children and the Namur title became extinct with the death of her husband (1890).

Namur, Marie Isabelle Josephe de Haultpenne, Vicomtesse de – (1754 – 1806)
Flemish peeress
Marie Isabelle de Haultpenne was born (Nov 10, 1754) the daughter of Francois Louis de Haultpenne and his wife Marie Anne de Womelmont d’Hombraine. She was sent to the Abbey of Maubeuge in Valenciennes where she became a canoness and was educated there until a marriage could be arranged by her family. Marie Isabelle became the wife (1777) of Henri Claude de Namur (1749 – 1816), Vicomte de Namur in Flanders (1768 – 1816) and became the Vicomtesse de Namur (1777 – 1806). Her husband was the only surviving child of Charles Claude de Namur, Vicomte d’Elzee and de Dhuy, and his wife Angelique Philippine Josephe de Quarre, the daughter of Baron Henri Ferdinand de Quarre.
Husband and wife attended the Imperial courts of the emperors Joseph II (1765 – 1790), Leopold II (1790 – 1792) and Franz II (1792 – 1835). The vicomtesse was appointed as a Lady of the Order of the Starry Cross (sternkreuzordensdame). Madame de Namur died (Jan 6, 1806) aged fifty-one. Her children were,

• Claude Adeodat de Namur (1788 – 1811). He was killed at the battle of Albufera and was unmarried.
• Constant Claude Marie Xavier Ghislain de Namur (1790 – 1832). He succeeded his father as Vicomte de Namur (1816 – 1832) and was married twice and left issue.

Nandi – (c1765 – 1827) 
Zulu queen
Nandi was born a member of the Langeni tribe. She became pregnant by the Zulu chief Senzangakhoma (c1760 – 1816) whose third wife she became. This union brought disgrace upon Nandi as they were related within the forbidden degrees. Despite this, her son Shaka (c1781 – 1828) was to become one of the greatest Zulu chiefs. Later divorced (c1787) she was forced to return to her own tribe, who later banished her (1802).
Residing with the Metwa tribe till 1815, the rise of her son Shaka saw Nandi restored to the position of queen mother, with the title Ndlorukazi (the Great She Elephant). Nandi exercised great power and influence over Shaka till her death, which took place near Bulawayo (Oct 10, 1827). The terrible conditions imposed upon the people during the period of mourning imposed by her son, including ordering the deaths of all pregnant women, was partly responsible for Shaka’s overthrow in favour of his cousin Dingane.

Nanduttara – (fl. c500 – c480 BC)
Indian Buddhist poet
Nanduttara was born into an upper class Brahmin family in Kammasadamma in Kurus. As a young woman and joined the Jaina sisterhood before travelling throughout India, where she was famous for her involvement in religious debates and philosophy. However, after listening to the Buddhist priest Moggallana, Nanduttara converted to Buddhism. One of her poems survived in the Therigatha.

Nanibala Devi – (1888 – 1967)
Indian revolutionary
Nanibala Devi was born in Howrah into a minor Brahmnin family. Married young she was left a widow at sixteen (1905) and joined the household of her nephew, the politician Amarendranath Chattopadhya. Nanibala’s nephew in introduced her to politics and she became closely associated with the Jungantar Party and the revolutionary movement which was quickly becoming prominent in the province of Bengal.
She became a notorious figure of the revolution and was finally arrested in Peshawar. She was confined for a two year period and sufferred various forms of torture before being released. The Government of West Bengal later granted her a pension and she took religious vows near the end of her life.

Nantechilde (Nanthild, Nantilda) – (c610 – 642)
Merovingian queen
Nantechilde was born of Saxon acestry being the daughter of Landregiselus, lord of Bobigny in the Limousin, and niece of Bodesgesil II, Duke of Austrasia who was assassinated (588). She served at court in the Austrasian royal household and then became the last wife of Dagobert I, King of Austrasia (602 – 639) who set aside the childless Queen Gomatrude in order to marry her.
Nantechilde was the mother of Clovis II (634 – 657), King of Neustria and Burgundy, the husband of Queen Balthild, and Nantechilde ruled as regent for her young son until her death with the assistance of Ega, the Neustrian mayor of the palace. She caused her niece Ragnoberta to be married to Flaochad who was elected as mayor of the palace to her son (642). Queen Nantechilde died at Landry in Burgundy. She was interred in the basilica of St Denis at Rheims, near Paris.

Naomi (1) – (fl. c1150 – c1100 BC)
Hebrew biblical character
Naomi was the mother-in-law of Ruth and Orpah, and her name means ‘my delight.’ After the death of her husband two sons, she persuaded Orpah to return to her own people, but Ruth steadfastly refused to leave Naomi, and returned with her to Bethlehem, where Naomi arranged Ruth’s remarriage to her kinsman Boaz. Through this marriage Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David and the ancestress of Jesus Christ.

Naomi (2) – (fl. c1150 – 1167) 
Anglo-Norman nun
Naomi was the founder of a religious community at Bretford, Warwickshire. Geoffrey de Clinton donated one hundred and fifty acres of land to her to establish her convent there. The charter of this establishment refers to her as charissima amica mea domina Noemi monialis. Naomi is listed as the leader of this community in 1167, but not long after, at Geoffrey’s request, and with his consent, Naomi and one companion transferred their endowment to the Augustinian canons at Kenilworth, and the convent at Bretford appears to have been abandoned. The details of Naomi’s foundation and its quick dissolution are recorded in the cartulary of Kenilworth. No other records of the Bretford community survive.

Naoroji, Khurshed Behn – (1894 – 1966)
Indian patriot and nationalist
Khurshed Behn Naoroji was the granddaughter of Dadabhai Naoroji. She became involved with the civil disobedience movement organized by Mahatma Gandhi, which was aimed at the removal of the British from India. She suffered several periods of imprisonment because of her involvement and was eventually exiled to Bombay.

Napier, Diana – (1905 – 1982)
British stage and film actress
Born Molly Ellis, in Bath, Somerset, her acting career began on the stage, abut she remained a minor player until given a contract by Alexander Korda, who cast her in high class, bitchy roles, to great effect in films such as The Farmer’s Wife (1928), The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) with Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, Elsa Lanchester, and Binnie Barnes, Catherine the Great (1934) and The Private Life of Don Juan (1934).
Diana Napier retired in the mid 1930’s, but returned to the screen a decade later, appearing in films such as I Was a Dancer (1948) and Bait (1950). Her second marriage was to the Austrian tenor, Richard Tauber (1891 – 1948) who appeared in several comic films. Napier wrote her autobiography My Heart and I (1959).

Napier, Lady Elizabeth    see   Erskine, Elizabeth

Napier, Elma – (1893 – 1973)
Anglo-Dominican politician and traveller
Elma was born in Scotland, and married firstly (1912) to Maurice Gibbs, and secondly (1923) to Lennox Napier. She immigrated firstly to Australia (1915), and from thence, nearly twenty years later, to the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. In Dominica Elma became actively involved in politics, and in 1940 she was elected to the Dominican Legislature, the first woman to be appointed to such a post. She served as a nominated member until 1954.
Elma travelled widely throughout the Pacific, Asia, and the Middle East, and wrote travel articles and short stories for publications such as the Manchester Guardian, Blackwoods Magazine, and The West Indian Review. Her works included Nothing So Blue (1928), A Flying Fish Whispered (1938) Youth is a Blunder (1944) and Winter is in July (1948). Napier was the author of Commonwealth Conference Nairobi 1954, Impressions (1955). Elma Napier died (Nov 12, 1973) at Calibishie, Dominica.

Naqi’a Zakutu – (c730 – after 669 BC)
Queen of Assyria
Naqi’a Zakutu was the wife of king Sennacherib (c750 – 681 BC), and is believed to have been of Aramaean descent. Her husband reigned for over two decades (704 – 681 BC), and she was the mother of his son and heir, King Esarhaddon (c710 – 669 BC), whom she survived. Queen Naqi’a has been tentatively identified with the famous Queen Nitokris, mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus, who supposedly dominated the reigns of both her son and grandson, and wielded considerable power.
However, it now appears that the lady in question may have been Naqi’a’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Esarhaddon. Whatever the truth, Naqi’a was closely involved with the decision made by her son to designate his younger son Ashurbanipal, as successor to the Assyrian throne, while his elder son, Shamash-shum-ukin, was appointed as king in Babylon, under the overlordship of his younger brother. This decision was criticized at the time and, perhaps due to the efforts of the queen mother, it was eventually accepted, and her grandsons ruled as their father had designated.

Narbonne, Francoise de Chalus, Duchesse de – (1734 – 1821)
French Bourbon courtier
A prominent member of the court of Louis XV (1715 – 1774) at the Palace of Versailles, Francoise de Chalus was born at Chalus the daughter of Gabriel de Chalus, Seigneur de Sansac. She was married to the Spanish grandee Juan Francisco de Lara (1718 – 1806), first Duc de Narbonne (1780). She served as maid-of-honour (dame d’honneur) to Princess Adelaide, the eldest daughter of Louis XV. The young duchesse became the mistress of the elderly Louis XV, to whom she bore a son whom he recognized, the future royalist hero Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Narbonne-Lara (1755 – 1813), the lover of Madame de Stael.
Her portrait was painted by Madame Labille-Guiard. The duchesse survived the terrors of the Revolution, and during the Napoleonic period she formed part of the old court which was established in the Faubourg St Germain in Paris. The duchesse survived to attend the court of Louix XVIII (1814 – 1824). The Duchesse de Narbonne died (July 7, 1821).

Narbonne-Lara, Marie Adelaide de Montholon, Comtesse de – (1767 – 1848)
French Bourbon courtier
Marie Adelaide de Montholon was born (Oct 16, 1767) in Macon, Burgundy, the daughter of Nicolas de Montholon and his wife Margeurite Fournier de la Chapelle. She was married in Paris (1782) to Louis Marie de Bourbon (1755 – 1813), Comte de Narbonne-Lara, the famous royalist hero, the illegitimate son of Louis XV and the Duchesse de Narbonne. Thus she became aunt by marriage to Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette and attended their court at Versailles prior to the Revolution. Madame de Narbonne-Lara emigrated abroad with her children and survived the horrors of Revolution. Her husband was killed in battle at Torgau (1813) and she survived him over three decades as the Dowager Comtesse de Narbonne-Lara (1813 – 1848). Madame de Narbonne-Lara died (Jan 9, 1848) aged eighty. Her two daughters were the great-granddaughters of Louis XV,

• Louise Amable de Narbonne-Lara (1786 – 1849). She became the wife of Hermano Jose Braancamp de Almeida-Castello-Franco (c1770 – 1846), the first Count de Sobral.
• Marie Adelaide Charlotte de Narbonne-Lara (1790 – 1856). She became the wife of Claude Philibert Barthelot de Rambuteau (died 1869), Comte de Rambuteau.

Narelle, Marie – (1870 – 1941)
Australian vocalist
Born Marie Narelle Ryan in Temora, New South Wales, she was raised at Cobargo she began an amateur vocalist in Sydney and studied under Ellen Christian, Steffani and Hazon, adopting the professional name of Marie Narelle. Narelle travelled to London where she made her stage debut at the Royal Albert Hall (1903) and then travelled to America where she worked and settled permanently (1910). With the death of her second husband (1934), Narelle returned to England. Marie Narelle died aged seventy, in England.

Narendra Laxmi – (c1734 – 1775) 
Queen consort of Nepal
Narendra Laxmi was the third wife of King Prithvi Naryan (1722 – 1775). Her husband died of a fever at the palace of Nuwakot (Jan, 1775), and the queen, together with eleven of her female servants, committed ceremonial suicide on the king’s funeral pyre. She was the mother of his eldest son, King Pratap Singh (1772 – 1777).

Nariman – (1934 – 2005)
Last Queen consort of Egypt (1951 – 1952)
Born Nariman Sadek (Oct 31, 1934) in Cairo, she was the daughter of Husayn Fahmy Sadeq Bey, an important official with the Ministry of Communication, and his wife Assila Kamel. Nariman Sadeq had originally been engaged to a student, but broke off this betrothal in order to the second wife (1951) of King Farouk I (1920 – 1965) at the Abdin Palace in Cairo (1951). The marriage had been arranged as a public attempt to conciliate the monarchy of Egypt with the people.
Queen Nariman was the mother of the infant Ahmed Fuad II (born 1952) but the monarchy was overthrown by the military several months later and a republic was proclaimed. The royal family fled the country to Italy and the king and queen quickly seperated (1953) and resumed her maiden name before finally divorcing Farouk (1954) and resigning to him the custody of their son.
Nariman then remarried (1954) to Dr Adham el Naquib to whom she bore a son (1961). This marriage ended in divorce and she remarried (1967) to Ismail Fahmi, whose surname she used. The former queen died in Cairo (Feb 16, 2005) aged seventy.

Naruko, Yanagihara – (1855 – 1943)
Japanese Imperial concubine
Yanagihara Naruko was the daughter of Count Nakayama Tadayasu (1809 – 1888). Yanagihara became mistress to the Emperor Meiji (1852 – 1912), by whom she was mother (1879) to the Emperor Taisho (1912 – 1926). She was grandmother to the emperor Showa (Hirohito) (1926 – 1989).

Naryshkina, Maria Dmitrievna – (1779 – 1854)
Russian courtier and Imperial mistress
Born Princess Maria Dmitrievna Swiatopolk-Czetwertynksa, she became the wife of Prince Dmitry Lvovich Naryshkin the lord chamberlain to Tsar Alexander I. Maria became the mistress of Grand Duke Alexander in her youth and was established as his mistress at his accession to the Imperial throne (1801). She retained this position for over a decade and bore the Tsar three children who all bore the surname of her husband, two daughters, Zenaida and Sophia, who died young, and Prince Emanuel Naryshkin (1813 – 1901). Towards the end of his reign Alexander seperated from Maria and returned to the company of his wife, the Empress Elisabeth.

Nasalsa – (fl. c670 – c640 BC)
Queen consort of Egypt
Nasalsa was the daughter of Pharoah Atlanersa and his sister-wife, Amenirdis II. She was granddaughter to King Taharka, and was possibly also sister-in-law to Pharoah Senkamanisken. She was the mother of kings Anlamani and Aspelta, and of a prince named Mediken. Queen Nasalsa, once erroneously identified as wife to King Senamanisken, is well documented as the mother of Aspelta, and surviving inscriptions accord her the title of ‘Mistress of Kush,’ as she descended from six generations of ladies entitled ‘King’s Sister.’

Nash, Eleanor Arnett – (1892 – 1969)
Southern American novelist
Eleanor Arnett was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She married and raised a family, and only began writing after the age of fifty. Mrs Nash’s works included the popular novels Footnote to Life (1944), Bachelors are Made (1946), Lucky Miss Spaulding (1952) and Kit Corelli: TV Stylist (1955). Eleanor Arnett Nash died (Oct 3, 1969) aged seventy-seven.

Nash, Elizabeth    see    Hall, Elizabeth

Nassau, Charlotte Flandrina von – (1579 – 1640)
Flemish princess and Catholic nun
Princess Charlotte Flandrina of Orange, Countess von Nassau was born (Aug 18, 1579) in Antwerp, the daughter of William I the Silent, Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau, and his third wife Charlotte de Bourbon. With her mother’s early death (1582) and the assassination of her father (1584) she was sent to France to be raised firstly at the abbey of Paraclet de Quincey by her mother’s kinswoman Jeanne de Chabot.
Later, with the permission of Henri III (1574 – 1589) Charlotte was placed in the custody of another kinswoman, Jeanne de Bourbon, Abbess of Jouarre. She later became a Benedictine nun (1593) at the abbey of St Croix (Holy Cross) at Poitiers, which had been founded (c550) by the Merovingian queen Radegonde. She was later appointed prioress (1595) and afterwards ruled the house as abbess for thirty-five years (1605 – 1640).
Charlotte Flandrina established a small priory at Sables d’Olonnes to house sick and elderly nuns under a more relaxed rule. During her time in office the number in nuns at St Croix increased considerably. Charlotte Flandrina von Nassau died (April 10, 1640) aged sixty, at Poitiers.

Natali, Maddalena – (1657 – after 1700)
Italian painter and portraitist
Maddalena Natali was the daughter of artist Carlo Natali. She accompanied her brother to Rome. There she assisted in supplementing the family income by producing portraits of the clergy.

Natalia – (c820 – 852)
Spanish Christian martyr
She was of half Moorish birth and was married to a Christian named Aurelius who converted her. She then adopted the Christian name of Natalia. During a persecution instigated by the Moors, the couple had opened their home for secret services of the Catholic mass to be held. They were denounced and arrested, having made provision for their two daughters in the event of such an eventuality, and refused to renounce their faith. They were publicly beheaded.

Natalia Alexievna – (1674 – 1716)
Russian Romanov grand duchess
Grand Duchess Natalia Alexievna was the daughter of Tsar Alexis (1645 – 1676) and his second wife Natalia Kirrillovna Naryshkina. She was full-sister to Peter the Great. When her half-sister Sophia Alexievna took over as regent and hunted down any likely opposition with the help of the palace guard (streltsky), some of her male Naryshkin relatives were successfully hidden in Natalia’s private apartments and survived the slaughter. She never married and remained on cordial terms with her brother all her life.

Natalia Kirrillovna – (1651 – 1694)
Russian Tsarina
Grand Duchess Natalia Kirrillovna was the daughter of the boyar, Kyrill Naryshin, and became the second wife of Tsar Alexis Romanov, to whom she bore two children, the future Tsar Peter I the Great (1672 – 1725) and the Grand Duchess Natalia Alexievna (1674 – 1716), who died unmarried. When the death of her husband (1676) Natalia was appointed as regent for her stepson Tsar Feodor III, but his sister Sophia quickly seized power, and Natalia and her son were relegated to the background. When Feodor died childless (1682) Natalia and her family fought for the claims of Peter instead of his feeble minded elder half-brother Ivan. Peter was originally proclaimed sole ruler, but when Princess Sophia organized a revolt of the streltsky (imperial bodyguard), and a massacre of Natalia’s Naryshkin relatives and supporters ensued. The two brothers were proclaimed joint rulers with Sophia as regent. When Sophia was later deposed from the regency (1689), the empress Natalia was proclaimed regent for Ivan V and Peter. Empress Natalia died at Preobrahzenskoie.

Natalie Maria Theresia – (1884 – 1898)
Hapsburg archduchess
HIH (Her Imperial Highness) Archduchess Natalie was born (Jan 12, 1884) in Pressburg, Hungary, the fourth daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, and his wife Isabella of Croy, the daughter of Rudolf, Duc de Croy. She bore the additional titles of Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, and Princess of Lorraine and Tuscany. She died young. Archduchess Natalie (March 23, 1898) aged fourteen, at Pressburg.

Natchez, Gladys – (1915 – 1994)
American child psychologist, psychotherapist and author
Gladys Natchez was born (Nov 13, 1915) and was a respected academic at the City University of New York, being later appointed as professor emeritus at the City College there (1956). Her work was especially devoted to the problems experienced by children with reading and learning disabilities.
Her published works on this genre included Reading Disability: Diagnosis and Treatment (1964), Children with Reading Problems: Classic and Contemporary Issues (1968) and Gideon: A Boy Who Hates Learning in School (1975). Gladys Natchez died (May 29, 1994)

Nathalia Petrovna – (1859 – 1941)
Queen consort of Serbia
Nathalia Keshko was born in Florence, Italy, the daughter of Colonel Peter Keshko, and his Romanian wife, Princess Pulcheria Sturdza. She married at Belgrade (1875) Prince Milan of Serbia (1854 – 1901) who became King Milan IV in 1882, and bore him two sons, King Alexander I (1876 – 1903) and Sergei, who died in infancy. Though an extremely beautiful woman, whose looks caused a public stir, her married life proved unhappy, and she and her son often resided apart from the king.
Her political interests were opposed to those of her husband, and she supported the progressionists against him. They seperated early in 1887 and Queen Nathalia retired to Wiesbaden with their son. In July, 1888, Milan had the prince abducted from her custody, and then divorced Nathalia (Oct 24, 1888). However, the divorce provoked a public outcry, and Milan was forced to abdicate on behalf of their son (1889).
When Alexander assumed his majority in 1893 he settled a generous pension on her, and Nathalia became reconciled with Milan. The couple remarried (March 7, 1893) and her rights and titles were restored. The couple then withdrew to reside at Biarritz in France. With the death of Milan (1901), followed by the assassination of her son Alexander and his wife Draga by Peter Karageorgevitch in June, 1903, Queen Nathalia left Serbia for good, and retired to her villa at Wiesbaden, where she resided for many years. However, the onslaught of WW II caused her to flee from Germany to Paris, where she died. She was the author of Memoires de Nathalie (1891).

Nathan, Maude – (1862 – 1946)
Jewish-American consumer and workers advocate
Originally the director of the Mount Sinai Hospital, Maude Nathan was the joint-founder of the New York Consumers’ League (1890) and was later appointed president of the organization. Maude Nathan organized unofficial factory inspections (1897), aimed at maintaining reasonable wages and conditions for ordinary employees.
The information her organization provided for the public concerning the making of their purchased product gained public sympathy for successful legislation. Maude wrote a history of the league (1926) and served as vice-president of the New York Equal Suffrage League. She left memoirs entitled Once Upon a Time and Today (1933).

Nathanson, Minnie Mazer – (1908 – 1992)
Jewish-American philanthropist
Minnie Mazer was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of Abraham Mazer, a wealthy manufacturer and attended Adelphi College. She was married to Louis Nathanson (died 1968), the prominent radiologist. With her siblings she assisted with the foundation of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine during the 1950’s.
Minnie Nathanson served on the boards of many educational and philanthropic societies and served as vice-president of the Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, and was an officer of the Council of Jewish Federations. Minnie Nathanson died (June 9, 1992) aged eighty-three, in Manhattan.

Nathusius, Marie – (1817 – 1857)
German lyric poet and novelist
Born Karoline Elisabeth Luise in Magdeburg, she was the daughter of Friedrich Scheele, a Protestant clergyman. Musically gifted, she was taught, piano, harp, and guitar. Her childhhood at Calbe and Eichendorf laid the groundwork for her collection of ten short stories Dorf und Stadtgeschichten (Village and City Stories), which were published posthumously (1858). Marie was married (1841) to the industrialist Philipp Nathusius, who encouraged her to produce the famous collection Hundert Lieder, geistlich und weltlich, ernsthaft und frohlich, in Melodien von Marie Nathusius und mit Klavierbegleitung (One Hundred Songs, Sacred and Secular, Serious and Humorous) (1856).
Madame Nathusius also wrote novels which were popularly received in their day such as Elisabeth: Eine Geschichte, die nicht mit der Heirat schliet (Elizabeth, A Novel That Does Not End with Marriage) (1858), and a travel diary Tagebuch einer Reise nach der Provence, Italien under der Schweiz (Diary of a Trip to Provence, Italy, and Switzerland) which was published posthumously. Marie Nathusius died (Dec 22, 1857) aged forty, at Neinstedt.

Nation, Carry Amelia – (1846 – 1911)
American militant temperance reformer
Born Caroline Amelia Moore in Garrard County, Kentucky, she was the daughter of a stock dealer, and was raised by Negro slaves. She received little formal education and early in life came under the influence of evangelical Christianity. Carrie deserted her first husband, Charles Gloyd, a physician, because of alcoholism, and with his death she became a schoolteacher to provide for her herself and her daughter. Her second marriage with lawyer and church minister David Nation (1877) lasted almost twenty-five years, but eventually he divorced Carry for desertion (1901).
Believing that her religious calling was to bring an end to alcohol and illicit saloons, she removed to Kansas, a state with prohibition laws (1899) and began orchestrated and violent public campaigns which were perpetrated by ‘respectable’ women brandishing hatchets and singing hymns as they destroyed property and fittings. Her attempt to extend her influence outside of Kansas resulted in periods on imprisonment and even physical attacks on her person but she persevered, and raised funds by selling her own autobiography The Use and Need of the Life of Carry Nation (1904). Her public influence is thought to have later rallied public opinion in favour of the controversial Prohibition Amendment (1919).
Carrie Nation later collapsed whilst speaking at a meeting at Eurica Springs in Arkansas, and was sent to a mental institution where she remained till her death. Carrie Nation died (June 2, 1911) aged sixty-four.

Natwick, Mildred – (1905 – 1994)
American stage and film character actress
Mildred Natwick was born (June 19, 1905) in Baltimore, Maryland, and was cousin to the cartoonist and animator Grim Natwick (1890 – 1990) the creator of ‘Betty Boop.’ She attended Bryn Mawr College where she studied the arts and appeared in several stage productions on Broadway frequently working with the director Joshua Logan (1908 – 1988). She made her movie debut as a cockney prostitute in The Long Voyage Home (1940) produced by John Ford (1895 – 1973). She appeared in several of Ford’s films including Three Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1948) and The Quiet Man (1952). She also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Trouble With Harry (1955), and as the sorceress in The Court Jester (1955).
Natwick was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her performance in Barefoot in the Park (1967) and appeared in the television films Do Not Fold Spindle or Mutilate (1971) and The Snoop Sisters (1972) for which performance she received an Emmy Award as best lead actress. She was nominated for Tony Awards for her appearances in the film The Waltz of the Toreadors (1957) and in the musical 70 Girls 70 (1972).
Her later films included Daisy Miller (1974), At Long Last Love (1975) and Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). Her last film role was as the elderly Madame de Rosemonde, the aunt of John Malkovitch in Dangerous Liasions (1988) with Glenn Close as the Marquise de Merteuil. Mildred Natwick died (Oct 25, 1994) aged eighty-nine, in New York.

Natzmer, Renate von – (1898 – 1935)
German espionage agent
Renate von Natzmer was born into an upper class family. She was employed by the military during the Third Reich, but worked secretly with the Polish agent Jerzy Sisnowski, who became her lover. Natzmer was eventually discovered and arrested, together with her friend Benita von Falkenhayn, who had also been Sisnowski’s mistress. All were found guilty of espionage and treason. The two women were condemned to be beheaded, which sentence was carried our in the Plotzensee Prison in Berlin (Feb 19, 1935).

Naubert, Christiane Benedikte Eugenie – (1756 – 1819)
German writer of fairy-tales
Christiane Hebenstreit was born in Leipzig, Saxony, the daughter of Johann Ernst Hebenstreit, a medical professor at the University of Leipzig. She received an excellent education at the hand s of her stepbrother, who was a gifted academic scholar, and she became proficient in Latin and Greek, English, and French. Her earliest written work was Heerfort und Klarchen, etwas fur empfindsame Seelen (Heerfort and Clara, Something for Sentimental Souls (1779), published in two volumes.
Christiane Hebenstreit did not marry the first time until she was over forty (1797), to a merchant of Naumburg, Lorenz Holdenreider. With his death (1801) she remarried to another merchant, Johann George Naubert. As she grew older her eyesight began to fail, as did her hearing, and her later works were dictated. Naubert was one of the most prolific German women writers of her era, and one of the earliest writers of historical fiction to write in German. Three of her nest known novels Geschichte der Grafin Thekla von Thurn, Hermann von Unna and Konradin von Schwaben, were all published in 1788. Christiane Naubert died (Jan 12, 1819) aged sixty-two, in Leipzig.

Naumburg, Countess Antonia von   see   Pototschnigg, Antonia Rosalie

Naumburg, Cecile – (1897 – 1992)
American musical philanthropist
Cecile was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended a Quaker school there. She was married firstly to Maurice Steppacher (died 1936) and secondly to George Naumburg, an investment banker, leaving children from both marriages. Mrs Naumburg served as a director of the board of Carnegie Hall and the Greenwich School of Music. With contributions from her family she caused the Naumburg bandshell in Central Park, New York, to be built and established the Naumburg Park Concerts. Cecile Naumburg died (Jan 3, 1992) aged ninety-four.

Navailles, Suzanne de Baudean de Neuillan, Duchesse de – (1626 – 1700)
French courtier
A prominent figure at the court of Louis XIV at Versailles, Suzanne de Baudean was the daughter of Charles de Baudean, Comte de Neuillan, and was married (1651) to Philippe II de Montault (1619 – 1684), Duc de Navailles. The duchess served as the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Therese. She survived her husband as Dowager Duchesse de Navailles (1684 – 1700). Her eldest daughter Charlotte Francoise Radegonde de Montault de Navailles (1652 – 1696) became abbess of Sainte-Croix, at Poitiers in Aquitaine. The Duchesse de Navailles died (Feb 15, 1700) aged seventy-three.

Navarra de la Carra, Jeronima de – (c1535 – 1579)
Spanish grandee
Jeronima de Navarra was the only child and heiress of Pedro III de Navarra and his wife Ladrona Enriquez de la Carra, the daughter of Juan Enriquez de la Carra, senor de Ablitas. Through her father she was a descendant of Charles II d’Evreux, king of Navarre (1343 – 1387) and his mistress Catalina de Lizaso. Jeronima’s only brother Pedro de Navarra, an illegitimate offshoot, died childless and she was the last legitimate heiress of the dynasty.
With her father’s death at Toledo, Jeronima succeeded as second Marquesa de Cortez and seventh Viscondesa de Muzarabal (1566 – 1579). She was married twice, firstly (1554) to Juan de Benavides (died 1563), and secondly (1565) to Martin Fernandez de Cordoba.

Navarro, Mary – (1859 – 1940)
American silent film actress
Born Mary Antoinette Anderson in Sacramento, California, she was an experienced stage actress, before making the transition to silent films, where she played motherly characters. Mary played Mrs Gray in the film Bridge and, Ruth in The Night Before Christmas (both 1912). She also appeared in The Days of Terror produced the same year.
Other film credits included Cinderella’s Slipper (1913), Aunt Becky in Hearts of Oak (1914) and the title role in Mrs Dane’s Defense (1918). Her last role before she retired from the screen was as Kate Simpson in the 1918 film Eve’s Daughter. Mary Navarro died (May 29, 1940) at Court Farm, Broadway, Worcestershire, England.

Navarro de Gunvara, Maria Anna – (1565 – 1624)
Spanish nun and saint
Maria Anna Navarro de Gunvara was the daughter of Luis Navarra de Gunvara, an official of the royal court in Madrid, and his wife Juana Romero. Her father and stepmother wished her to marry, but Maria Anna consistently refused. All her efforts to enter a convent were thwarted, either by her parents, or through fear of offending her powerful father. Finally, when aged over forty (1607), her father finally permitted her to join the order of St Maria de Mercede for the redemption of Captives. She took final vows in 1614. Revered as a saint (April 17) at her death, she was beatified by Pope Pius VI (1783).

Navida – (d. c303 AD)
Graeco-Roman Christian martyr and saint
Navida was arrested in Africa during the persecutions organized by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian Daia. She refused to abjure her faith and sacrifice to the pagan gods, and was condemned and executed. Her feast (May 7) was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum.

Navon, Ofira – (1935 – 1993)
Israeli First Lady (1978 – 1983)
The wife of President Yitzhak Navon, Ofira was born in Palestine to Ashkenazim Jews from Eastern Europe. She was trained and educated as a psychologist and studied successfully at the American universotities of Georgia and Columbia. She was the first Israeli born wife to a Jewish head President, and they were widely seen as public symbols of the new Israeli state.
Criticized by the Israeli media for her outspoken views, Mrs Navon retreated from political life and devoted herself to volunteer work as an important activist for the rights of children and the disabled. She joined forces with the Egyptian First Lady, Jihan el-Sadat developing projects to help with the rehabilitation of wounded Israeli soldiers and wanted to negotiate an international treaty that would create a system of protected shelters for children of any race who became innocently engulfed in wars. Madame Navon suffered from breast cancer (1979) and later died (Aug 22, 1993) of leukaemia, aged fifty-seven, in Jerusalem.

Nawab Bai – (c1630 – 1691)
Indian Mughal queen consort
Nawab Bai was the daughter of Raja Raju of Rajauri in Kashmir, and was originally called Rahmat-un-Nissa. Rumours of her great beauty caused the Emperor Shajahan to demand Nawab as a wife for his son, the future Emperor Aurangzeb (1621 – 1707), to whom she bore several sons. Nawab Bai was the mother of the emperor Bahadur Shah I, but she was quickly replaced in her husband’s affections by other wives and concubines.

Nayar, Shushila – (1914 – 2001)
Indian physician and politican
Shushila Nayar was born at Kunjah in Gurjurat, Pakistan. Educated at the Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi and at Lahore, she then travelled to the USA for futher medical studies at John Hopkins University before returning to India, where she became one of the physicians attendant upon Mahatma Gandhi and his wife at his ashram at Sevagram. Shushila Nayar suffered imprisonment for her involvement with the Independence movement, and was in attendance during Gandhi’s famous three week fast (Feb, 1943).
With the achievement of independence (1947) she became more closely involved with politics and served as minister of Health, Rehabilitation and Transport for Delhi and was speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly (1952 – 1956) before being elected a member of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha (1957). Nayar later served a five year term as the minister for Health (1962 – 1967) but finally lost her seat in parliament (1971). With her retirement she worked at the Kasturba Hospital in New Delhi, and also returned to the ashram at Sevagram where she worked as a professor of preventive and social medicine at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Medical Sciences.

Naylor, Ethel Richman – (1875 – 1950)
Australian feminist
Ethel Wilson was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the daughter of Alexander McKenzie Wilson. She received her raining as a nurse in Adelaide, and later became the wife of Henry Darnley (1916). Becoming involved with the suffrage movement and rights for women in general, Ethel Naylor was elected president of the National Council of Women. She also served with the League of Nations Union and was elected as the official delegate for South Australia at the Geneva Conference (1921). Naylor spent twenty years in England before returning to reside in Adelaide. Ethel Richman Naylor died (Oct 30, 1950) aged seventy-five, in Adelaide.

Nazareth, Beatrijs van     see     Beatrice of Nazareth

Nazareva, Kapitolina Valerianovna – (1847 – 1900)
Russian fiction author and dramatist
Kapitolina Nazareva published many stories and sketches in several prominent St Petersburg magazines. She wrote almost twenty novels including the crime work In the Grip of Poverty (1885). Her work was very successful, and some were performed with success on stage in St Petersburg prior to her death.

Nazimova, Alla – (1879 – 1945)
Russian actress
Born Alla Leventon at Yalta, in the Crimea, she studied acting at the Moscow Academy, and under Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre, making her stage debut in St Petersburg (1904). Adopting the professional surname of Nazimova, she quickly established herself as a popular and talented leading lady. She was married firstly to fellow Russian actor Paul Orleneff, and secondly to director Charles Bryant. Nazimova toured Europe and America, where she appeared in New York as Hedda Gabbler in Ibsen’s play. The Nazimova theatre in 39th Street was named for her, and she opned it with a performance of Ibsen’s Little Eyolf (1910).
From 1916 she appeared in several silent films such as War Brides (1916), The Red Lantern (1919), Madame Peacock (1920), A Doll’s House (1922) and Madonna of the Streets (1924). However, her best remembered performance was in the title role of Salome (1923), the costumes for which were based upon the illustrations made by Aubrey Beardsley (1872 – 1898) for Oscar Wilde’s original play.
Alla Nazimova later became an American citizen (1927) and continued her career on the stage, and in films, appearing in films such as, Escape (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944) and Since You Went Away (1945).

Nazli – (1894 – 1978)
Queen consort of Egypt
Nazli Sabri was born in Alexandria, the daughter of Abdul Rahim Sabri Pasha, governor of Cairo, and his wife Tewfika, the daughter of Muhammed Sherif Pasha, the Prime Minister of Egypt. Nazli was married (1919) to King Fouad I (1868 – 1936) as his second wife, becoming the mother of King Farouk I (1920 – 1965) and of four daughters. Her eldest daughter Fawzia (born 1921) married successively Muhammed Reza Pahlavi (1919 – 1980) (later Shah of Iran) from whom she was divorced, and Ismail Shirim Bey (born 1919).
With her husband’s death, her son Farouk ruled under a regency council, which excluded the queen mother until he came of age in 1937. That same year Queen Nazli secretly remarried to Sir Ahmad Muhammed Hasanein Pasha (1889 – 1946), her own chamberlain, and chief of the Royal Cabinet. Farouk is said to have ordered the marriage kept secret, and after Hasanein’s death in a car accident (Feb, 1946), he ordered all evidence of the marriage to be destroyed. Queen Nazli left Egypt after her second widowhood, and settled in America. In 1950 her son deprived her of her rank, privileges, and property for permitting the marriage of her youngest daughter Fathia to a Coptic Christian, asserting that she had become mentally unbalanced. The queen mother later adopted Christianity herself, and was baptized in the Roman Catholic faith taking the names of Mary Elizabeth. The queen mother was living with her youngest daughter in Los Angeles, California, when the latter was murdered by her own husband (Dec, 1976). Queen Nazli died (May 29, 1978) in Los Angeles.

Nazzarei, Matthia de – (c1233 – 1300)
Italian virgin saint
Matthia de Nazzarei was born at Matelica, in Ancona, the daughter of Conte Gentile de Nazzarei. Having a strong religious vocation, she offered herself as a nun to the abbess if Santa Maria Maddalena, but this lady was kin to her father, and refused to receive her as a postulant without his permission. The count reluctantly gave Matthia his permission to pursue her vocation, and she became a nun at the Poor Clare convent of Santa Maria Maddalena at Matelica.
Matthia was later elected abbess (1260) and served for forty years in that office. Matthia de Nazzarei died (Dec 28, 1300) at Matelica. Miracles were reported from her tomb, and when repairs for the tomb to be inspected by the Bishop of Camerino (1756) her body was found still preserved. She was later declared venerable (1765).

Neagle, Dame Anna – (1904 – 1986)
British actress
Born Marjorie Robertson in London, she was descended from Charles George Tranter and his wife Lucy Beaufoy Tranter, the illegitimate daughter of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, and granddaughter of King George III, by Miss Tranter of Windsor. She studied dance and acting during childhood, and became a chorus girl as a teenager. She made her film debut in Should A Doctor Tell ? (1930). She married the director Herbert Wilcox.
Anna Neagle was especially remembered for her roles in historical dramas such as Victoria, the Great (1937) with Anton Walbrook, Nurse Edith Cavell (1939), Odette (1950) the life of French espionage agent and Nazi prisoner Odette Hallowes, and The Lady With the Lamp (1951) a film of the career of Florence Nightingale. Her last film was The Lady is a Square (1958).
Anna Neagle was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1969) in recognition of her contribution to the theatre. Dame Anna left two volumes of autobiography It’s Been Fun (1949) and There’s Always Tomorrow (1974). Dame Anna Neagle died (June 3, 1986).

Neale, Mary    see   Paisley, Mary

Neame, Lady     see    Desmond, Astra

Neave, Dorina Lockhart Clifton, Lady – (1879 – 1955)
British writer, diplomatic figure and memoirist
Dorina Clifton was the daughter of George Henry Clifton, of Nottingham. Dorina was married (1908) to Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Thomas Lewis Hughes Neave (1874 – 1940), fifth baronet, to whom she bore four children including Sir Thomas Neave (born 1916), who succeeded his father as sixth baronet, and Renee, Lady Williams-Bulkeley (born 1913). Lady Neave published several works 26 Years on the Bosphorus, her own personal recollections of diplomatic wife over three decades, Remembering Kit (1937) and Romance of the Bosphorus (1950). Lady Neave died (Dec 26, 1955) aged seventy-six.

Neave, Gwyn Gertrude Hughes, Lady – (1845 – 1916)
British Victorian heiress
Gwyn Hughes was the younger daughter of William Lewis Hughes (1767 – 1852), first Baron Dinorben and his second wife Gertrude Smyth, the daughter of Grice Blakeney Smyth of Ballynatray, County Waterford. She became the wife (1871) of Sir Arundel Neave (1829 – 1877), fourth baronet, and bore him three children.
Her half-brother William Hughes, second Baron Dinorben died childless shortly after her father’s death in 1852, leaving Gwyn and her elder sister Emily Hughes (born 1818) as his coheirs. Emily Hughes was declared of unsound mind and Gwyn became the heiress of her father’s large fortune. She survived her husband almost four decades as the Dowager Lady Neave (1877 – 1916). Lady Neave died (Sept 30, 1916). Her children were,

• Mary Gertrude Catherine Neave (1872 – 1951). She died unmarried.
• Sir Thomas Lewis Hugh Neave (1874 – 1940). He succeeded his father as fifth baronet (1877 – 1950) and left issue.
• Major Arundell Neave (1875 – 1915). He became an officer with the 16th Lancers and served in the South African War (1900 – 1902) and in WW I being killed in action.

Nebetnehat – (fl. c1370 – c1340 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Identified as a mmember of the mid XVIIIth Dynasty (1491 – 1348 BC), the identity of Nebetnehat’s husband remains unknown. She was perhaps the wife of King Amenhotep III. Her name was found enclosed on a cartouche found on fragments of canopic jars in the Valley of the Queens, together with the title of ‘King’s Great Wife.’

Nebettawy (Neb-tawya) – (c1265 – c1215 BC)
Queen consort of Egypt
Nebettawy was the last official queen consort of King Ramesses II (c1305 – 1213 BC). She was of royal birth, and was perhap’s Ramesses’s daughter by his second chief queen, Isetneferet I. Nebettawy was married to her father not long after the death of Queen Isetneferet (c1244 BC) and accorded the queenly title. With the death of her half-sister, Queen Meryetamun (c1225 BC), Nebettawy became chief queen, a prominence she appears to have retained until her death. There is no record of her surviving into the reign of her brother Merneptah, and she possibly predeceased Ramesses, being interred in a tomb prepared for her in the Valley of the Queens.

Nebtyemneperes – (fl. c2300 BC)
Egyptian princess
Identified as a member of the Vth Dynasty (2392 – 2282 BC), she was the daughter of King Isesi, the second last ruler of that dynasty. Nebtyemneperes was probably no relation to King Unas, the last ruler. Her tomb was discovered and excavated at Abusir, where surviving inscriptions gave her the title of ‘King’s Daughter.’

Nebtyunubkhet Sesheshet – (fl. c2280 BC)
Egyptian princess
Princess Nebtyunubkhet Sesheshet was the daughter of King Teti, the first ruler of the VIth Dynasty (2282 – 2117 BC). She was half-sister to pharoahs Userkare and Pepi I. She became the wife of the vizier Kagmeni, who served her father and was buried near the king at Saqqara. The princess was depicted on surviving reliefs in her husband’s tomb, which gave her the title of ‘King’s Daughter of his Body.’

Nebwenet – (fl. c2200 BC)
Egptian queen consort
Queen Nebwenet was one of the lesser wives of King Pepi I, the long-lived third pharoah of the VIth Dynasty (2282 – 2117 BC). The queen was interred in her won pyramid, situated next to that of her husband. Surviving reliefs gave her the titles of ‘King’s Wife.’

Necker, Albertine Adrienne de    see    Saussure Necker, Albertine Adrienne de

Necker, Suzanne – (1737 – 1794)
Swiss writer and salonniere
Suzanne Curchod was born at Crassier, in the Vaud, the daughter of a Protestant minister, Louis Antoine Curchod, who conducted her education. With her father’s death (1760) Suzanne went to Paris where she was emploed as a lady’s companion until she married (1764) the wealthy Swiss banker, Joseph Necker. They became the parents of the famous Anne Louise Germaine Necker, better known as Madame de Stael.
Madame Necker’s salon in Paris was frequented by the philosophes and Encylopaedists, and she herself oversaw her daughter’s education. She studied medicine in French hospitals and reorganized an old convent in the rue de Sevres, as a public hospital. Madame Necker was the author of Melanges extraits des manuscrits (Various Extracts from Manuscripts) (1798) and Nouveaux Melanges (Further Extracts) (1801), which were published posthumously. Suzanne Necker died (May, 1794) aged fifty-six, at Lausanne.

Nedjeftet – (fl. c2800 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Queen Nedjeftet is known solely from three limestone blocks which were found near the pyramid of Queen Inenek-Inti, the wife of King Pepi I of the VIth Dynasty (2282 – 2117 BC), though her place within the dynastic genealogy remains unknown. Surviving inscriptions give her the title of ‘King’s Wife.’

Nedosinska, Antonie – (1885 – 1950)
Hungarian film actress
Nedosinska was born (June 26, 1885) in Prague, Bohemia. She was best known for her appearances in Do pansketio stavv (1925) and Nebe a dudy (1941). Antonie Nedosinska died (July 17, 1950) aged sixty-five, at Poderady in Czechoslavakia.

Nedreaas, Torborg – (1906 – 1987)
Norwegian novelist and critic
Nedreaas was born in Bergen, of Jewish antecedents. She turned to writing later in life, having been a fervent feminist during her early career. Her works included Ved neste nymane (At the Next New Moon) (1971) and the collection of stories entitled Stoppested (Stopping Place) (1953). Torborg Nedreaas died (June 30, 1987) aged eighty.

Needham, Dorothy Mary – (1896 – 1987)
British biochemist and research worker
Born Dorothy Moyle (Sept 22, 1896) in London she was educated at Girton College, Cambridge. She was married (1924) to fellow biochemist, Joseph Needham. Dorothy Needham was involved with extensive research concerning the physiology and chemistry of the muscle, and wrote several works concerning the metabolism of tissue muscle, and concerning the history of biochemistry. She remained at the Biochemical Laboratory at Girton College for over four decades (1920 – 1963) and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society (1948). Dorothy Needham died (Dec 22, 1987) aged ninety-one.

Needham, Yootha Joyce   see   Joyce, Yootha

Neera – (1846 – 1918)
Italian novelist
Born Anna Radius Zuccari, in Milan, Lombardy, she lost her mother early in life. She later married Adolfo Radius, and began writing about, and analysing the psychology behind feminine states of mind. She adopted the pseudonym Neera under which all her works were published. Her best work is generally considered to be the novel Teresa (1886), which deals with the unhappy lot of an unmarried daughter in a misogynistic household. Her later work Le idee di una donna (One Woman’s Ideas) (1903) praised the value of maternity above all others inherent in women. Neera died (July 9, 1918) aged seventy-two, in Milan.

Nefehetepes – (fl. c2350 BC)
Egyptian princess
Nefehetepes was the daughter of an unknown pharoah of the first half of the VIth Dynasty (2392 – 2282 BC). Princess Nefehetepes was interred at Giza, where surviving inscriptions gave her the title of ‘King’s Daughter of his Body.’

Neferetiabet – (fl. c2500 BC)
Egyptian princess
Neferetiabet was perhaps the daughter Seneferu (Snofru) the first pharoah of the IVth Dynasty (2520 – 2392 BC). Her tomb was disocvered and excavated at Giza, and surviving reliefs accorded her the title of ‘King’s Daughter.’ A slab stela was recovered and preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris, whilst a statuette from her tomb was preserved in Munich, Bavaria.

Neferneferure-tasherit – (fl. c1340 – c1315 BC)
Sumerian queen of Ugarit
Neferneferure-tasherit was the daughter of Tuthankhamun, King of Egypt, and his wife and half-sister, Ankhesenamun, the daughter of Amenhotep IV ‘Akhenaten’ and his wife, the famous Nefertiti. By the marriage of her maternal aunt, Mutnodjmet I with Pharoah Horemheb, this princess, one of the few survivors of her immediate family, became great-niece to the new king.
Her marriage with Niqmat, king of Ugarit may have been celebrated around the time of Horemheb’s victory in Syria (c1315 BC), in order to bind this former Egyptian overlordship back to the royal house, this province having been lost to Egypt through the inaction of Akhenaten three decades earlier. Queen Neferneferure-tasherit was possibly the mother of King Ar-Khalba, who led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Hittites, who cuaed him to be deposed, and replaced on the throne by his brother, Niqmepa.

Nefertari         see       Nefretiri

Nefertiti – (c1381 – c1346 BC) 
Queen of Egypt
Nefertiti may have the daughter of a king of the Mitanni, an ally of Egypt, or she may have been the daughter of chancellor Ay, who became pharoah in old age, and his wife, Tey. She was the elder sister of Mutnodjmet I. Nefertiti, whose name means ‘the beautiful one who has come,’ was married firstly to Amenhotep III, as a secondary wife (c1367 BC).
With his death a few years later she passed into the harem of his son and heir, Amenhotep IV, better known as ‘Akhenaten.’ She became his chief wife, and presented him with six daughters. Nefertiti ruled in close association with her husband, which fact is borne out by surviving reliefs from the temple of Aten at Karnak, and from tomb scenes recovered from the former city of El Amarna.
Nefertiti shared her husband’s plans to force the adoption of the worship of the sun disc, the Aten, and removing the capital of Egypt from Thebes to El Amarna, but the appeal of this cult was only really to the royal family and their court, and was not appreciated by the rest of the population, who clung to the old religion. With Akhenaten’s death, she appears to have shared power with her son-in-law, Smenkhare, and was alive at the time of her stepson, Tuthankhamun’s accession. She was probably removed from power, possibly murdered during a palace intrigue soon after this. Some modern Egyptologists believe that Nefertiti ruled as pharoah, taking the name of Smenkhare after her husband's death.
Queen Nefertiti has been immortalized around the world in the form of the beautiful scultured head which was recovered from Amarna (1912) by Ludwig Borchardt, and is now preserved in the Agyptisches Museum in Berlin, Germany.
Nefertiti was portrayed on the screen by actress Anitra Stevens in the film The Egyptian (1954) with Edmund Purdom in the title role and Michael Wilding as Akhenaten. Her life was the subject of the television movie Nefertiti Revealed (2003), produced for the Discovery Channel, and which dealt with the work of British Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, who believes that Nefertiti and Smenkhare were identical.

Neferu I (Nefru) – (fl. c2160 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Neferu I was the wife of King Mentuhotep I, the first ruler of the XIth Dynasty (2160 – 1994 BC). She was the stepmother of King Inyotef I, and was the mother of his half-brother and successor, King Inyotef II. Several surviving stelaes, including that of Tjetji, preserved in the British Museum, and Djari, preserved in the Cairo Museum, style King Inyotef as ‘born of Neferu.’

Neferu II (Nefru) – (fl. c2100 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Neferu II was the daughter of King Inyotef III and of his sister wife, Queen Iah, who were both the children of Inyotef II. She was the great-granddaughter of Queen Neferu I. Neferu II became the chief queen of her brother, Mentuhotep II. Neferu possessed a separate rock-tomb in the forecourt of her husband’s pyramid at Der-el-Bahri on the Nile. A surviving relief fragment from the tomb chapel at Der-el-Bahri portrays the queen having her coiffure arranged, and accorded her the titles of ‘King’s Wife,’ and ‘King’s Daughter.’

Neferu III (Nefru) – (fl. c1994 – c1970 BC) 
Egyptian queen consort
Neferu III was the daughter of Amenemhat I, the first pharoah of the XIIthe Dynasty (1994 – 1781 BC). She became the principal wife of her half-brother, King Senwosret I, and was the mother of his successor, King Amenemhat III, who was later raised as co-ruler with his father, and of several of his sisters. Queen Nefru’s tomb was one of the smaller pyramids belonging to female members of the royal family uncovered near the tombs of Senwusret I and Amenemhet III at Lisht.
Inscriptions found in the easternmost of these smaller pyramids were identified as belonging to Queen Nefru and a princess Itakyt, who was most probably her daughter. Neferu’s pyramid possessed its own miniature mortuary temple, offerring chapel, and enclosure wall, though there is some evidence that she may have actually been interred as Dashur. She bore the titles of ‘King’s Daughter,’ ‘King’s Wife,’ and ‘King’s Mother.’

Neff, Hildegard – (1925 – 2002)
German actress
Hildegard Neff was born in Ulm and studied painting in Berlin. She was originally employed as a cartoonist before beginning a career in the theatre, which led to appearances in German films. Neff was later brought to Hollywood by producer David Selznick (1902 – 1965) and appeared in several movies such as Film Without Title (1947), The Sinner (1950) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) with Ava Gardner.
During the 1960’s Neff returned one again to Europe where she embarked upon a new and successful career as a cabaret performer. Hildegard Neff still made appearances in films such as Landru (1963), Mozambique(1965), Fedora (1978) and Witchery (1988), and wrote two volumes of autobiography entitled The Gift Horse (1971) and The Verdict (1975).

Neff, Pauline – (1885 – 1951)
American actress
Neff was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and appearded in several minor film roles before her retirement (1930). Pauline Neff’s film credits included roles in silent films, such as Clementina Fitzhew in The Man from Mexico (1914), Lady De Bohun in Let Not Man Put Asunder (1924), Mrs Van Tuyler in Her Husband’s Secret (1925), and Mrs Bolland in Ranson’s Folly (1926).
With the evolvement of sound, Neff made everal early talkie films such as The Claw (1927), Two Girls Wanted (1927) and her last film Ladies Must Play (1930). Pauline Neff died (July 3, 1951) aged sixty-four, in Los Angeles, California.

Nefissa – (1886 – 1958)
Queen consort of the Hijaz in Iraq (1924 – 1925)
Nefissa was born in Constantinople, the second daughter of Abd al-Ilah Pasha (died 1908), Sharif of Mecca and of a Caucasian mother. She was married (1905) in Constantinople to Prince Ali of the Hijaz (1879 – 1935) who succeeded as king in 1924 and abdicated the following year. The former king died a decade later in Baghdad (Feb 14, 1935) when she became the Dowager Queen of the Hijaz (1935 – 1958).
The elderly queen mother was assassinated (July 14, 1958) in Baghdad, along with other members of the royal family including King Faisal II, her son Abd al-Ilah (born 1914), the Regent and Crown Prince of Iraq, and her eldest daughter Abdiya (born 1906). Her three remaining daughters were Princess Aliyah (1911 – 1950), the wife of Ghazi I, King of Iraq, Princess Badia (born 1919), the wife of Sharif Husain ibn Ali, and Princess Jalila (1922 – 1955), the wife of Sharif Hazim ibn Salim.

Nefretiri – (c1305 – c1254 BC)
Queen consort of Egypt
Nefretiri was of unidentifed royal birth, possibly connected to the family of King Ay, and was married (c1290 BC) to Ramesses II (c1305 – 1213 BC) as his first chief queen, being the mother of his eldest son and heir, Amenhirkhopshef, who was appointed general-in-chief of the military forces before his death (1261 BC). Her figure was portrayed with that of Ramesses, in the scenes carved on the rear of the new pylon of Luxor temple, and on the granite statues placed by the king’s orders in the new forecourt. She was also depicted in reliefs at Karnak, where Nefretiri shared the temple in the Ramesseum with her mother-in-law, Queen Tuya, the widow of Seti I. The temple built for the goddess Hathor at Abu-Simbel was dedicated to her.
During the celebrations held to announce peace with the Hittites, Nefretiri sent reciprocal greetings to the Hittite queen, Pudu-kepa. With their daughter Meryetamun, she accompanied ramesses to the dedication of the temples at Abu-Simbel (1255 BC), and the royal viceroy, Heqanakht, to celebrate the occasion, commissioned reliefs on a rock-steale which portrays Ramesses worshipping the gods with his daughter, whilst Heqanakht saluted the enthroned Queen Nefretiri with offerrings. She did not long survive this event, and was interred in the Valley of the Queens. All her sons died before their father, and the succession passed to the sons of Ramesses’ secondary queen, Isetneferet I. Nefretiri was portrayed by Anne Baxter in the Cecil B. De Mille film The Ten Commandments (1956) with Yul Brynner as Ramesses.

Nefru     see    Neferu

Nefru-Sobek       see       Sobkneferu

Negri, Ada – (1870 – 1945)
Italian poet
Negri was born at Lodi, and was trained to be a schoolteacher. Her earliest work was a collection of verse with strong humanitarian themes Fatalita (Destiny) (1892). She wrote nine more volumes of poetry and several prose works. Negri won several prestigious literary awards, and was appointed a member of the Accademia d’Italia. Ada Negri died in Milan, Lombardy.

Negri, Pola – (1894 – 1987)
Polish actress
Pola Negri was born Barbara Appollonia Chalupec in Janowa. She was employed as a dancer and a violinist before she first made her debut on the stage in Warsaw (1913). She appeared in German films nder the direction of Ernst Lubitsch (1892 – 1947) and went to the USA in the 1920’s, where she quickly established herself as a vampish, leading lady in silent films.
Negri was famous for her liasion with Rudolph Valentino, with whom she starred opposite in Forbiddeen Paradise (1924), and she attended his funeral (1926) dressed entirely in black, attended by a physician and nurse, dressed entirely in white. Her marriage with the Georgian prince Sergei Mdivani (1903 – 1936) ended in divorce and during the 1930’s she returned to Europe, where her name was scandalously linked with Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.
Pola Negri resettled in America, where she returned to films briefly appearing in The Moonspinners (1964), and wrote her autobiography Memoirs of a Star (1970). Some of her silent film credits included Madame du Barry (1918), The Flame (1920), Bella Donna (1923) and Three Sinners (1928).

Negrone, Barbara – (c1537 – c1590) 
Corsican heiress
Barbara de Mare was the daughter and heiress of Giacomo II del Mare, seigneur of Cap Corse, who was killed in 1584, and she was married firstly to Jacques Negrone. There ensued much wrangling over the fief of Cap Corse, and Negrone was made a prisoner of the Genoese, who dismantled the fiefs of San Columbino and Canari. Following a truce with Genoa (1555), Barbara and Jacques recovered San Columbino.
Later, Barbara had two of her own lieutenants killed by Agostino Ornitola, who, in turn, nearly caused her own death. Barbara was remarried to Piero Negrone, and at her death, she left the Cap Corse to her daughter Lydia, the child of her second marriage, who became the wife of Gaspard Gentile de Brando.

Negron Munoz, Mercedes – (1895 – 1973)
Cuban poet
Mercedes was born (March 8, 1895) in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico into a wealthy family, daughter of the poet Quentin Negron, and was niece to the noted statesman Luis Munoz Rivera. She studied literature at the University of Puerto Rico. She was best known for the poem ‘Arras de cristal’ (Cracked Glass) (1937) which was published using the pseudonym ‘Clara Lair.’ She published several collections of verse such as Tropico Amargo (Sour Tropic) (1950), which received an award from the Institute of Puerto Rican Literature, and Poesias (Poems) (1961). Mercedes Negron Munoz died (Aug 26, 1973) aged seventy-eight. She was the subject of the documentary entitled A Passion Named Clara Lair (1996) produced by Ivonne Belen.

Negusanti, Roxana    see    Umilta of Faenza

Nehru, Kamla – (1899 – 1936)
Indian social reformer
Kamla was born (Aug 1, 1899) the daughter of Jawahar Mal Kaul. She was married (1916) to Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister. She was the mother of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Kamla was closely associated with the freedom struggle organized by her husband and worked hard pioneering the course for the emancipation of Indian women. She later contracted tuberculosis and was taken to Europe for treatment. Kamla Nehru died (March 1, 1936) aged thorty-six, at Geneva, Switzerland.

Nehushta – (c635 – after 597 BC)
Hebrew queen consort of Judah
Nehushta was the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. She became the wife of King Jehoiakim (c634 – 597 BC) and the mother of Keing Jehoiachin (c616 – after 559 BC). The Bible records these details (Kings II: 24: 8). Her name may allude to her complexion, and she was married to Jehoiakim shortly before his accession to the throne (c616 BC).
With the death of her husband Queen Nehushta played a prominent role at her young son’s court as queen mother. With the successful siege of Jerusalem by the forces of Nebuchnezzar, king of Babylon (597 BC), the queen mother, her son, daughters-in-law, and other princes, members of prominent families, and servants promptly surrendered themselves to the Babylonian conqueror. All were taken captive to Babylon, where Nehushta later died.

Neilson, Adelaide (Lilian Adelaide) – (1846 – 1880) 
British Shakespearean actress
Born Elizabeth Ann Brown in Leeds, Yorkshire, she was the daughter of a travelling actor. She attended the parish school in Guiseley and worked there also as a mill-hand. Adopting the name of Lizzie Ann Bland she went to London where she obtained work as a barmaid in the Haymarket area. She then attracted attention with her declamations from the works of William Shakespeare and finally adopted the named Lilian Adelaide Neilson, which she retained.
Neilson made her first noteworthy stage appearance at the Royalty Theatre (1865) in the role of Juliet, and made an impression on the serious critics. As well as Shakespeare Neilson declaimed from the works of Sir Walter Scott, and achieved considerable success as Amy Robsart from Kenilworth and as Rebecca from Ivanhoe (1870 – 1871). Between 1872 and 1880 Neilson made five successful tours of the USA. She returned ill and travelled to France. Adelaide Neilson died aged thirty-three, in Paris.

Neilson, Julia Emilie – (1868 – 1957) 
British actress
Julia Neilson was born in London, trained at the Royal Academy of Music. She made her stage debut at the Lyceum theatre (1888), where she played Cynisca to Mary Anderson’s Galatea in W.S. Gilbert’s Pygmalion and Galatea. She then played the same role in Lewis Waller’s version of Pygmalion at the Savoy Theatre. Neilson later joined the Beerbohm Tree company for five years, and was married (1891) to Fred Terry (1863 – 1933), brother of famous actress, Dame Ellen Terry.
Neilson appeared as Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband (1895) at the Criterion, and toured the USA with John Hare (1895 – 1896), where she played Agnes in The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith, written by Pinero. After her return to England she appeared as Princess Flavia in George Alexander’s Prisoner of Zenda and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
From 1900 she worked in conjunction with her husband and they appeared together in such popular dramas as Sweet Nell of Old Drury, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Henry of Navarre. The couple toured togther until 1929. Neilson celebrated her stage jubilee in 1938. Julia Neilson published her memoirs This for Remembrance (1940) and was the mother of actors, Dennis Neilson-Terry (1895 – 1932) and Phyllis Neilson-Terry (1892 – 1977).

Neilson, Lucy – (1843 – 1913)
American diarist
Born Eliza Lucy Irion, near Bolivar, Tennessee, with her mother’s death she removed with her family to Columbus in Mississippi (1846) where she attended the Columbus Female Institute. Lucy finished her education at the Corona College in Corinth, Mississippi (1858 – 1860) and was married in 1871.
Mrs Neilson had kept a diary for a period of forty years (1843 – 1883), and her grandchildren edited the portion covering the period (1860 – 1865) for publication as Lucy’s Journal (1967). Lucy Neilson died (Nov 17, 1913) aged seventy, in Columbus, Tennessee.

Neishi – (1292 – 1357)
Japanese empress consort
Saijonji Neishi was the daughter of the nobleman Sainoji Kinhara. She was married (1306) to the Emperor Go-Fushimi (1285 – 1336) whom she survived for two decades as Empress Dowager (1336 – 1357). Empress Neishi left two sons Prince Kazuhito (1313 – 1364) who became the rival emperor in the north as Kogon (1331 – 1333), and Prince Toyohito (1321 – 1380).

Neithhotep – (fl. c3060 BC) 
Queen of Egypt
Neithhotep was the wife of King Narmer (Menes) of the Ist Dynasty to whom she brought his claim to the throne. She is believed to have been a princess of the Delta region, and was perhaps the first queen consort of the dynasty. Her enormous tomb was discovered at Nagada by the noted Egyptologist, J. De Morgan (1896).
Her tomb contained objects bearing the names of Hor-Aha and of his predecessor, Narmer, and evidence suggests that her son Hor-Aha had, through Neithhotep, a strong right to claim the throne of a united Egypt. The so called ‘Narmer’ mace-head may depict the marriage of this lady, a hereditary princess of the north, with Narmer, conqueror of the Two Lands. One of her seals bore the symbol of Lower Egypt beside her name, enclosed in a serekh, and she used the symbol of Neith, the warrior goddess of Lower Egypt.
Her son was probably responsible for her burial, and it was most probably he who ordered the contruction of a temple to the goddess Neith at Sais, in honour of his mother, her namesake.

Neitschitz, Magdalena Sybilla von – (1673 – 1694) 
Saxon courtier
Magdalena von Neitschitz was the daughter of a colonel of the Royal Guards at the court of Dresden. Proud of her daughter’s voluptuous blonde beauty, and ambitious for her future, Madame Neitschitz arranged for her daughter to attract the attention of the elector of Saxony, John George IV (1668 – 1694). The elector became infatuated with Magdalena and desired to marry her, but in 1691 his council forced him to make a dynastic marriage with the widowed Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, in order to please the Prussian court.
Despite this, Magdalena was secreted in the elector’s household at Leipzig, and even shared his bed on his wedding night. The new electress was ignored and Magdalena was treated as the first lady of the court, being created countess von Rochlitz (1693). The elector then devised a plan by which he might be able to marry his mistress polygamously, but the idea was indignantly rejected by the royal council. Magdalena died suddenly (April 16, 1694) after suffering an attack of smallpox. Her royal lover, in his despair, never left her bedside, caught the disease, and died himself eleven days later. Madamoiselle Neitschitz appears as a character in the historical romance Queen in Waiting (1967) by novelist Jean Plaidy.

Nel, Elizabeth – (1917 – 2007)
British war secretary and memoirist
Born Elizabeth Shakespear Layton (June 14, 1917) at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, she later went to Canada and was married to a African soldier, Francis Nel, to whom she bore three children. With her family she later returned to England where Elizabeth Nel as she became served as personal secretary to prime minister Winston Churchill (1941 – 1945). She published her personal diary and reminiscences of the war years Winston Churchill by His Personal Secretary Elizabeth Nel (1958). Elizabeth Nel died (Oct 30, 2007) aged ninety.

Nelidova, Catherine – (1758 – 1839)
Russian writer and courtier
Catherine Nelidova was of noble antecedents and was appointed to attend the Grand Duchess Natalia Alexandrovna, the first wife of the future Tsar Paul I, as a lady-in-waiting. She retained this position under his second wife Maria Feodorovna, and became a close friend to the imperial couple. Catherine obtained considerable influence over the unstable tsar, but was probably never his mistress. It was due to her intercession that Paul refrained from banishing the empress to the Kholmogory Fortress. Eventually she was replaced in the tsar’s affections by Anna Lopukhina. After Paul’s death (1801) Catherine remained in St Petersburg and was till her death counted as a friend of the Romanov family.

Nelken i Mausberger, Margarita – (1896 – 1968) 
Spanish writer
Margarita Nelken became an influential feminist during the Second Republic, but with the end of the Spanish Civil War she went into exile. Nelken was best known as the author of several essays La condicion de la mujer en Espana (The Condition of Women in Spain) (1922) and Las escoritas espanolas (Spanish Women Writers) (1930).

Nelson, Alice Fray – (1911 – 1983)
American civil servant and editor
Nelson was born in Iowa, and successfully entered the public service, working for four decades (1931 – 1970) with the US Agricultural Department, being branch chief of the Foreign Agricultural Service, and as editor of the department’s weekly publication Foreign Agriculture. Nelson was also attached to the Social Security Administration and she received the National Civil Service League Award (1958). Alice Fray Nelson died (July 3, 1983) in Washington, D.C.

Nelson, Charlotte Mary – (1787 – 1873)
British Hanoverian peeress (1814 – 1868)
Charlotte Nelson was born (Sept 20, 1787) the only surviving daughter and eventual heir of William Nelson, who succeeded his uncle Horatio as the second Earl Nelson (1805) and Duke of Bronte in Sicily, and his wife Sarah Yonge, the daughter of Reverend Henry Yonge. Lady Charlotte was married (1810) to the Hon. (Honourable) Samuel Hood (1788 – 1868) who succeeded four years later as the second Baron Bridport (1814).
Charlotte was the Baroness Bridport through the reigns of George III, George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria. Her only brother Horatio Nelson (1788 – 1808), Viscount Merton died without heires and Charlotte succeeded their father the third Duchess of Bronte in Naples according to Sicilian law (1835 – 1873). Charlotte survived her husband as the Dowager Baroness Bridport (1868 – 1873) and died (Jan 29, 1873) aged eighty-five, at Cricket St Thomas in Somerset, when the dukedom of Bronte passed to her eldest son. She left seven children,

• Hon. Mary Sophia Hood (1811 – 1888). She was married to John Lee-Lee (died 1874), of Dillington House, Ilminster, in Somerset and of Orleigh Court, Devon, and left issue.
• Hon. Charlotte Hood (1813 – 1906). She became the wife of Horace William Noel Rochfort (died 1891) of Clogrennon, Carlow.
• Alexander Nelson Hood (1814 – 1904). He succeeded his father as the third Baron and the first Viscount Bridport, and his mother as the fourth Duke of Bronte. He was married and left issue.
• Hon. Jane Sarah Hood (1817 – 1907). She was married three times, firstly to Hugh Holbech (died 1849) of Farnborough, Warwickshire, secondly to Commodore Sir Charles Hotham (died 1855) and thirdly to Captain William Armytage of the Royal Navy (died 1872).
• Hon. Catherine Louisa Hood (1818 – 1893). She became the wife of Henry Hall (died 1862) of Holbrook House, Somersetshire.
• Hon. Fanny Caroline (1821 – 1903). She became the wife of Sir John Walrond Walrond (1818 – 1889), first baronet, of Bradfield, near Collumpton, Devon, and left issue.
• Hon. Horatio Nelson Hood (1826 – 1832). He died young.

Nelson, Frances – (1901 – 1975)
American silent movie actress
Nelson was born (Nov 7, 1901) in Kerkoven, Minnesota. Her film credits included The Chieftain’s Sons (1913), The House of Fear (1915) and The Lure of the Orient (1921). She made her last screen appearance in The Faithless Sex (1922) in the role of Violet. Frances Nelson died (Jan, 1975) aged seventy-three, in the Bronx, New York.

Nelson, Frances Herbert Woolward, Lady (Fanny) – (1758 – 1831)
British Hanoverian society figure
Frances Woolward was born on the island of St Nevis, the daughter of William Woolward, the senior judge, and his wife Mary, the daughter of Thomas Herbert. She was also niece to Edward Herbert, president of St Nevis, who was a descendant of the earls of Pembroke. Frances was married firstly (1779) to Dr Josiah Nisbet, a scion of the Scottish family of Nisbet, from Carfine, Lanarkshire, to whom she bore an only child, Josiah Nisbet (1780 – 1830). Widowed in 1781, Fanny remarried (1787) to the maritime hero Lord Horatio Nelson (1758 – 1805). This marriage remained childless.
Fanny returned to England with her son and her new husband, and resided at Nelson’s estate of Burnham Thorpe, with his elderly father. With the death of her uncle (1793), Fanny received an income of 4,000 pounds a years. During Nelson’s affair with Lady Hamilton he continued to treat Lady Nelson with every courtesy and respect, and left everything to her in his will (1799) if she were to survive him, and in the same year Lady Nelson was presented at court to George III and Queen Charlotte.
A kind-hearted, retiring, and generous woman, with the birth of Nelson’s illegitimate daughter (1800), she and Nelson resided permanently apart. With Nelson’s death at the battle of Trafalgar, Lady Nelson was granted a an annual pension in recognition of his service to his country (1806). Lady Nelson died (May 6, 1831) at Marylebone in London. she was portrayed in the film That Hamilton Woman (1941) by Dame Gladys Cooper with Vivien Leigh in the title role and Laurence Olivier as Nelson.

Nelson, Martha – (1871 – 1975)
American mental patient whose almost entire life was spent incarcerated in state mental institutions.
Originally committed to the Columbus State School for the Feeble Minded in Ohio at the age of four (1875). She was later transferred to the Orient State Institute several miles away, where she spent the remainder of her life, though records relating to the reasons for her committal were destroyed in a fire (1881). Whilst resident at the Orient, Martha performed laundrywork and other domestic duties until retirement age, when she remained as a patient. Martha died there aged 103 (Jan 30, 1975), having spent ninety-nine years in state confinement. Her case was only revealed to the public (1974) a few months prior to her death, and her case was taken up as the rallying cry for those seeking to introduce reforms for the care of the mentally ill.

Nelson, Lady Theophila    see    Lucy, Theophila Berkeley, Lady

Nemaathep    see      Nymaathap

Nemcova, Bozena – (1820 – 1862) 
Czech author and novelist
Bozena was born in Vienna, Austria, and was brought up in Bohemia by her grandmother. Married to a civil servant, she accompanied her husband to Prague in 1842, and there became involved with Czech literary circles. When her husband was posted to Hungary, Bozena remained in Prague with their children, and she supported her family with her literary work, which included verses, adapted from folk-tales, and short stories.
Her most famous novel was Babicka (the grandmother) (1855) which was set within the framework of one year of rural Czech life. Her other well known novel was Poharska Vesnice (Mountain Village) (1856). Bozena Nemcova died (Jan 20, 1862) aged forty-one, in Prague.

Nemes Nagy, Agnes – (1922 – 1991)
Hungarian poet
Agnes Nemes Nagy was raised in Budapest where she graduated from university where she studied linguistics, and specialized in Hungarian and Latin. She worked on the staff of an educational periodical (1945 – 1953) and then worked as a secondary teacher until 1958, after which she decided to devote her entire career to writing. Awarded the prestigious Joszef Altila Prize (1969) and then the Kossuth Prize (1983), Nemes Nagy’s sparse and traditionally articulated poetic images recall the horrors of World War II. Her works included Kettos Vilagban (Dual World) (1946), Szarazvillam (Dry Lightning) (1957) and A Lovak es az angyalok (Horses and Angels) (1969).

Nemours, Eleonore de Bourbon-La Marche, Duchesse de – (1412 – 1464)
French medieval heiress
Eleonore de Bourbon was the daughter of Jacques II de Bourbon, Comte de La Marche, and his first wife Beatrice, the daughter of Carlo III, King of Navarre. Eleonore was married (1429) to Bernard d’Armagnac, Comte de Pardiac (died 1462). Her two elder sisters became nuns and Eleonore became her father’s sole heiress, receiving from him the counties of La Marche and Castries, and the dukedom of Nemours. Duchesse Eleonore died (after Aug 21 in 1464).

Nemours, Elisabeth de Bourbon-Vendome, Duchesse de – (1614 – 1664)
French princess
Princess Elisabeth de Bourbon was born (Aug, 1614) in Paris, the daughter of Cesar de Bourbon, Duc de Vendome and was the granddaughter of King Henry IV (1589 – 1610) and his beloved mistress Gabrielle d’Estrees, whose children by the king were declared legitimate. She was married (1643) to Carlo Amadeo of Savoy (1624 – 1652), Duc de Nemours, whom she survived as the Dowager Duchesse de Nemours. Her daughter Maria Francisca of Savoy-Nemours (1646 – 1683) was married firstly to Alfonso VI, King of Portugal, and then became the first wife of his brother Pedro II. The Duchesse de Nemours died (May 19, 1664) aged forty-nine, in Paris.

Nemours, Marie d’Orleans-Longueville, Duchesse de – (1625 – 1707)
French heiress, litigant and letter writer
Princesse Marie d’Orleans-Longueville was born (March 5, 1625) in Paris, the daughter of Henri I d’Orleans, Duc de Longueville and his first wife Louise Marie de Soissons-Conde. She married (1657) Henry II of Savoy, Duc de Nemours (1625 – 1659), whose early death left her childless.The duchesse was renowned for her obstinacy in litigating for her share of the Longueville inheritance.
Though she finally lost her case as far as the French property was concerned (1698), she did establish her right to the Savoyard principality of Neuchatel (1699). The Duc de Saint-Simon recorded of her, ‘She was immensely wealthy, and lived in great splendour and state, but quarrels and lawsuits soured her nature so that she became spiteful and unforgiving.’ During her last years the duchesse resided in one half of the Hotel de Soissons in Paris, which she shared with her maternal aunt, the Princesse de Carignane, and the two women quarrelled incessantly.
In her memoirs (1709), which dealt with the period of the Fronde, the duchesse writes with sympathy of her father, and with particular hatred towards her stepmother, Anne Genevieve de Bourbon-Conde and her powerful family. The duchesse died in Paris (June 16, 1707) aged eighty-two, leaving considerable wealth to Marie d’Albert, Duchesse de Luynes, the granndaughter of Charles de Bourbon, Comte de Soissons.

Neni – (fl. c1950 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Queen Neni was the wife of Pharoah Sobkhotep III of the XIIIth Dynasty (1781 – 1650 BC), and was the mother of two of Sobkhotep’s daughters, the princesses Iuhetibu and Dedetanuq, which fact was recorded on a stelae preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris, which accorded Neni the style of ‘King’s Wife.’

Neruda-Halle, Wilma Maria Francisca (Lady Halle) – (1839 – 1911) 
German-Anglo violinist
Wilma Halle was born in Brunn, Germany, the daughter of Joseph Neruda, a cathedral organist, and learnt to play the violin from infancy. Her performance of Bach’s sonatas at Vienna at the age of seven (1846) excited general admiration. Wilma became the pupil of Leopold Jansa, and made her first appearance in Vienna, Austria, where she rapidly won a position amongst the greatest of contemporary violinists. Neruda married firstly (1864) Ludwig Normann, a Swedish musician, and secondly (1888) Sir Charles Halle (1819 – 1895) with whom she had long been professionally associated, thus becoming a British subject.
In 1876 Prince Alfred, the son of Queen Victoria, joined with the Lords Dudley and Hardwicke in presenting her with the celebrated violin which had belonged to Ernst Stradivarius. With the death of Sir Charles, the Prince of Wales became president of an influential committee which was formed to raise funds for her benefit. As a result, she received the title deeds of the palace of Asolo. With the death of her only son by her first marriage in 1898, she retired briefly to Berlin. In 1901 she was appointed violinist to Queen Alexandra. Wilma Neruda-Halle died in Berlin of an inflammation of the lungs.

Nerulla    see   Perilla

Nesbit, Edith – (1858 – 1924)
British children’s writer
Edith Nesbit was born in London, the daughter of John Collis Nesbit, an agricultural chemist. She was educated at home and studied abroad in France and Germany. Edith became the wife of the econimist Hubert Bland (1856 – 1914) and was a founding member of the Fabian Society. Nesbit was best remembered for her popular and realistically written children’s stories such as Five Children and It (1902), The Railway Children (1906) and The Magic City (1910).
Apart from ghost stories, Edith Nesbit was also remembered for the series of books which featured the Bastable family The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899), The Wouldbegoods (1901) and the collection of stories Oswald Bastable and others (1905). She published A Pomander of Verse (1895) and co-wrote the collection Poems (1922) with her first husband but they were only published after Bland’s death. With the death of Hubert Bland (1914) she remarried to an engineer. Her last published work was The Lark (1922). Othe published works included Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism (1908) and Wings and the Child (1913). Edith Nesbit died (May 4, 1924).

Nesbitt, Cathleen – (1888 – 1982)
British character actress of stage and film
Cathleen was born (Nov 24, 1888) in Cheshire, and attended Queen’s university in Belfast, Ireland. She finished her education at the Sorbonne in Paris and received stage training from Madame Rosina Filippi. Cathleen began her stage career in 1910 and then travelled to the USA as a member of the Irish Players (1911). She worked mainly in the theatre and on television and was married to the actor Cecil Ramage (1895 – 1988).
Her film credits included The Case of the Frightened Lady (1932), Fanny by Gaslight (1943), Nicholas Nickleby (1947), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), An Affair to Remember (1957), Separate Tables (1958), Staircase (1969) and Julia (1977). She played Rex Harrison’s mother Mrs Higgins in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady (1956). Nesbitt also appeared in the television series The Farmer’s Daughter (1965) and played Lady Marjorie’s mother in the popular Edwardian series Upstairs, Downstairs. She published the autobiography entitled A Little Love and Good Companions (1973) and was known especially for her portrayal of eccentric and comic characters.
Her valuable contribution to the theatre was recognized when she was appointed OBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1978). Cathleen Nesbitt was long revered as a grand dame of the British theatre and died (Aug 2, 1982) aged ninety-three, in London.

Nesbitt, Evelyn – (1884 – 1967)
American actress
Florence Evelyn Nesbitt was originally a model and then a chorus-girl before making three silent films Threads of Destiny (1914), Redemption (1917) and Hidden Woman (1922). Nesbit then retired from films and continued her stage career in vaudeville, which she maintained successfully throughout the 1920’s. Despite her stage successes, Nesbit’s fame and notoriety rested upon her involvement in scandalous murder trials, after her socialite husband, Harry Thaw, shot dead her lover, the noted architect, Stanford White. During the court case it was revealed that White had used Evelyn to pose naked in a red velvet swing, and this was the title given to the later film about her life The Girl on the Red Velvet Swing (1955) which starred Joan Collins as Evelyn.

Neshkons – (c1035 – c968 BC)
Queen consort of Egypt
Neshkons was the daughter of Thendhout and became the wife of Pharoah Pinudjem II (c1040 – c969 BC), who reigned (c990 – c969 BC), of the High Priest Dynasty of Thebes. Neshkons only briefly survived her husband, and they were interred together in the tomb of Queen Inhapi, at Der el-Bahri, in the tenth year of King Siamun (c968 BC). Her coffin was amongst those recovered from Inhapi’s tomb in 1881 and is preserved in the Cairo Museum. Surviving inscriptions from her sarcophagus contain a detailed and interesting list of her royal and honorific titles.

Nesle, Armande Charlotte Felicite de La Porte-Mazarin, Marquise de – (1691 – 1729)
French Regency society figure
Armande Charlotte de La Porte-Mazarin was born (Sept 3, 1691) the daughter of Paul de La Porte, Duc de Mazarin, and his first wife, Felice Armande Charlotte de Durfort-Duras. She was married (1709) to Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle (1689 – 1767) and bore him five daughters.
Blonde haired, blue-eyed, and possessed of a rather voluptuous figure, Madame de Nesle was considered on of the great beauties of the profligate Regency period (1715 – 1723). She fought a duel with pistols with the Marquise de Polignac at the Pre aux Clercs on the banks of the Seine (1719) over the affections of that notorious roue the Duc de Richelieu. Before their servants could end the fracas, Madame de Nesle had been wounded in the breast, and Madame de Polignac received a facial wound. Shortly afterwards both women were banished from court to their country estates by the Regent Duc d’Orleans, on an order signed by the youthful Louis XV. Some of Madame de Nesle’s correspondence which has survived was presented to the University of Paris (1933).
The marquise was mistress to both the Duc de Bourbon and the Prince de Soubise, and perhaps also the Marquis d’Alincourt. By the Duc she was the mother of an illegitimate child, Henriette de Bourbon, Madamoiselle de Verneuil (1725 – 1780), later Comtesse de Laguiche, who was legitimated after her mother’s death (1734). Madame de Nesle died (Oct 14, 1729) aged thirty-eight. Her daughters were,

• Louise Julie de Mailly-Nesle – (1710 – 1751). She became the wife of Louis Alexandre, Comte de Mailly, and was the first official mistress of Louis XV.
• Pauline Felicite de Mailly-Nesle (1712 – 1741). She became the wife of Jean Baptiste Felix de Luc, Marquis de Vintimille, who succeeded her sister as mistress of the king and bore him an illegitimate son.
• Diane Adelaide de Mailly-Nesle (1714 – 1769). She became the wife of Louis de Branas, Duc de Lauraguais. She was a favourite of Louis XV.
• Hortense Felicite de Mailly-Nesle (1715 – 1799). She was married to Francois Marie, Marquis de Flavacourt, who removed her from court so she would not become the king’s mistress.
• Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle (1717 – 1744). As the childless widow of the Marquis de La Tournelle, she succeeded her sister Pauline (1741) as the third and last of the sisters to be mistress to Louis XV. He created her duchesse de Chateauroux. She died childless.

Nesle, Charlotte de Chalons, Comtesse de    see    Chalons, Charlotte de

Nesle, Gertrude de – (c1180 – 1229)
Flemish heiress of the chatelainie of Bruges
Gertrude de Nesle was the daughter and sole heiress of Jean, seigneur de Nesle and became the wife (c1196) of Raoul d’Ailly, Comte de Clermont (died 1214). At her father’s death (c1204) Gertrude inherited the seigneurie of Nesle and the chatellanie of Bruges. Nesle passed to her son Simon de Clermont (c1212 – 1288) in her right. Gertrude was the grandmother of Raoul II de Nesle (died 1302), Constable of France, and was the ancestress of the famous Nesle-Mailly sisters, three of whom were mistresses of Louis XV of France (1715 – 1774).

Nesrin (Neserik) – (1850 – 1895)
Ottoman sultana
Born at Tiflis in Georgia, she entered the harem of the Sultan Abdulaziz I (1830 – 1876) as a concubine (c1868). The sultan married Nesrin as his sixth wife soon afterwards (c1869). With the birth of her son Mehmed (June, 1872) at Bechiktache, she received the rank of Haseki Sultan (princess favourite). Abdulaziz committed suicide (1876) and Nesrin survived him for two decades, retiring to the Saray Palace in Constantinople. Princess Nesrin died (Sept 25, 1895) aged forty-five, at Ortakeuy. She left three children,

• Princess Esma Osmanoglu (1870 – 1897). She became the second wife of General Cerkes Mehmed Pasha (died 1909). His first wife was Princess Naile (1857 – 1882) the daughter of Sultan Abdulmecid I (1823 – 1861).
• Prince Mehmed Sevket Osman (1872 – 1899). He was married and left issue.
• Princess Emine Osmanoglu (1873 – 1920). She became the wife of Mehmed Serif Pasha.

Nestita – (d. c303 AD)
Greek Christian martyr and saint
Nestita was a native of Korinth. She was arrested during the persecutions organized by the emperors Maximian Daia and Diocletian. She refused to make sacrifice to the pagan deities and was executed. Her feast (July 20) was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum.

Nethersole, Olga – (1866 – 1951)
British actress and theatrical manager
Nethersole was born in London. Olga made her first stage appearance at Brighton (1887) and then appeared at the Grand Theatre in Islington. She appeared as Lola Montez in The Silver Falls (1888), and achieved notable success opposite John Hare, in Pinero’s The Profligate at the Garrick Theatre (1889). Nethersole appeared in the title role of Sapho (1902), and later toured Australia (1910) and appeared as Dora in Victorien Sardou’s Diplomacy in London, with Madge Kendal.
She made her American debut in 1894, where her steamy loves scenes led to the actress being arrested for offending public morality. However, she was soon acquitted, amidst great public acclaim. Though greatly admired in the role of Adrienne Lecouvreur, Olga Nethersole was best remembered in the title role in Sapho, the adaptation of Alphonse Daudet’s novel written by Clyde Fitch. She retired in 1913. Olga Nethersole died (Jan 9, 1951) aged eighty-four, at Bournemouth.

Neubauer-Woerner, Marlene - (1918 - 2010)
German sculptor
Born Marlene Woerner (Aug 25, 1918) at Landshut, Bavaria, she studied ceramics there before going on to study sculpture under Richard Knecht and others at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. She married and became the first German woman to study sculpture as applied to public buildings.
Madame Neubauer-Woerner worked freelance in Munich from the end of WW II, and joined the group of women artists known as GEDOK (Gemeinschaft Deutscher und Osterreichischer Kunstlerinnenvereine - Association of German and Austrian Women Artists Collective).
Her works were exhibited in Munich and Landshut, and in various European exhibitions held at the Musee d' Art Moderne in Paris and the Palazzo Nazionale in Rome. She was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit (1984) and the cities of Vienna, Paris and Athens honoured her with medals. Marlene Neubauer-Woerner died (Jan 1, 2010) aged ninety-two, in Munich.

Neuber, Friederike Caroline – (1697 – 1760)
German actress and theatre manager
Born Friederike Weissenborn (March 9, 1697) at Reichenbach in Vogtland, Saxony, and was educated in a local girls’ school there. She later married the actor Johann Neuber (1718) and performed with his troupe of travelling players, of which she later became the director. They toured Germany for almost three decades (1720 – 1749).
Neuber later collaborated with Johann Christian Gottschedt, and was responsible for the introduction of French classical drama to the German stage. She was the first to recognize the work of Lessing and she produced his drama Der Junge Geleherte (1748). During the seven years’ War (1756 – 1763) the family’s finances were destroyed, and Friederike was widowed in 1759. Friederike Neuber died (Nov 20, 1760) aged sixty-three, at Laubegast.

Neuberger, Maurine – (1907 – 2000)
American politician and Democratic senator
Maurien was born (Jan 9, 1907) in Oregon and trained as a teacher of English and physical education. She was married (1945) to Richard Neuberger and assisted him in his campaign to enter the Oregon Senate (1948). She herself then campaigned successfully for a seat in the Oregon state senate (1950) and was re-elected twice (1952) and (1954). When her husband was elected to the US senate (1954) Mrs Neuberger accompanied him to Washington.
With her husband's death she gained his seat in the election (1960 – 1966) and became a prominent advocate for consumers. She later taught politics at Boston University and Radcliffe College. She later worked as a tutor in reading and mathematics for schoolchildren in Portland and published Smoke Screen: Tobacco and the Public Welfare (1963). Maurine Neuberger died (Feb 22, 2000) aged ninety-three, in Portland.

Neufchatel, Bonne de – (c1480 – 1515)
French heiress
Bonne de Neufchatel was the eldest daughter of Claude, Comte de Neufchatel, governor of Luxemburg, and his wife Bonne de Boulay. She was married firstly (1500) to Louis, Comte de Blamont and secondly (c1505) to William, Count von Furstenberg. Her brother Theobald IX, Comte de Neufchatel died childless (1505), and with the death of her father Claude soon afterwards, Bonne inherited the county of Neufhcatel in Franche-Comte.
At her death it was appropriated by her last husband William, to the detriment of the Montaigu branch of Bonne’s family, which had rights of substitution. William sold Neufchatel to the Longwy family, the rightful heirs.

Neufchatel, Elisabeth de – (c1485 – 1543)
French heiress
Elisabeth de Neufchatel was the daughter of Claude de Neufchatel, vicomte de Baume, Grand Marshal of Burgundy, and his wife Bonne van Boulay. She was married firstly at Trier to Count Felix von Werdenberg (died 1530), and remarried secondly (c1533) to Dietrich IV, count von Manderscheid-Schleiden (1481 – 1551), as his second wife. Elisabeth purchased the fiefs of Chaligny and Chatel from her cousin Margarrt, Countess von Thierstein (1530), and she retained these valuable feudal lands for the rest of her life, Chatel being her main place of residence.
At her death Elisabeth bequeathed Chaligny and Chatel to her maternal cousin, Sallantind’Isembourg, though eventually Chaligny passed to the ducal family of Lorraine. Sallantin eventually exchanged Chatel with the Duke of Lorraine, for fiefs in Luxemburg.

Neumagen, Florence     see    Engelbach, Florence

Neumann, Elise    see   Sais, Tatjana

Neumann, Hanna – (1914 – 1971)
German-Australian mathematician
Johanna von Caemmerer was born (Feb 12, 1914) in Berlin, Prussia, the daughter of the historian Hermann Konrad von Caemmerer, and his wife Katharina Elisabeth Jordan. She was educated in Germany and attended Oxford University in England. She was married to Bernhard Herman Neumann and was a lecturer at the British universities of Hull and Manchester.
Neumann immigrated to Australia with her husband and was the first woman in Australia to be appointed as a professor in mathematics. She later served as Dean of Students at the Australian National University in Canberra (1968 – 1969). Hanna Neumann died suddenly (Nov 14, 1971) aged fifty-seven, whilst engaged on a lecture tour in Canada.

Neumann, Theresa – (1898 – 1962)
Austrian religious figure
Theresa Neumann was born in Konnersreuth, Bavaria. Having suffered from a combination of accident and attendent illnesses for a period of seven years (1918 – 1925), this condition became cured without any medical intervention. During the Lent of 1926, Neumann had visions of the Passion of Christ, which was accompanied by manifestations of the stigmata. Her case attracted much public attention, but claims for her sainthood did not meet the requirements of the Catholic Church.

Neumann, Zilda Arns see Arns, Zilda

Neupurg, Baroness von    see   Marocchia de Marcaini, Pierina

Nevelson, Louise – (1899 – 1998)
Russian-American sculptor and printmaker
Born Louise Berliawsky (Sept 23, 1900) in Kiev, Ukraine, and immigrated to the USA with her parents, settling on Portland, Maine (1905). She later married Charles Nevelson (1920) and studied at the Art Students’ League in New York (1929 – 1933). Nevelson later seperated from her husband, snd then worked in Munich with the art theorist Hans Hofmann, and then as assistant to the Mexican mural painter Diego Rivera.
Louise Nevelson was best known for her abstract ‘environmental’ sculptures. During the 1960’s she began to work with plexiglass and lucite and also experimented with reflected light. She became a printmaker with the Tamarind Workshops in Los Angeles, California and a monograph of her prints and drawings (1967) was published by the Brooklyn Museum. Her works included Transparent Horizon (1975) using steel, and Bicentennial Dawn (1976).
Louise Nevelson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1979) and was later awarded the National Medal of the Arts (1985). Examples of her work are preserved in the Tate Gallery in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and in the Museum of Modern Art. Louise Nevelson died (April 17, 1988) aged eighty-eight, in New York.

Nevers, Agnes de – (c1200 – 1226)
French mediaeval heiress
Agnes was the daughter and heiress of Herve IV, seigneur de Donzy and his wife Mathilde de Courtenay, Comtesse of Nevers. It was arranged that Agnes should marry Philip, the grandson of Philip II of France (1180 – 1223) but Philip died a child (1218), and Agnes was married instead to Comte Guy de Chatillon, who was killed at the siege of Avignon in province (1226).
Agnes died not long after her husband, predeceasing her mother, so she did not live to inherit the county of Nevers, as did both of her children, Gaucher de Chatillon, who died bravely at the Battle of El Mansourah (1250), and Yolande de Chatillon, who became the wife of Archambaud de Bourbon (died 1249). Thus the counties of of Nevers and Auxerre passed to Agnes’s granddaughter Matilda (died 1261), the wife of Eudes of Burgundy, through whom they finally passed to the Gonzaga family of Mantua in the seventeenth century.

Nevers, Anne Louise de Noailles, Duchesse de – (1695 – 1773)
French society figure
Anne de Noailles was the daughter of Adrien Jules, third Duc de Noailles and his wife Marie Francoise de Bournonville. Se was married firstly to Francois Le Tellier (1693 – 1719), Comte de Louvois to whom she bore a son, Francois Michel Cesar Le Tellier (1718 – 1781), Marquis de Louvois. She remarried to Jacques Hippolyte Mancini (1690 – 1759), Duc de Nevers and bore him a daughter, Diane Mancini (1726 – 1755), the wife of Count Louis Heracles de Polignac. She survived her second husband as the Dowager Duchesse de Nevers (1759 – 1773) and is mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole.

Nevers, Diane de La Marck, Duchesse de – (1544 – 1612)
French society figure
A prominent personage at the court of the Valois, and of the first Bourbon monarch Henry IV (1589 – 1610), Diane de La Marck was the daughter of Robert IV de La Marck, Duc de Bouillon, and was the legitimate granddaughter of Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II. Diane was married three times, firstly to Jacques de Cleves, Duc de Nevers (1544 – 1564), secondly to Henri, Comte de Clermont-Tonnerre (died 1573), and lastly to Jean Babou, Comte de Sagonne (died 1589). The duchesse survived her last husband by over twenty years and was still living (May 2, 1612) in the reign of Louis XIII.

Nevers, Diane Gabrielle de Damas de Thianges, Duchesse de – (1655 – 1715)
French society figure
Diane Gabrielle de Thianges was the daughter of Claude de Damas, marquis de Thianges, and his wife Gabrielle, the daughter of Louis Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duc de Mortemart. Her mother was sister to Athenais, marquise de Montespan, the mistress of Louis XIV. Diane Gabrielle was married (1670) to Philippe de Mancini-Mazarin (1641 – 1707), Duc de Nevers and was a prominent figure at the court of Louis XIV at Versailles. She survived her husband as Dowager Duchesse (1707 – 1715) and left three children,

• Diane Gabrielle Victoire de Mancini-Mazarin (1672 – 1716). She was married to Charles Louis Antoine de Henin-Lietaud (c1675 – 1740), Comte de Boussu and second Prince de Chimay.
• Francois Mancini-Mazarin (1676 – 1768). He succeeded his father as Duc de Nevers.
• Jacques Hippolyte de Mancini-Mazarin (1690 – 1759), Duc de Nevers. He was married and left descendants.

Nevil, Margaret – (1920 – 1993)
American golfer and amateur sportswoman
Born Margaret Nichols in Yonkers, New York, she became a gifted amateur player under her maiden name during the 1930’s, but under her married name she was the winner of four state women’s amateur championships (1958, 1959, 1960, and 1962). Margaret Nevil was also the senior women’s champion for New York State and was the Metropolitan New York junior champion. Margaret Nevil died (Aug 12, 1993) aged seventy-two, at Cooperstown, New York.

Nevill, Dorothy Fanny Walpole, Lady – (1826 – 1913) 
British author, traveller and salon hostess
Lady Dorothy Walpole was born (April 1, 1826) in London the daughter of Horatio Walpole, earl of Orford, and his wife Mary Fawkener, daughter of the prominent British diplomat William Augustus Fawkener. Lady Dorothy spent her childhood at Wolterton, Norfolk, Islington, Dorset, and London, and was fluent in several European languages. She was married (1847) her cousin Reginald Henry Nevill (1807 – 1878) of Dangstein, Petersfield, to whom she bore six children.
Lady Nevill travelled to France, Germany and Italy, and held a popular salon in London. Her works included A History of the Walpoles, Earls of Orford (1894), Leaves from the Notebooks of Lady Dorothy Nevill (1907), Under Five Reigns (1910) and My Own Times (1912). She is also famous for planning the extensive gardens at the family’s country estate of Dangstein in Sussex, and established exotic hot houses there. She exchanged letters and botanical specimens with Sir William Hooker, and his son Sir Joseph, and provided Charles Darwin with particular plants. From 1878 she resided at Stillyans in East Sussex, but still maintained her London house. Lady Nevill died (March 24, 1913) aged eighty-six.

Neville, Anne     see    Anne Neville

Neville, Cecily (Cecilia) (1) – (1415 – 1495)
English duchess of York
Lady Cecilia Neville was born at Raby Castle, the youngest daughter of Sir Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmorland and his second wife Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Catherine Swynford. Thus she was the great-granddaughter of Edward III (1330 – 1377). Cecily was considered a great beauty being popularly known as ‘the Rose of Raby’ and was married to a cousin, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York (1411 – 1460) by whom she became the mother of two kings, Edward IV (1461 – 1483) and Richard III (1483 – 1485). She was grandmother to the two ‘Princes in the Tower,’ Edward V and Richard, Duke of York. An influential patron the duchess had certain influence over her son Edward until his marriage (1464) with Elizabeth Woodville. She tried to prevent her son George was joining the conspiracy against Edward led by Richard Neville, Warwick the Kingmaker (1469) and was later instrumental in effecting the public (at least) reconciliation of the two brothers (1471).
A widow for thirty-five years (1460 – 1495) Duchess Cecily organized her daily routine at her home of Berkhampsted Castle around Benedictine observances and she was known to read the works of the great mystics, Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena. Though she remained in close seclusion throughout the latter years of her life, the duchess attended the court of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York to be present at the celebrations for the birth of her great-grandsons Arthur, Prince of Wales (1487) and Henry, Duke of York (1491) (later Henry VIII). Cecily later took vows as a Benedictine nun. Duchess Cecily died (May 31, 1495) at Berkhamstead Castle, Hertfordshire. She was interred with her husband in the collegiate church of Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. She appears as a character in the historical novels The Woodville Wench (1972) by Maureen Peters and The King’s Grey Mare (1974) by Rosemary Hawley Jarman.

Neville, Cecily (2) – (1427 – 1450)
English mediaeval heiress
Lady Cecily Neville was the second daughter of Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury and his wife Alice de Montacute. She was married as a child of seven (1434) to Henry de Beauchamp (1425 – 1446), duke of Warwick. The duke of Warwick died at Hanley Castle, leaving Cecily with an only child and heiress, Anne de Beauchamp (1444 – 1449) who was duchess of Warwick until her death at the age of five. Duchess Cecily was remarried (1449) to John Tiptoft (1427 – 1470), first earl of Worcester. This marriage remained childless. The duchess was interred in Ely Cathedral, Kent, where there remain effigies of herself, Lord Tiptoft, and Tiptoft’s second wife Elizabeth Greyndour.

Neville, Dorothy de Vere, Lady    see   Vere, Dorothy de

Neville, Elizabeth Holland, Lady – (1386 – 1423)
English medieval aristocrat
Elizabeth Holland was married to Sir John, Lord Neville (1387 – 1420), the eldest son of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmorland. She survived him as the Dowager Lady Neville (1420 – 1423) and left three sons,

• Ralph Neville (1404 – 1484), who succeeded his grandfather as second Earl of Westmorland (1425 – 1484), which title he held for sixty years. He was married twice but left descendants in the female line only. 
• Sir John Neville (c1406 – 1461), the first Lord Neville, the father of Ralph Neville (1456 – 1523), who succeeded his uncle as third Earl of Westmorland (1484 – 1523). 
• Sir Thomas Neville (c1410 – before 1484). He was married to Elizabeth Beaumont, and left descendants.

Neville, Ellen de – (fl. c1310 – 1319)
Scottish captive
Ellen was the wife of Sir Robert de Neville, the ‘Peacock of the North.’ Her husband was slain by the Black Douglas outside the walls of Berwick (June, 1319) and Ellen was captured and taken a prisoner into Scotland. The countess of Fife, niece of Robert I the Bruce, later travelled to Scotland to procure her deliverance from captivity.

Neville, Jill – (1932 – 1997)
Australian author, novelist, critic and dramatist
Neville was particularly admired for her novel Last Ferry to Manly (1984) and The Day We Cut the Lavender (1995). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1995). Jill Neville died (June 10, 1997) in London.

Neville, Mary Fitz-Lewis, Lady    see   Rivers, Mary Fitz-Lewis, Countess of

Newall, Dame Bertha Surtees   see   Phillpotts, Dame Bertha Surtees

Newberry, Julia – (1854 – 1876)
American diarist
Julia Newberry was the heiress of a wealthy family. She remained unmarried. At the age of fifteen she undertook a tour of Europe for two years (1869 – 1871) and kept a private journal. Her reminiscences were published in New York nearly sixty years after her death as Julia Newberry’s Diary (1933).

Newbery, Jessie – (1864 – 1948)
Scottish art embroiderer
Born Jessie Rowat in Paisley, she was the daughter of a clothing manufacturer. She attended the Glasgow School of Art and married (1889) the director, Francis Newbery. She became part of the faculty there herself (1894), and besides teaching mosaic work and enamelling, she introduced embroidery as a subject.
Newbery conceived of embroidery as an art form on its own, and her own needlework was exhibited throught Britain, Europe and the USA. It was illustrated in popular journals such as Das Elgenkleid der Frau in Germany and Modern Stickerian. She removed to reside at historic Corfe Castle, in Dorset with her husband after her retirement (1918).

Newburgh, Charlotte Maria Livingston, Countess of – (1694 – 1755)
Scottish peeress
Lady Charlotte Livingston was born posthumously, the only child of Charles Livingston, second Earl of Newburgh and his wife Frances Brudenell (later Lady Bellew), the granddaughter of George Brudenell, Earl of Cardigan. At her father’s death (April 7, 1694) the viscountcy (created 1647) and baronetcy of Newburgh (created 1627) expired, whilst the earldom of Newburgh, the viscounty of Kynnaird, and the barony of Levingstone of Flacraig (all created 1660), devolved upon Charlotte Maria at birth, when she became third countess of Newburgh.
Charlotte Maria was married firstly (1713) to Thomas Clifford (1687 – 1719), the son and heir of Hugh, second Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, to whom she bore two daughters. The countess remarried secondly in Brussels (1724) to Charles Radcliffe (1693 – 1746), titular fifth Earl of Derwentwater, who was lated executed (Dec 8, 1746) for his participation in the abortive rebellions of 1715 and 1745. The countess is said to have refused Radcliffe’s suit over a dozen separate occasions, and only agreed to finally marry him after he managed to enter her chamber via the chimney. The couple resided in Rome for several years, and several of Lady Newburgh’s children were born there. To her second husband she bore six children including James Bartholomew Radcliffe (1725 – 1787), fourth Earl of Newburgh (1755 – 1787) who left descendants.
Through her eldest daughter Anne Clifford (1712 – 1793), the wife of Count James Joseph O’Mahony (1699 – 1757), Countess Charlotte Maria was the ancestress of the later earls of Newburgh of the Italian family of Giustiniani, who succeeded to the earldom (1814) after the death of the children of the last earl of the Radcliffe family. The Countess of Newburgh died (Aug 4, 1755) aged sixty-one, in London, and was buried with her husband in the church of St Giles’s-in-the-Fields. Lady Newburgh appears in the historical novel Devil Water (1962) by Anya Seton.

Newcastle, Diana Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, Duchess of – (1920 – 1997)
British peeress (1946 – 1959)
Lady Mary Diana Montagu-Stuart-Wortley was born (June 2, 1920) the second daughter of Archibald Ralph Montagu-Stuart-Wortley (1892 – 1953), third Earl of Wharncliffe (1926 – 1953) and his wife Lady Maud Lilian Elfrida Mary Wentworth-Fitzalan, the daughter of William Charles de Meuron Wentwoth-Fitzwilliam (1872 – 1943), seventh Earl Fitzwilliam. During WW II Lady Diana served with the MTC (Mechanised Transport Corps) working voluntarily for the war effort. Lady Diana was married (1946) to Henry Edward Hugh Pelham-Clinton-Hope (1907 – 1988), ninth Duke of Newcastle (1941 – 1988) and became the Duchess of Newcastle.
The duchess resided between their London residence and the Newcastle family estate of Lymington in Hantshire. She bore her husband two daughters but they were eventually divorced (1959). The duchess never remarried and retained her ducal rank, residing mainly at Cortington Manor, at Codford in Wiltshire. She wrote the forewood to The English Gentleman’s Wife (1979) by Prudence Glynn (Lady Windlesham) and a print of the duchess by Bassano, dressed in her wartime uniform is preserved in the National Portrait Gallery. The Duchess of Newcastle died (Sept 20, 1997) aged seventy-seven. Her children were,

• Lady Patricia Pelham-Clinton-Hope (born 1949). She married firstly to Alan Pariser from whom she was divorced, and secondly to Nick Mancuso of Toronto, Canada. When her second marriage also ended in divorce (1983) she resumed her maiden name and resides in Los Angeles, California.
• Lady Kathleen Marie Gabrielle Pelham-Clinton-Hope (born 1951). She was married briefly to Edward Reynolds from whom she was quickly divorced.

Newcastle, Margaret Lucas, Duchess of – (1623 – 1674)
English poet and author
Margaret Lucas was born at Colchester, Essex, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lucas and his wife Elizabeth Leighton. She came to the court of Charles I as maid-of-honour to Queen Henrietta Maria, and that lady to Paris (1645), where she met and married William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (1592 – 1676), as his second wife. During the period of the Civil War, the duke and duchess resided in Paris, Rotterdam, and Antwerp in great pecuniary distress. With the Restoration (1660), the couple returned to England, where the eccentricities exhibited by Margaret in dress and manner caused her to suffer the ridicule of fashionable society, and she persuaded her husband to retire from court.
Her volume Poems and Fancies (1653) was followed by her own autobiograpy The World’s Olio (1655), Orationes of Divers Sorts (1662), a Life (1667) of her husband and Grounds of Natural Philosophy (1668), amongst other works. Some of her poems were considered good enough to compare with those of Herrick and Mennes, though definitely not with those of Shakespeare, as some misguided enthusiasts have maintained. She is seen at her worst with her Playes (1662), which were ridiculed by Sir Samuel Pepys. The duchess died in London (Jan 7, 1674) and was interred in Westminster Abbey.

Newcomb, Mary – (1922 – 2008)
British Naïve painter and artist
Newcomb was born (Jan 25, 1922) at Harrow-on-the-Hill, and was trained as a teacher of natural science. She turned to painting later in life and came to the attention of Ben Nicholson. She was especially noted for her oil and watercolour landscape paintings and drawings which depicted scenes of rural life in East Anglia. Examples of her work were preserved by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Mary Newcomb died (March 29, 2008) aged eighty-six.

Newcomen, Charlotte – (1747 – 1817)
Irish peeress (1800 – 1817)
Charlotte Newcomen was the only daughter and heiress of Charles Newcomen, of Carrickfergus, Langford, and his wife Charlotte Babe, the daughter of a Dublin merchant. Charlotte was married (1770) to Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen (died 1807), baronet, of Killesler, Dublin. In consideration of her husband’s services to his country, Lady Charlotte was created Baroness Newcomen of Mosstown, Langford (1800), and later viscountess (1803). Charlotte Newcomen died (May 16, 1817) aged sixty-nine, the titles passed to her son Sir Thomas, second viscount Newcomen (1776 – 1825), who died leaving only illegitimate issue, and the title became extinct.

Newdegate, Anne Fitton, Lady – (1574 – 1618)
English letter writer
Anne Fitton was baptized (Oct 6, 1575) at Gawsworth Church, Cheshire, the daughter of Sir Edward Fitton the younger (1548 – 1606), Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge (1588), and his wife Alice Holcroft, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Holcroft of Holcroft, Lancashire. She was the elder sister to Mary Fitton, the lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I, and reputedly the ‘dark lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Anne Fitton became the wife (1595) of Sir John Newdegate of Arbury, Warwickshire, whom she survived as the Dowager Lady Newdegate (1610 – 1618). Her private papers, including letters to her sister Mary (Lady Polwhele) survived at the family estate of Arbury. Extracts from these papers were later published as Gossip from a Muniment-Room: Passages from the Lives of Anne and Mary Fitton (1797). Her children included Sir John Newdegate (1600 – 1642), first baronet, and Sir Richard Newdegate (1602 – 1678), second baronet, a noted Chief Justice and judge.

Newell, Georgia Willson – (1880 – 1969)
American author
Newell was born in Mounds Station, Louisiana, but grew up and was educated at Natchez in Mississippi, where she attended Staunton College. Georgia was married to a physician (1903), she spent most of her later life in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she was prominently associated with the Girl Guide Brigade. She was the author of a book concerning the town of Natchez entitled Natchez and the Pilgrimage (1935). Georgia Newell died (Jan 25, 1969) aged eighty-eight, in Chattanooga.

Newell, Susan – (1893 – 1923)
Scottish murderess
Susan Newell was resident in a poor tenement in Glasgow, residing in a one room apartment with her husband and daughter. She killed the local newspaper boy, John Johnstone, in a fit of rage so that she did not have to pay him, and was detected trying to remove his body. Her young daughter innocently described to the police how her mother had murdered the boy. As she remained angry and defiant in the court, her counsel tried unsuccessfully to prove her insane. She was convicted and sentenced to death, being hung at the Duke Street Prison in Glasgow, aged thirty (Oct 10, 1923), the first woman to be hanged in Scotland in fifty years.

Newhall, Nancy – (1908 – 1974)
American museum curator
Nancy Newhall was promoted to ‘acting’ curator of the New York Museum of Modern Art during World War II, when her husband, the official curator, was called into the army. Nancy published and edited nearly two dozen books, including the work (1960) and biography of the photography Ansel Adams (1963), and has been credited as having introduced photography as an acceptable art medium.

Newland, Constance    see   Moss, Thelma

Newlin, Jacquiline Alice   see   Day, Alice

Newlin, Marceline    see   Day, Marceline

Newman, Daisy – (1904 – 1994)
American novelist, children’s writer and historian
Daisy Newman was born in Southport, England. She attended Radcliffe and Barnard Colleges in the USA, and then studied at Oxford in England. Newman was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends (Quakers) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was a church elder.
Newman later served as the director of the Music Center at Radcliffe (1960 – 1962) and published a history of the Quakers in America entitled A Procession of Friends (1972). She also published several fiction works including Diligence in Love (1951), I Take Thee, Serenity (1975) and Indian Summer of the Heart (1982). Her books for children included Timothy Travels (1927) and Sperli the Clockmaker (1932). Daisy Newman died in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Newman, Frances – (1883 – 1928)
American novelist and librarian
Newman was born (Sept 13, 1883) in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the author of the novel The Hard Boiled Virgin (1926) and was the editor of The Short Story’s Mutations from Petronius to Paul Morand (1924). Newman also kept a private journal of her travels in Europe (1914 – 1928) and corresponded with the novelist and essayist James Branch Cabell (1879 – 1958). Her Letters were edited and published in 1929. Frances Newman died (Oct 22, 1928) aged forty-five.

Newton, Evelyn Caroline Bromley-Davenport, Lady – (1859 – 1931)
British editor
Evelyn Bromley-Davenport was the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel William Bromley-Davenport, of Capesthorne, Chester, and Baginton Hall, Warwick, and his wife Elizabeth Campbell, the daughter of Walter Frederick Campbell, of Islay and Woodhall, Lanark. Through her mother Evelyn was the great-granddaughter of the novelist and writer, Lady Charlotte Bury (1777 – 1861).
Evelyn was married (1880) to Thomas Wodehouse Legh (1857 – 1942) who later succeeded as second Baron Newton (1898 – 1942), and to whom she bore four children, including Richard William Davenport Legh (1888 – 1960), third Baron Newton (1942 – 1960), who left issue, and Lettice Legh (1885 – 1968), who was married to Captain John Egerton-Warburton (1883 – 1915) and secondly to Lieutenant-Colonel John Dallas Waters (died 1967) of Ormersfield, near Basingstoke, Hants.
Lady Newton compiled the correspondence of the Legh family of Lyme, her husband’s ancestors. These letters were published under her direction in London as the Lyme Letters, 1660 – 1760 (1925). Lady Newton died (Sept 31, 1931) aged seventy-two.

Newton, Mary Leslie – (1874 – 1944)
American poet and educator
Mary Newton was born in Xenia, Ohio, and raised there. She moved with her family to Cleveland in Tennessee (1892), and attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Columbia University. Possessed with impressive oratorical style, she served for over two decades as the dean of All Saint’s, the Episcopalian girls’ school at Vicksburg in Mississippi. Her collection of verse A Crooked Staff, and Other Poems was published posthumously (1951). Mary Leslie Newton died (Sept 19, 1944) aged sixty-nine, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Newton, Wharetutu Anne – (c1810 – after 1870)
New Zealand Maori tribal matriarch
Wharetutu was the daughter of Tahuna of Ngai Tahu. She was married to an Englishman George Newton and bore him many children before being baptized as a Christian by Bishop Selwyn on which occasion she took the additional name of Anne (1844). She and her husband later became leading figures at the settlement at Otaku on Murray’s River.
With her husband’s death Wharetutu retired to Rakiura. Many of her children intermarried with whites (pakeha) and she became the matriarch of the large network of the Maori-Pakeha families scattered throughout southern New Zealand. She was still living when her family was granted land at Waitai Beach (1870) and was buried there. Her descendants in 1986 numbered over five thousand.

Nezhdanova, Antonia Vasilievna – (1873 – 1950)
Russian coloratura soprano
Antonia Nezhdanova was born near Odessa. After appropriate vocal training in her youth, Antonia ultimately joined the Bolshoi Theatre after making her stage debut in Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar (1902). From 1920 until the end of World War II, she was exceptionally famous and well respected as an opera singer within Russia. Her repertoire included Gilda, Juliette, Frau Fluth in The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Queen of the Night, Queen Margeurite in Les Huguenots, and Zerlina in Fra Diavolo, as well as performing more dramatic roles such as Desdemona and Tosca, and those of her native Russia. Nezhdanova sang at Monte Carlo and Paris for one season (1912), where she performed Gilda in Rigoletto, with Enrico Caruso and Ruffo. She began to teach singing in 1936, and was appointed a professor of the Moscow Conservatory. She was the author of Stranitsy Zhisni (1960) which was published posthumously. Madame Nezhdanova died (June 26, 1950) in Moscow.

Nga-kahu-whero – (c1795 – c1850)
New Zealand Maori tribal leader
She was born at Waihou, the daughter of Kahi and his wife Kaimanu, the daughter of Ngono, and was a descendant of the famous tribal leader Te Reinga from north Hokianga. Sometimes called Herepaenga she was married to a cousin Muriwhena to whom she bore several children. They established their own plantation at Te Riha and Nga-kahu-whero held the power to be entitled to proceeds from the sale of local lands and received royalties from the felling of trees. She accompanied her people into several battles and at her death was buried at Papanui on Pukekowhai. Her memory was venerated by her tribe and her descendants.

Ng Mei – (fl. c1700 – c1720)
Chinese martial arts expert
Ng Mei became a Buddhist nun at the famous Shaolin Temple, where she was trained in the styles of kung fu then taught. Recognised herself throughout China for her own proficiency, she strove to devise a more effective fighting method that did not stress such reliance upon brute strength. According to the legend, Ng Mei received the answer when she observed an encounter between a rodent and a stork, in which the bird used its wings as well as its legs to deflect the enemy. She founded the new style of martial art, Wing Chun kung fu, which was named in honour of her student Yim Wing Chun.

Ngoyi, Lilian Masediba – (1911 – 1980)
South African activist
Ngoyi was born near Pretoria. Her education was cut short due to the family’s poor pecuniary situation and she was forced to take a string of menial jobs. She was married, bore three children and was left a widow by the age of forty. Her own experiences as a poorly paid clothworker made Ngoyi determined to try and remedy the situation in South Africa. She organized protests agains the unpopular Pass Laws and sufferred arrest and imprisonment for her pains. Later charge with treason (1956), the charge was dropped, though she had endured over seventy days in solitary confinement prior to be acquitted. Lilian Ngoyi died under house arrest.

Nguyen Thi Binh    see    Binh, Nguyen Thi

Niccol, Dame Kathleen Agnes – (1895 – 1989)
New Zealand nun and vocal trainer
Niccol was born in Auckland and was educated by the Sisters of Mercy. Possessing an aptitude for music she took private classes in singing and elocution prior to becoming a teacher. She joined the Order of the Sisters of Mercy (1918) and became Sister Mary Leo in religion. She was appointed as choir mistress at St Mary’s College in Auckland, and the college provided the means for her to recive further musical training. Her students included Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major, and Elizabeth Hellawell. Niccol was later appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her contribution to music and the arts.

Nice, Margaret Morse – (1883 – 1974) 
American ornithologist
Born Margaret Morse in Amherst, Massachusetts, she studied natural science at Mount Holyoke College where she graduated (1906) before going on to study biology at Clark University. Morse married (1909) Leonard Nice, to whom she bore five daughters. She researched ornithology relying on her own close and detailed observations, and campaigned against the pervasive use of pesticides.

Niceta of Lycia – (d. c250 AD)
Graeco-Roman martyr and saint
Niceta was a native of Asia Minor. Niceta and her companion Aquilina had originally worked as prostitutes before being converted by the priest Christopher. They then gave away their possessions to the poor and lived as respectable Christian matrons. Niceta and Aquilina were arrested during the persecutions organized by the emperor Traianus Decius (249 – 251 AD). Refusing to make sacrifices to the pagan gods they were both put to death with extreme barbarity. Both are commemorated together (July 24) in the Acta Sanctorum.

Nicholas, Eva – (c1880 – before 1956)
Jamaican poet
Eva was the sister of the noted Caribbean poet Arthur E. Nicholas (1875 – 1934). Her best known poems included ‘The Ghost,’ ‘A Country Idyl’ and ‘Heralds of the Morning.’ Her work appears in the anthology by J.E. Clare McFarlane entitled Voices From Summerland: A Treasury of Jamaican Poetry (1956).

Nicholas, Mabel – (1866 – 1958)
Anglo-Australian nun and educator
Mabel Nicholas was born in England, the daughter of John Nicholas, and became an Anglican sister at Kilburn, Middlesex (1892). Mabel was later sent to Perth, in Western Australia, where she established the Perth Girls’ College (1902) and later also established and organized the Kalgoorlie High School for girls, and several other educational facilities. She was later appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to education (1949) by King George VI. Sister Nicholas died (July 16, 1958) aged ninety-two.

Nicholls, Agnes – (1871 – 1959) 
British soprano
Agnes Nicholls was born (July 14, 1871) in Cheltenham, London. She had vocal lessons with Alfred Harding, and then won a scholarship which enabled her to study under Alberto Visetti (1846 – 1928) at the Royal College of Music (1894 – 1900). Apart from her beautiful singing voice Nicholls was also a masterfully proficient violinist. Agnes made her stage debut as the unfortunate queen in Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (1895) and made her Covent Garden debut in the role of the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel (1901).
She performed three times before Queen Victoria and she sang in English the role of Siegelinde in Die Walkure from The Ring (1908) but was best remembered for her oratorio performances, perhaps most notably as the Virgin Mary in the first performance of Sir Edward Elgar’s The Kingdom. Nicholls was famous for her dramatic style and generous physical proportions. She appeared frequently at Covent Garden and was a principal performer with the British National opera Company.
Agnes Nicholl was married (1904) to the famous pianist, composer and conductor, Sir Hamilton Harty, who often accompanied her in recitals. She was the solo performer of her husband’s composition Ode to a Nightingale at the Cardiff Festival (1907). Nicholls was later appointed as CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in recognition to her contribution to music and the arts. Agnes Nicholls died (Sept 21, 1959) aged eighty-eight, in London.

Nicholls, Elizabeth – (1850 – 1943)
Australian suffragist and campaigner
Elizabeth Bakewell was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the daughter of a grocer. She visited England as a child and then became a Sunday school teacher in North Adelaide after her return. She was married (1870) to Alfred Nicholls to whom she bore five children. She became a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (1886) and was elected as provisional president of the Adelaide branch. She was later elected as colonial president of the WCTU (1889 – 1897). An enthusiastic orator she also joined the Women’s Suffrage league (1889) and was a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Adelaide Hospital Board, a position she retained for over twenty-five years (1895 – 1922). She served as state president of the Temperance union (1906 – 1927).

Nichols, Clarinda Irene Howard – (1810 – 1885)
American abolitionist, suffrage leader and temperance supporter
Clarinda Nichols was born in Kansas. Her correspondence with various editors and friends was later edited and published as The Forgotten Feminist of Kansas: The Papers of Clarinda I.H. Nichols, 1854 – 1885 (1973).

Nichols, Dandy – (1907 – 1986)
British character actress and comedienne
Born Daisy Nichols in Hammersmith, London (May 21, 1907), she often played maids or lower class Cockney women. Dandy Nichols became famous, and is best remembered, as Else, the long-suffering wife of Alf Garnett in the popular television series Till Death Do Us Part (1964 – 1976) and later appeared in the longer film version (1968). Film credits included Hue and Cry (1946), Street Corner (1952), The Vikings (1958) as Janet Leigh’s maid, The Alf Garnett Saga (1972) and Britannia Hospital (1983). The former television series was revived as In Sickness and in Health (1985 – 1986), where she appeared in a wheelchair. Dandy Nichols died (Feb 6, 1986) aged seventy-eight.

Nichols, Jeannette Paddock – (1890 – 1982)
American historian and author
Jeannette Paddock was born (Aug 17, 1890) in Rochelle, Illinois, the daughter of the newspaper publisher Hosea Cornish Savery Paddock. She attended Knox College and Columbia university and was married (1920) to Roy Nicholls, vice-provost of the University of Pennsylvania. For over three decades she was a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (1950 – 1982) and was a visiting professor to the University of Birmingham in Lancashire, England. She also served as a consultant to the US Treasury Department.
A member of the American Historical Association she served as president of the Middle States Council for Social Studies (1956 – 1957) and contributed articles to the Dictionary of American Biography. Her published work included Alaska: A History of Its Administration, Exploitation, and Industrial Development during Its First Half Century under the Rule of the United States (1924), Twentieth Century United States: A History (1943). With her husband she co-wrote The Republic of the United States: A History (1942) and A Short History of American Democracy (1943). Jeannette Nichols died (June 22, 1982) aged ninety-one, at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Nichols, Margaret    see  Nevil, Margaret

Nichols, Ruth Roland – (1901 – 1961)
American aviatrix
Ruth Nichols became the first woman to pilot a passenger air-plane. She set world records on the field of female speed and long distance flying. Nichols later became a campaigner for UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, later the United Nations Children’s Fund).

Nicholson, Dorothy    see   Wrinch, Dorothy

Nicholson, Eliza Jane Poitevent – (1849 – 1896)
American poet and editor
Eliza Poitevent was born near Pearlington, Hancock County, Mississippi, and later graduated from the Amite Female Academy (1867). She wrote poetry from her schooldays, and used the pseudonym of ‘Pearl River,’ taken from the name of a local waterway near her childhood home. Eliza contributed poetry to the New Orleans newspaper the Picayune, and later married the editor, Colonel Alvah Morris Holbrook. With the death of her first husband she remarried to George Nicholson, business manager to the same newspaper. She was the author of a collection of verse entitled Lyrics (1873) and was editor of the Picayune for twenty years (1876 – 1896). Eliza Nicholson died (Feb 15, 1896) aged fifty-six, in New Orleans, Louisiana, during an influenza epidemic.

Nicholson, Margaret – (1727 – 1826)  
British assassin
Nicholson was a deranged woman who attempted to stab King George III as he alighted from his coach at Buckingham Palace (1786), after pretending to present him with a petition. Her attempt failed and she was quickly captured. Unkempt and incoherent, the judges, Lord Mansfield and Lord Loughborough, ordered her confined at the Bethlehem Hospital for the insane. Nicholson remained confined there over forty years, a complete lunatic. Margaret Nicholson died (May 26, 1828) aged ninety-nine. She was portrayed on the screen by actress Janine Duvitski in the film The Madness of King George (1994) with Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Dame Helen Mirren.

Nicholson, Nora – (1892 – 1973)
British actress of stage and film
Nora Nicholson specialized in playing eccentric figures. Her film credits included The Blue Lagoon (1948), Crow Hollow (1952), A Town Like Alice (1956), and Diamonds for Breakfast (1969).

Nicholson, Rosemary – (1919 – 2004)
British gardener and horticulturalist
Rosemary was the wife of John Nicholson, with whom she founded the Museum of Garden History in south London. Rosemary Nicholson herself discovered the tombs of the famous Tradescants, John the elder and John the younger, in the neglected churchyard of St Mary-at-Lambeth in London. The elder had been employed as gardener to Lord Robert Cecil at Hatfield House and later by King Charles I, which position was filled by his son at his death in 1638. The churchyard had been scheduled to be demolished, but the Nicholson’s successfully campaigned to have it saved and turned into a museum to preserve it for the future. Rosemary Nicholson was appointed MBE (Member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of her work in this field.

Nicholson, Winifred – (1893 – 1981)
British botanical and abstract painter
Born Rosa Winifred Roberts (Dec 21, 1893) at Oxford into an upper class family, she was the maternal granddaughter of George James Howard, the ninth Earl of Carlisle. Winifred studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art and was married (1920) to the painter Ben Nicholson to whom she bore three children. Their marriage ended in divorce (1938). Winifred Nicholson worked in India, the Hebrides, north of Scotland, and in Paris and Italy, before finally settling in Cumbria, where she became a member of the, Seven and Five Society (1925 – 1935).
With the ensuing seperation from her husband, who left her to reside in London with Barbara Hepworth, she began experiementing with abstract designs, and exhibited for a decade using her mother’s maiden name of Dacre. Nicholson was the author of the essay entitled ‘Unknown Colour’ which was published in Circle, an International Survey of Constructive Art (1937). A retrospective of her work was held at the Tate Gallery in London (1987). Winifred Nicholson died (March 5, 1981) aged eighty-seven, at her estate of Bankshead, a farmhouse situated near Hadrian’s Wall.

Nicol, Helen Lyster – (1854 – 1932)
New Zealand suffrage leader and temperance campaigner
Helen Nicol was born (May 29, 1854) in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of a gardener. She arrived in New Zealand with her family aboard the Strathmore (1856) and became a Sunday school teacher. She remained unmarried and joined the New Zealand Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), and established the Loyal Temperance Legion which provided vocational training. Nicol was a pioneer of the suffrage cause in Dunedin where she co-founded the Women’s Franchise League (1892), and later joined the National Council of Women of New Zealand. Helen Nicol died (Nov 22, 1932) aged seventy-eight, in Dunedin.

Nicolay, Helen – (1866 – 1954)
American children’s biographer
Helene was born in Paris, France, the daughter of John George Nicolay (1832 – 1901), the German born private secretary to President Abraham Lincoln. Nicolay produced a biography of her father entitled Lincoln’s Secretary (1949), but was best known for her series of biographies written for juvenile boys such as The Boy’s Life of Ulysses S. Grant (1909), The Boys’ Life of Alexander Hamilton (1927), The Boys’ Life of Washington (1931) and The Boys’ Life of Benjamin Franklin (1935). Helen Nicolay died (Sept 12, 1954) aged eighty-eight.

Nicolcis-Podrinje, Dagmar – (1898 – 1967)
German courtier
Baroness Dagmar Nicolcis-Podrinje was born (July 5, 1898) in Agram, the daughter of Baron Vladimir Nicolcis-Podrinje and his wife Baroness Ella Scotti. She became the first wife (1919) in Vienna of Archduke Leopold of Austria-Tuscany (1897 – 1958) (known as Leopold Lorraine from 1953) but the marriage was not officially recognized and was regarded by the Hapsburgs as morganatic. The baroness was later granted the title of Baroness von Wolfenau (1922) after the birth of her only child Marie Gabrielle von Hapsburg-Lothringen (born 1922) who bore her mother’s title of Baroness von Wolfenau and was married to Jan von der Muhl. The marriage ended in divorce (1931) and Baroness Dagmar later retired to live in Lausanne in Switzerland, where she died (Nov 15, 1967) aged sixty-nine.

Nicole     see    Parturier, Francoise

Nicoletti, Susi – (1918 – 2005)
German actress
Born Susanne Emilie Luise Adele Habersack (Sept 3, 1918) in Munich, Bavaria, she was raised in Amsterdam, Holland. She was trained in ballet and made her stage debut at thirteen (1931). She worked in cabaret before appearing in over one hundred films such as Im Prater bluh’n wider die Baume (1958). Susi Nicoletti established herself as a considerable stage actress and appeared for over five decades with the Burgtheater in Vienna (1940 – 1992). Her husband was the theatrical director Ernst Haeussermann. Susi Nicoletti died (June 5, 2005) aged eighty-six.

Nicolson, Adela Florence    see    Hope, Laurence

Nicolson, Gerda – (1937 – 1992)
Australian stage and television actress
Nicolson was born (Nov 11, 1937). She appeared in popular soap operas such as Bellbird and then the police drama Bluey. Nicolson was best remembered for her role (1983 – 1986) as the prison governor Ann Reynolds in the cult classic Prisoner series. Gerda Nicolson collapsed and died (June 12, 1992) aged fifty-four, whilst preparing for a theatre performance.

Niebla, Leonor Manrique de Zuniga y Sotomayor, Condesa de – (c1530 – 1582)
Spanish estate manager
Leonor Manrique de Zuniga was the daughter of Alonso de Sotomayor, Conde de Benalcazar, and his wife Teresa de Zuniga, Duquesa de Bejar. She was married to Juan Carlos de Guzman (c1524 – 1556), ninth Conde de Niebla, and became the mother of Alonso de Guzman el Bueno, Duke of Medina Sidonia (1549 – 1615) later famous for his involvement with the ill-fated Spanish Armada against England (1587). Condesa Leonor was left a widow at a young age (1556) and two years later her son succeeded his paternal grandfather as seventh Duque de Medina-Sidonia (1558).
During her widowhood, the condesa superintended the management of her son’s extensive estates until her death, and also supervised his education, employing the humanist scholar, Pedro de Medina as his tutor. Medina’s history of the dukes of Medina-Sidonia, Cronica de los duques de Medina Sidonia, was dedicated to the condesa and her son. Condesa Leonor assisted with the arrangements for the marriage of her son to the daughter of the Prince de Eboli (1566). Her daughter, Maria Coronel de Guzman (c1551 – 1589) became the wife of Francisco de Zuniga, Marques de Gibraleon (later sixth Duque de Bejar). Condesa Leonor died (April 27, 1582) aged about fifty-one.

Niebuhr, Ursula – (1906 – 1997)
Anglo-American theological scholar and educator
Ursula was born in Southampton, England, and attended St Hugh’s College at Oxford where she studied history and theology. She became the first woman to win a fellowship to the Union Theological Seminary in New York. She married (1931) the noted theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (died 1971). Ursula Niebuhr was the founder of the department of religion at Barnard College, and then served as chairwoman. She later edited two collections of her late husband’s work. Ursula Niebuhr died (Jan 10, 1997) aged eighty-nine, at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Niedecker, Lorine – (1903 – 1970)
American poet
Niedecker was born (May 12, 1903) on Black Hawk Island, near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. She was the only female writer to be associated with the Objectivist poetry movement. She published the collection of poems New Goose (1946). Lorine Niedecker died (Dec 31, 1970) aged sixty-seven.

Niedra, Aida – (1899 – 1972)
Latvian poet and novelist
Born Ida Niedra, at Vidzeme, she was raised in the country, the inborn love of the land a constant theme in her later work. She attended school locally, and worked as a secretary to a local justice of the peace in Riga. Her married name was Salmina. With the eruption of WW II, Niedra fled to Germany as a refugee (1944 – 1949), after which she immigrated to the USA, and resided in California. Favourably compared with Anna Brigadere, Niedra’s female characters are powerful figures, filled with stubborn defiance at what destiny hands them. Her works included Tris Cannu sievietes (1954), Perles Majores draugs (1958), Holivudas klauns (1963), Atkal Eiropa (1968) and Riga dienas, nedienas (1970). Ada Niedra died (Nov 23, 1972) aged seventy-three, in Santa Monica, California.

Nielsen, Asta – (1883 – 1972)
Danish film actress
Nielsen was born into poverty in Copenhagen. She trained for the stage at the school atached to the Royal Theatre and established herself as an excellent actress before she discovered by the silent film director August Blom. Asta later married Urban Gad with whom she went to Germany, and who directed well over two dozen of her films such as Das Madchen ohne Vaterland (1912) and Zapatas Bande (1914).
After her divorce from Gad (1916) she went on to work with a variety of directors, and formed her own company with her second husband. Asta Nielsen was best known for her classical roles including Hedda Gabbler (1924) by Henrik Ibsen. She appeared in only one sound film Unmogliche Liebe (1932). With the rise of the Nazi regime she returned to Denmark, where she lived in retirement. She published her memoirs The Silent Muse (1946).

Nielsen, Dorise Winifred – (1902 – 1980)
Canadian politician and educator
Nielsen was born (July 30, 1902) and became involved in politics from an early age, joing the Canadian branch of the Communist Party. She represented the seat of North Battleford in Saskatchewan and became the first member of that party to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons (1940), and only the third woman. She ran twice more for re-election (1945) and (1953) but proved unsuccessful. She remained unmarried. Dorise Nielsen died (Dec 9, 1980) aged seventy-eight.

Niemiryczowa, Antonina – (c1702 – c1760)
Polish poet and translator
Antonina was the daughter of a landholder and aministrator from eastern Poland. She was educated by the Bernardine Sisters at Lemberg (Lwow) and completed her linguistic education at home. Antonina was married (c1722) to a Lithuanian official, Karol Neimirycz, and the couple resided at Czerniechow in Obrucki. Widowed in 1753, Antonina went to reside at Zolotyjow, near Rowne, in modern Belorussia.
Apart from translations of French poetry, she produced her own collection of poems, Zebranie wierszow polskich (1753), wriiten at the time of her widowhood, which survived but remained unpublished. Antonia Niemiryczowa died (before June in 1760).

Nienburg, Gisela Agnes von Rath, Countess von – (1669 – 1740)
German ruler
Gisela von Rath was born (Oct 9, 1669), the daughter of Balthasar Wilhelm von Rath-Wulknitz, of non-royal birth, and his wife Magdalena von Wuthenau. She was raised as a Lutheran. Madamoiselle von Rath was an attractive woman and was noticed by Prince Emanuel Lebrecht of Anhalt-Kothen (1671 – 1704), two years her junior. Gisela refused to become his mistress and when the youthful prince came of legal age and began to rule independently of his councillors and advisers, he married Gisela morganatically (1692) as his second wife. After the birth of a son and heir Leopold (1694), the Emperor Leopold I granted Gisela the official title of Countess von Nienburg. Five other children followed. Several years later her children were declared fully legitimate by several royal edicts (1698 – 1699), with full rights of succession to the small principality of Kothen.
Due to this marriage the prince granted freedom of worship to his Lutheran subjects, though this relaxation led to tensions with his Reformed Church subjects. With her husband’s early death the countess ruled Kothen as regent for her elder son Leopold (1704 – 1715). Her second surviving son August later succeeded his brother (1728 – 1755). Of her two surviving daughters, Eleonore Wilhelmine (1696 – 1726) was married firstly to Duke Friedrich Erdmann of Saxe-Merseburg, and secondly to Duke Ernst August I of Saxe-Weimar, whilst Princess Christina Charlotte (1702 – 1745) remained unmarried. Countess Gisela died (March 12, 1740) aged seventy.

Niese, Ruth Halstead – (1897 – 1979) 
American radiologist
Niese was trained in radiology at the Memorial Hospital in New York. For three years (1920 – 1923) she supervised a laboratory in Jersey City, where radon gas was extracted from radium. A correspondent of the French physicist Marie Curie, Ruth provided ampules of the gas which would eventually be used in the early syages of atomic research.
During WW II Ruth served with the American Red Cross Ambulance Service. She was also a chief inspector of an aircraft production plant in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Niese was one of the first American women to train and practice as a radiologist. Ruth Halstead Niese died of a heart attack (Aug 31, 1979), in Orange, New Jersey.

Nietzsche, Elisabeth    see    Forster, Elisabeth

Nigh, Jane - (1926 - 1993)
American minor actress
Born Bonnie Lenora Nigh (Feb 25, 1926) in Hollywood, California, she originally worked in a factory. Jane Nigh appeared in her first film in Something for the Boys (1944) during WW II. She became a successful leading lady in B films such as State Fair (1945), Dragonwyck (1946) with Vincent Price and Gene Tierney, Give My Regards to Broadway (1948), County Fair (1950), Blue Blood (1951) and Hold That Hypnotist (1957) which was her last film. Miss Nigh also appeared in the television series Big Town (1952 - 1953).

Nightingale, Florence – (1820 – 1910)
British nurse and administrator
Florence Nightingale was born (May 12, 1820) in Florence, Italy, the daughter of wealthy British landowner from Hampshire. She had a vocation for nursing from early childhood, and eventually wore away the oppostion of her parents. She travelled to Europe to witness nursing methods first hand, and gained personal experience with the deaconesses of Kaiserswerth, and with a nursing order of nuns in Paris (1852).
On her return to England, Nightingale was appointed as superintendent of the London Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen (1853), but with the outbreak of the Crimean War she agreed to take thirty-eight nurses that she had trained herself to run the army hospital at Scutari in Turkey (1854 – 1856).
Whilst having to wage a continuous battle against ridiculous bureaucracies and medical incompetence Nightingale eventually succeeded in establishing clean and sanitary conditions for the wounded soldiers, using her own finances to provid food and other necessaries. She reorganized the hospital at Balaclava, and the deathrate dropped considerably. Nightingale was idolised by the British troops, and she achieved legendary status as the famous ‘Lady with the lamp,’ which referred to her habit of walking the wards to check on the men herself late at night.
After her return to England she founded a training school for nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital (1861), and she introduced reforms such as competitive exams and nursing uniforms, which raised the public perception of the status of nurses in general. Florence Nightingale resided quietly as an invalid for over twenty years (1858 – 1880), and many of the next fifteen years were spent in quiet, contemplative religious study.
From 1896 her health and faculties began to fail. She became the first woman to be awarded the OM (Order of Merit) from King Edward VII (1907). Florence Nightingale died (Aug 13, 1910) aged ninety.

Nigrina, Mummia – (fl. c85 – 90 AD)
Roman literary patron
Mummia Nigrina was probably the daughter of L. Mummius Niger Quintus Valerius Vegetus Severinus Caucidus Tertullus, consul (91 AD), and was related to Annia Regilla, the wife of Herodes Atticus. Nigrina was a member of the court of the emperor Domitian and became the wife of of Lucius Antistius Rusticus, consul suffect (80 AD), who was appointed as governor of Cappodocia and Galatia in Asia Minor (92 – 93 AD). Her marriage, which took place c88 AD, was the subject of a laudation by the poet Martial. Rusticus died in Cappodocia (93 or 94 AD).

Nihani – (fl. c1650 – c1670) 
Iranian poet
Nihani was the sister of Khwaja Afdal, vizier of the Safavid Sultan Husayn Bayqara. A talented poet and scholar, Nihani held an official position in the household of the mother of Shah Sulayman. A famous beauty, Nihani publicly exhibited some of her verses at the crossroads of the bazaar, offerring to marry the man skilled enough to reply to them. According to the tradition, no contemporary poets were able to challenge her literary skill.

Nihell, Elizabeth – (1723 – after 1772)
British midwife and author
Elizabeth Nihell was born in London and studied midwifery at the Hotel Dieu in Paris for several years (1747 – 1749). She was married to a surgeon and established her own practice in Haymarket in London which she successfully operated for over twenty years. Nihell feared the encroachment of male midwives such as William Smellie and his students upon the formerly totally female profession and produced the Treatise on the Art of Midwifery (1760), which was later translated into French (1771). This was ridiculed by Tobias Smollett in The Critical Review (1760), and Nihell replied with An Answer to the Author of The Critical Review.

Nihill, Linda – (1921 – 1990)
Aboriginal Australian nurse
Linda was born at Granite Downs in the Everard Ranges of South Australia. She was raised in a home for aboirignal children at Colebrook with her siblings and attended the local school at Quorn. She then studied with the Salvation Army and was married to Vincent Nihill. With the outbreak of WW II she joined the WAAA (Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force), and worked as a nurse in Ballarat and Heidelburg in Victoria. For almost four decades she was employed as a hospital assistant with the Heidelburg and the Macleod repatriation hospitals. Linda Nihill died (Sept 19, 1990) aged sixty-nine.

Nijinska, Bronislava Fominitchna – (1891 – 1972)
Russian ballet dancer and choreographer
Nijinska was born (Jan 8, 1891) in Minsk, the daughter of professional performers and was sister of the famous dancer Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky (1890 – 1950). She attended the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg, where she was taught by Fokine and others, after which she became a solist with the Marinskii Theatre. Bronislava performed with Diaghilev’s ballets Russes in Paris and London, and created several ballets such as Les Noces (1923) and Les Biches (1924).
Madame Nijinska served as ballet mistress of the Opera Russe in Paris (1930 – 1934) and produced the choreography for the ballet Danses Slaves et Tziganes (1936). She performed all over the world and later established her own company and then a ballet school in Los Angeles, California (1938). Herreminiscences entitled Early Memoirs (1982) were published posthumously. Bronislava Nijinska died (Feb 21, 1972) aged eighty-one, at Pacific Palisades in California.

Nijinsky, Kyra Vaslavovna – (1914 – 1998)
Russian-American ballerina
Born in Vienna, Austria Kyra was the daughter of the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky (190 – 1950) and was also niece to Bronislava Nijinskaia under whom she trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School. She appeared as her father in Le Spectre de la Rose (1934) and then worked with the Ballet Rambert where she appeared in her father’s ballet Apres-Midi d’un Faune. She created the role of the Mortal Born Under Neptune in Anthony Tudor’s astrological ballet The Planets (1934). Her career all but ended after her marriage (1936) with the conductor Igor Markevitch from whom she was later divorced. Accused of spying by the Nazis during WW II she later retired to the USA where she became a spiritualist painter and poet. Her last years were spent in seclusion. Kyra Nijinsky died (Sept 1, 1998) aged eighty-four, in San Rafael, California.

Nikaea of Macedonia – (c344 – after 299 BC)
Greek queen
Nikaea was the daughter of Antipater, the regent of Macedonia for Alexander the Great. Her mother Arsinoe was a Macedonian princess, perhaps a daughter of King Aeropus II. Nikaea was married (c325 BC) as his first, Lysimachus I (361 – 281 BC), King of Thrace. Queen Nikaea was the mother of a son and heir Agathokles II (319 – 283 BC), who was appointed co-ruler with his father, but was killed in a dynastic intrigue instigated by his stepmother, Arsinoe II (283 BC).
Her daughter Arsinoe I became the first wife of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt. Nikaea was displaced as chief queen (299 BC) when Lysimachus remarried polygamously to Arsinoe II. Nothing is recorded of her life after this date.

Nikolaievna, Klavdiya Ivanovna – (1894 – 1944)
Russian feminist and campaigner for women’s rights
Klavdiya Nikolaievna was born in St Petersburg and was trained to work as a bookbinder. Prior to the revolution she suffered several periods of imprisonment because of her subversive activities. Nikolaievna was later appointed as head of the women’s section (zhenotdel) of the Communist Party (1924 – 1926), but was later dismissed because of her support for a rebel politician. She later received minor appointments.

Nilkanth, Vidyagaurai – (1876 – 1958)
Indian social reformer and educator
Born Vidyagaurai Gopilal (June 1, 1876) in Ahmedabad, she became the first Gujarati woman to graduate from university. She became the wife (1889) of Rao Baihader Sir Ramanbhai Mahipatram Nilkanth (died 1928), who was knighted in 1927, and to whom she bore seven children.
Lady Nilkanth became president of the All India Women’s Council (1926 – 1935) in Ahmedabad, and of the All India Women’s Conference (1932 – 1933). She was a firm opposer of child marriages, and encouraged the remarriage of widows and marriages between castes. She was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) by King George V of England (1919) in recognition of her public work in these and other civic fields. She later resigned her medals and her political seat in protest against the repressive government policies. Lady Nilkanth was the author of Narikunj (1956) and Jnansudha (1957).

Nilofar    see    Delkash

Nilsson, Anna Q. – (1889 – 1974)
Swedish-American popular silent film actress
Anna Querentia Nilsson was born (March 30, 1889) at Ystad in Sweden. She worked as a mdel prior to working in American films such as Molly Pitcher (1911), The Siege of Petersburg (1912), Uncle Tom's Cabin (1913), and Barbara Fritchie (1915). She worked in Hollywood from 1919 onwards, and who also appeared in talkies such as School for Girls (1935), Paradise for Three (1938), They Died with Their Boots On (1942), Cry Havoc (1943), The Valley of Decision (1945), The Good Old Summertime (1949) and Adam's Rib (1949). She played herself in the famous Sunset Boulevarde (1950) with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Her last film role was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

Nilsson, Birgit – (1922 – 2005)
Swedish operatic soprano
Marta Birgit Nilsson was born near Karup in Kristianstadslaen. She attended the Stockholm Royal Academy of Music, and was taught by the noted Scottish tenor, Joseph Hislop. Birgit made her stage debut in 1946, after which she performed with the Stockholm Royal Opera (1947 – 1951) and worked with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Nilsson became one of the foremost performers of Wagnerian roles, and also famously performed the operas of Puccini and Verdi.

Nilsson, Christine – (1843 – 1921) 
Swedish soprano
Born Christine Tornerhjelm (Aug 20, 1843) at Sjoabol, near Wexico in Sweden, she was trained at Halmstad, Stockholm by the noted violinist Johann Frederik Berwald (1787 – 1861). Christine then travelled to France, and studied under Francois Wartel in Paris, where she made her stage debut (1864) as Violetta in La Traviata at the Theatre-Lyrique in Paris.
Nilsson made her first appearance in London (1867), and was particularly noted for her roles in operas such as The Magic Flute, Don Juan, Faust, and Robert the Devil, amongst others. She was the first Margherita in Boito’s Mefistofele and was the first soprano to appear as Margeurite in Faust at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1883). Nilsson was married twice, secondly (1887 – 1902) to the Count Casa de Miranda. Christine Nilsson died (Nov 22, 1921) aged seventy-eight, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nilufer – (fl. c1320 – c1340)
Ottoman sultana or concubine
Nilufer was one of the later wives of Orhan (1324 – 1362) the second sultan of the Ottoman dynasty. She was perhaps of Persian origins and her name meant ‘waterlily.’ She was probably of upper class family and may have been captured as a spoil of war by Sultan Osman and was given by him to his son Orhan who then married her (c1322). The story that made her the daughter of the Greek lord of bilejk is thought to refer instead to Orhan’s later wife Asporca.
Nilufer was the mother of Orhan’s heir and successor Sultan Murad I (1326 – 1389). She was once identified under the name Bayalun as the wife of Orhan who received the traveller Ibn Battuta at the city of Iznik (1331) but his older wife Efendi is more likely to have been meant as Battuta was obviously referring to a mature woman.

Nin, Anais – (1903 – 1977)
French-American feminist writer, letter writer and memoirist
Anais Nin was born (Feb 21, 1903) in Paris of mixed Spanish ancestry. She was raised in the USA from 1914 and was later married to the banker, Hugh Guiler. She later returned to Paris and studied psychoanalysis under Otto Rank. Nin’s first published novel was House of Incest (1936), which was followed by Winter of Artifice (1939), A Spy in the House of Love (1954) and The Novel of the Future (1968).
Nin is best remembered however for her seven published Journals (1966 – 1983), which covered forty years of her life from 1931 and for her short stories, which were collected together in Under a Glass Bell (1944). She was for many years a member of the intellectual salons of Paris and New York, and much of her work dealt with the quest for self-fulfillment and personal freedom. Anais Nin died (Jan 14, 1977) aged seventy-three.

Ninci, Ave – (1914 – 1997)
Italian stage, television and film actress
Ninci was born (Dec 14, 1914). She appeared in almost one hundred films such as Tomorrow Is Too Late (1949), Lacombe Lucien (1974) which was produced by Louis Malle, Cleopazza, Las Otonales, Plein Soleil, and, Le Ambiziose.
Her most famous television appearances included roles in popular series such as Biblioteca di Studio Uno: La primula rossa and, Nel mondo di Alice. Ave Ninci died (Nov 10, 1997) aged eighty-three.

Ninci, Clemenza – (fl. c1600 – c1650)
Italian dramatist
Clemenza Ninci was born into a patrician family, and became a Benedictine nun at the convent of San Michele in Prato. Ninci is known to history for one work, the play Sposalizio d’Iparchia filosofa (The Marriage of Hipparchia, Lady Philosopher), which she had written to be performed within the convent. The sisters all took roles in the play, Clemenza herself playing the role of a deranged astrologer. Her use of comedy was considered scholarly.

Nino – (c280 – c340 AD)
Armenian Christian slave, ascetic recluse and saint
Nino was born in Cappodocia, Asia Minor. She served at court in the household of Queen Nana (Sophia) of Georgia, whom she converted to Christianity, along with her husband, King Mirian (333 AD). As a result of this conversion the Roman emperor Constantine sent Mirian priests to instruct his people in the new religion. Nino spent the remainder of her life as a recluse at Bodbe in Kakhetia.

Nirenska, Pola – (1911 – 1992)
Polish choreographer and educator
Pola Nirenska was born in Warsaw of Jewish antecedents and studied music and dance in Dresden, Saxony under Mary Wigman. She toured the USA and Germany with Wigman’s dance troupe (1932 – 1933) and then began working solo. She was awarded the first prize for choreography and the second prize for performing at the International Dance Congress in Vienna (1934).
At the beginning of WW II she migrated to England where she gave recitals and worked to entertain the troops. During this time she modeled for the noted sculptor Jacob Epstein. Nirenska later came to reside in New York where she studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman amongst others. She later removed to Washington where she became a teacher of ballet and modern dance and established her own dance troupe. Her pupils included the composers Sharon Wyrick and Liz Lerman.
Her works included In Memory of Those I loved … Who Are No More (1990) which was in memory of holocaust victims. Pola Nirenska died (July 25, 1992) aged eighty-one at Bethedsa, Maryland, after suffering a fall.

Nirilla – (d. c303 AD)
Graceo-Roman Christian martyr and saint
Nirilla was arrested with her friend Maurella and other Christians in Africa, during the persecutions initiated by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian Daia. Refusing to abjure their faith and make sacrifice to pagan deities they were all put to death. Her feast (May 21) is recorded in the Acta Sanctorum.

Nithsdale, Winifrede Herbert, Countess of – (1672 – 1749)
Scottish Jacobite heroine
Lady Winefride Herbert was the daughter of William Herbert, Marquess and first Duke of Powis and his wife Lady Elizabeth Somerset. Her mother served as governess to the children of King James II and Queen Mary Beatrice and Winifrede and her sisters attended her at court. With the revolution of 1688 the family left England for Paris, and attended the exiled court at St Germain-en-Laye. She was married in Paris (1699) William Maxwell, Earl of Nithsdale (1676 – 1746) to whom she bore two children.
Lord Nithsdale was captured by the Hanoverians at the battle of Preston (1715) and was imprisoned within the Tower of London, being sentenced to death with other Jacobite peers. Lady Nithsdale travelled to London by coach and threw herself at the feet of George I at the palace of St James’s pleading for mercy, but the king remained unmoved. With the aid of a lady friend Cecilia Evans, Lady Nithsdale cleverly affected her husband’s escape from the Tower, disguising him in a hood and cloak. He was then conveyed to Dover disguised in the livery coat of a servant of the Venetian ambassador, where he hired a small boat which conveyed him to safety at Calais.
The countess’s arrest was ordered, but she managed to escape detection, and first returned to Scotland to protect her young son and put her family affairs in order, since she had buried her papers, jewels, and plate in the garden of the family home before her previous journey to London. With these tasks safely accomplished, Lady Nithsdale crossed to France, and travelled to meet her husband in Rome (1716).
A close friend to Queen Mary Beatrice, the widow of James II, the countess was personally entrusted to deliver the late queen’s jewels to her son James at Urbino (1718). She later attended the court of James and his wife Maria Clementina, firstly as a lady-in-waiting, and later as governess to the royal children, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his brother Henry. She survived her husband five years as the Dowager Countess of Nithsdale (1744 – 1749). Lady Nithsdale died (May, 1749) in Rome.

Nitokris     see also   Naqi’a Zakutu

Nitokris – (c2210 – c2157 BC)
Queen of Egypt
Nitokris was the daughter of King Pepi II of the VIth Dynasty (2282 – 2117 BC), and was married (c1295 BC) to her half-brother, King Merenre Antyemzaef (c2240 – c2169 BC) but produced no known children. She became queen when her brother came to the throne (c2187 BC). According to the historian Manetho, Nitokris was a famous beauty, and with her husband’s death, she then ruled alone for twelve years.
The Greek historian Herodotus records the tale of how the queen committed suicide by being immured within a chamber full of hot ashes and suffocating herself, after taking vengeance upon certain Egyptians who had slain her brother, the king, in order to place her on the throne, by having them all drowned during a banquet in an underground chamber.

Niuhuru     see    Ci-An

Niva, Rose    see   Stoltz, Rosina

Nivedita, Sister     see    Noble, Margaret Elizabeth

Nivelles, Ida de – (1199 – 1231)
Flemish Cistercian nun, mystic and saint
Ida was born at Nivelles. Ida desired to lead the religious life and practised extreme self-mortification from an early age. She joined the Cistercian nuns at the convent of Ramey in Brabant, near Namur, where she became famous for her gifts of prophecy and mystical visions of angels and the Virgin Mary. Ida later received the signs of the stigmata and died aged thirty-two, being revered as a saint (April 13). She is sometimes known as Ida of Louvain.

Nixon, Kathleen Irene – (1894 – 1988)
British children’s author, painter and illustrator
Kathleen Nixon was born in London, where she established herself as a successful commercial artist. After her marriage when she became Mrs Blundell, she travelled to India and worked as an illustrator for such newspapers as the Times of India Press and did work for the Indian State Railways. Nixon travelled extensively in the USA, Australia, and Japan and China, and had exhibitions of her work in various cities.
She was best known for her children’s books such as Pushti (1956) and Pindi Poo (1957). Her other published works included the fully illustrated Animal Mothers and Babies (1960), The Bushy Tail Family (1963) and Animals and Birds in Folklore (1969).

Nizet, Marie – (1859 – 1922)
Belgian poet
Nizet was the daughter of an academic from the Bibliotheque Royale in Brussels. Her first two works were published when she was eighteen Le Capitaine vampire (1877) a popular vampire story, and Moscou et Bucarest (1877) in which she pleaded the political cause of the Romanian people. Her married life ended in divorce after the birth of her child.
Nizet’s work only received recognition after her death and the posthumous publication of Pour Axel de Missie (For Axel) (1923). Other of her works included Pierre le Grand a Jassi (Peter the Great at Jassi) (1878). Marie Nizet died at Boisfort.

Noailles, Amable Gabrielle de – (1706 – 1742)
French society figure
Amable de Noailles was born (Feb 18, 1706) the daughter of Adrien Maurice, third Duc de Noailles and his wife Francoise Charlotte Amable d’Aubigne, the daughter of Comte Charles d’Aubigne and niece of Madame de Maintenon, the second wife of Louis XIV. She became the first wife (1721) of Honore Armand, second Duc de Villars (died 1770). Amable became the mistress of the Regent Philippe II d’Orleans to whom she bore a daughter, Amable Angelique de Villars (1723 – 1771), later the Comtesse d’Egmond. The child bore the name of her stepfather and was raised in his household, though her real parentage was widely known. Amable de Noailles died (Sept, 1742) aged thirty-six.

Noailles, Anna Elisabeth de Brancovan, Comtesse de – (1876 – 1933)
French poet and author
Princess Anna Bassaraba de Brancovan was born (Nov 15, 1876) in Paris, the daughter of a Romanian prince, Gregory Bassaraba de Brancovan, and his wife Rallouka Mururus. Her younger sister Helene was the Princesse de Caraman-Chimay. She was married (1897) to Comte Matthieu de Noailles (1873 – 1942) to whom she bore a son (1908). Acquainted with the company of writers, philosophers and politicians from childhood, in 1901 she produced her Le Cover innombramble, a collection of poems describing the French landscape.
The comtesse also produced novels including La Nouvelle Esperance (1903), Le Visage emetueille (1904) and La Domination (1905). Another collection of poems Les E’blouissements (1907) established her literary reputation, and won her the recognition of Marcel Proust. From 1907 to 1912 Mme de Noailles travelled abroad because of ill-health. Returning to Paris, she established a salon there which was requented by many of the famous literary and artistic figure of the day. In 1921 she was elected to the Academie Royale de Belgique.
Madame de Noailles was the author of two more collections of verse Les Vivants Les Mort (1913) and Les Forces e’turnelles (1921), and an uncompleted autobiography Lie Livre de ma Vie (1932). The Comtesse died (April 30, 1933) aged fifty-six, in Paris.

Noailles, Catherine Francoise Charlotte de Cosse-Brissac, Duchesse de – (1729 – 1794)
French courtier and revolutionary victim
Catherine de Cosse-Brissac was the daughter of Charles Timoleon de Cosse, Duc de Brissac and his wife Catherine Madeleine Pecoil de La Villedieu. She was married (1737) to Louis, Comte and later fourth Duc de Noailles (1713 – 1793), to whom she bore four children. Madame de Noailles held a high position at the court of Louis XV, serving his wife Queen Marie Lesczcynska as dame du palais (lady-in-waiting). Louis appointed the Comtesse to attend the new dauphine, Marie Antoinette of Austria from the Austrian border to Paris for her marriage (1770), and she remained the senior lady of the Dauphine’s new household at Versailles.
A stickler for court protocol, the comtesse was horrified by the Dauphine’s disregard for court ritual and her emotional outbursts, and this in return earned her the epithet of ‘Madame Etiquette.’ The Austrian ambassador, Count Mercy observed in summing up her character; ‘In spite of her defects, it is certainly that the Comtesse de Noailles is a member of the Court who has learnt drawbacks in her special place, but has so little character of cleverness that it is impossible to make her see reason or envisage the best means of discharging her duties.’ With the accession of Louis XVI (1774), the new queen insisted on Madame de Noailles retirement from her service, replacing her with her friend, the Princesse de Lamballe.
In later years, the duchesse (as she became) grew notably eccentric, and even believed that she had entered into a correspondence with the Virgin Mary, which delusion was fostered by her father confessor, who wrote Mary’s replies. Despite frail health, and being almost totally deaf, she was arrested and imprisoned by order of the Revolutionary Tribunal. The Duchesse de Noailles was guillotined in Paris (June 27, 1794), sharing a tumbril with her daughter-in-law, the Duchesse d’Ayen, and her granddaughter, the Vicomtesse de Noailles. Their confessor, Father Carrichon, risked arrest and death to grant the women religious absolution from the crowd, and left a written account of their executions.
In the first film version of Marie Antoinette (1938) with Norma Shearer and Robert Morley, Madame de Noailles was portrayed by Cora Witherspoon. In the later version of Marie Antoinette (2007) which starred Kirstin Dunst in the title role, she was played by Australian actress Judy Morris.

Noailles, Francoise Charlotte Amable d’Aubigne, Duchesse de – (1684 – 1739)
French courtier
Francoise Charlotte d’Aubigne was born (May 5, 1684) the daughter of Comte Charles d’Aubigne (1634 – 1703) and his wife Genevieve Pietre, and was niece to Madame de Maintenon, the second wife of Louis XIV. She was married (1698) to Adrien Maurice, third Duc de Noailles (1678 – 1766) and marshal of France, the wedding being recorded in the Memoires of the Duc de Saint-Simon. The duchesse died (Oct 6, 1739) aged fifty-five. Her children were,

• Francoise Adelaide de Noailles (1704 – 1776). She was married to Charles de Lorraine, Prince d’Elboeuf (1684 – 1751). They were divorced and there were no children.
• Amable Gabrielle de Noailles (1706 – 1742). She became the wife of Honore Armand, second Duc de Villars (died 1770).
• Louis, fourth Duc de Noailles (1713 – 1793). He was married and left issue.
• Philippe de Noailles, Duc de Mouchy (1715 – 1794). He was married and left issue.
• Marie Louise de Noailles (c1716 – 1782). She was married to Jacques de Nompar, Duc de Caumont (1714 – 1755).

Noailles, Marie Louise de – (1758 – 1794)
French courtier and Revolutionary victim
Marie Louise de Noailles was the daughter of Louis de Noailles, Duc d’Ayen and later Duc de Noailles and his first wife Anne Henriette d’Aguesseau. Her grandmother Duchesse Catherine de Noailles served as superintendent of the household of Marie Antoinette as Dauphine of France (1770 – 1774) and her younger sister Marie Adrienne de Noailles was the wife of the famous Marquis de La Fayette. Marie Louise was married (1773) to her cousin the Vicomte Louis Marie de Noailles (1756 – 1804) to whom she bore three children.
The Vicomtesse de Noailles was arrested by order of the Revolutionary Tribunal during Robespierre’s Terror, her children being secreted to safety by devoted servants. She was imprisoned with her mother and her grandmother. She was sentenced to death and shared her tumbril with her mother and grandmother. She was guillotined in Paris (June 27, 1794) aged thirty-five, her youthful appearance creating sympathy wth the crowd. The family confessor Father Carrichon left a moving account of their deaths which he witnessed from the crowd. Her children were,

• Louis Adolphe Alexis, Comte de Noailles (1783 – 1835). He married and left issue.
• Alfred Victor, Vicomte de Noailles (1784 – 1812). He married and left issue.
• Euphemie de Noailles (1790 – 1870). She was married (1810) to Olivier de Saint-Georges, Marquis de Verac, and left issue.

Nob, Victorine   see   Stoltz, Rosina

Noble, Iris – (1922 – 1986)
Canadian-American juvenile biographer and novelist
Born Iris Davis (Feb 22, 1922) in Calgary, Alberta, and was raised in the USA from 1933. She was attended the University of Oregon and Stanford University and was married (1940) to the writer Hollister Noble.
Mrs Noble worked as a publicity director and a freelance writer, and produced several well known biographies included Nellie Bly: First Woman Reporter (1955), Clarence Darrow: Defense Attorney (1957), Great Lady of the Theatre: Sarah Bernhardt (1959), William Shakespeare (1960), First Woman Ambulance Surgeon: Emily Barringer (1962) for which she was awarded the silver medal by the Commonwealth Club of California, Leonardo da Vinci: The Universal Genius (1965), Firebrand for Justice: A Biography of Louis Dembitz Brandeis (1969), Spain’s Golden Queen Isabella (1969), Frederick Law Olmstead: Park Designer (1974) and Susan B. Anthony (1975).
Her novels included One Golden Summer (1959) and The Tender Promise (1962). Iris Noble died (June 30, 1986) aged sixty-four, in Patzcuaro, Mexico.

Noble, Margaret Elizabeth – (1867 – 1911)
Anglo-Indian social reformer and religious figure
Noble was born in Ireland (Oct 28, 1867). She came to India (1898) and joined the Ramakrishna Mission, her education there overseen by her mentor, Vivekananda. She became known as ‘Sister Nivedita’ and criticized the policies of the Raj, supporting the Swadesh movement and young revoutionaries in Bengal. Margaret Noble died (Oct 13, 1911) aged forty-three, at Darjeeling.

Nobuko – (1891 – 1933)
Japanese Imperial princess
Princess Nobuko was born (Aug 7, 1891), the third daughter of the emperor Meiji (1867 – 1912) and his concubine, the lady-in-waiting Sono Sachiko. She was the half-sister of the Emperor Taisho (1912 – 1926) and aunt to the Emperor Showa (Hirohito) (1926 – 1989). She was married (1909) to her kinsman Prince Asaka (1887 – 1981) and left several children. Princess Nobuko died (Nov 3, 1933) aged forty-two.

Nock, Olive – (1893 – 1977)
Australian textile designer and painter
Olive Nock was the daughter of Thomas Nock, businessman and founder if the Sydney department store Nock & Kirby’s. Receiving art lessons in her youth from George Collingridge, Olive worked in with a great variety of arts and crafts, including china painting, and adapted aboriginal and native flora and fauna motifs for her work, some of which are preserved in the Powerhouse and Mint museums in Sydney. She remained unmarried. Olive Nock died in Sydney.

Noel, Augusta Keppel, Lady – (1838 – 1902)
British writer
Lady Augusta Keppel was born (April 26, 1838) the youngest daughter of George Thomas Keppel (1799 – 1871), sixth Earl of Albemarle and his wife Susan, the daughter of Sir Coutts Trotter. Lady Augusta became the wife (1873) of Ernest Noel (1831 – 1931), of Hingham Hall, Norfolk. There were no children. Her published works were Wandering Willie, From Generation to Generation, and The Wise Man of Sterncross (1901). Lady Noel died (Jan 31, 1902) aged sixty-three.

Noel, Diana Middleton, Lady    see   Middleton, Diana

Noel, Lucie – (1899 – 1972)
American fashion reporter and journalist
She was born Elizabeth Lucie Leon in Moscow. With the eruption of the revolution (1917) she immigrated to France and resided in Paris. During WW II her husband was killed by the Nazis at the infamous Auschwitz prison. Several decades later she was naturalized as an American citizen (1956) and became a fashion reporter with the Paris edition of the New York Herald Tribune, when she adopted the name of ‘Lucie Noel.’ Lucie Noel died (April 29, 1972) aged seventy-two, in Paris.

Noel, Marie – (1883 – 1967)
French poet
Marie Rouget was born at Auxerre in Burgundy, the daughter of Louis Rouget, a philosophy professor. Family problems and her own Catholicism furnished the inspiration for most of her poetry, and the pen-name of ‘Noel.’ Her first poems were published in La Revue des deux mondes (1910) but she later went to a mental health clinic for treatment. A physician there encouraged Noel to publish her collection of folk-songs Le chansons et les heurs (The Songs and the Hours) (1920).
Noel’s poetic works were highly regarded by the French modernist academic, Henri Bremond and by Abbe Arthur Mugnier. Marie Noel died (Dec 23, 1967) aged eighty-four, at Auxerre.

Noel-Byron, Lady    see   Byron, Annabella Milbanke, Lady

Nogarola, Isotta – (1418 – 1466)
Italian scholar and humanist
Isotta Nogarola was born into a patrician family of Verona, the daughter of Leonardo Nogarola, and the niece to the poet Angela Nogarola. She studied Greek and Latin under Matteo Busso and Martino Rizzoni. From 1538 – 1541 she resided in Venice and Milan in order to avoid war and the plague. Returning to Venice, Isotta devoted herself to her literary work, and she became especially noted for her study of theological literature, and Latin espistles, poetry, orations, and dialogues.
Isotta corresponded with the famous teacher, Guarino of Verona (1437), with the humanist, Ermolao Barbaro, foscarini, and Damiano del Borgo, and her letters were greatly admired for the scholarly erudition. She never married and was interred within the church of Santa Maria Antica in Verona.
Her best known work was a dialogue dispute conducted between herself and Foscarini, concerning the respective culpability of Adam and Eve, in which she defends Eve from the both the bible itself, and from St Augustine of Hippo. This was published by a family member Count Francesco Nogarola in the following century (1563).

Nogent, Diane Charlotte de Caumont-Lauzun, Marquise de – (1632 – 1720)
French courtier and society figure
A prominent member the court of Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles, Diane de Caumont was the daughter of Gabriel II de Caumont, Comte de Lauzun (died 1660), and his wife Charlotte de Caumont de La Force. She was the sister of the famous Duc de Lauzun, who secretly married La Grande Madamoiselle, the wealthy cousin of Louis XIV. Diane was married to Louis Armande de Bautru, Comte de Nogent. She inherited the fief of Lauzun in Guyenne, which passed to her elder daughter Marie Antoinette de Bautru de Nogent (1664 – 1742), the wife of Charles Armand de Gontaut, Duc de Biron (1663 – 1756) and their descendants until the Revolution. Madame de Nogent survived her husband almost five decades (1672 – 1720). Her younger daughter, Charlotte Diane de Bautru de Nogent (died after 1714), became the wife of Aime Blaise d’Aydie, Comte de Vaugobert (c1653 – 1710) and left descendants. The Marquise de Nogent died (Nov 4, 1720) aged eighty-eight.

Noirmoutiers, Charlotte de Beaune, Marquise de    see   Sauve, Charlotte de

Nolan, Jeanette – (1911 – 1998)
American stage, film and television actress
Nolan was born (Dec 30, 1911) in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of a union official. She studied at the Los Angeles City College and then began performing with the Pasadena Community Playhouse. She was married (1935) to fellow actor John McEntire, and worked in radio with him in Crime Doctors series on CBS with great success, and in the Big Sister series. Jeanette Nolan’s film credits include Words and Music (1948), No Sad Songs for Me (1953), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Rescuers (1977) and Cloak and Dagger (1984).
Nolan made her final film appearance as Robert Redford’s mother in The Horse Whisperer (1998). She had several of her own shows on television such as Hotel de Paree and Dirty Sally, a spinoff from the popular Gunsmoke series. She appeared in other shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I Spy, Charlies’s Angels, and made a cameo appearance in the popular series The Golden Girls as Rose’s mother Alma.
Her career spanned seven decades, and her children Tim and Holly McEntire became successful actors. Jeanette Nolan died (June 5, 1998) aged eighty-six, in Los Angeles, California.

Nonia Celsa – (c180 – after 218 AD)
Roman Augusta (217 – 218 AD)
Nonia Celsa was wife to the usurper Emperor Opellius Macrinus (164 – 218 AD), and mother of the co-Emperor Diadumenianus (205 – 218 AD) according to the Historia Augusta. Little is known of this empress except that she possessed a reputation for tarnished virtue. She survived both husband and son, was spared by Elahgabalus, and died in obscurity.

Noonuccal Moongalba, Oodgeroo – (1920 – 1993)
Australian aboriginal activist and author
Sometimes known as Kath Walker, she was born in Brisbane, Queensland and was raised on Stradbroke Island. She was employed as a domestic servant and then joined the Australian Women’s Army Service during WW II. Kath Walker was the author of collections of verse entitled We are Going (1964) and The Dawn is at Hand (1966), being the first Aboriginal writer to have their work published. These two were republished several years later, along with new material in My People, a Kath Walker Collection (1970) and she was awarded the Mary Gilmore Medal.
Walker visited the USA on a Fulbright Scholarship (1978 – 1979) and lectured there concerning the rights of her people. She later organized and ran the Centre for Aboriginal Culture on Stradbroke Island and wrote Quandamooka, the Art of Kath Walker (1985). She adopted her aboriginal name in 1988.

Norbury, Lucy Henrietta Katharine Scott-Ellis, Countess of – (1876 – 1966)
British peeress and memoirist
Lucy Scott-Ellis was born (April 6, 1876) the eldest daughter of Reverend Hon. (Honourable) William Charles Scott-Ellis (1835 – 1923), Rector of Bothal in Morpeth, by his wife Henrietta Elizabeth Ames, the daughter of Henry Metcalfe Ames of Linden. She became the wife (1908) of William Brabazon Lindsay Graham-Toler (1860 – 1943), the fourth Earl of Norbury but their marriage remained childless.
The countess published the volume of memoris entitled Summers of Yesterday (1934). She survived her husband for over two decades as the Dowager Countess of Norbury (1943 – 1966) and resided at Withyam, near Hartfield in Sussex. Lady Norbury died (May 26, 1966) aged ninety.

Norden, Christine - (1924 - 1988)
British stage and film actress
Born Mary Lydia Thornton, she trained as a dancer and had a career as a vocalist until Alexander Korda placed her in such films as Mine Own Executioner (1947), A Yank Comes Back (1948), An Ideal Husband (1948), The Black Widow (1950) and Reluctant Heroes (1952).
Large busted and glamorous, Norden remained a British sex symbol prior to the advent of Diana Dors. Norden worked on the stage with some success on Broadway, where she became the first actress to appear topless in the theatre (1967). A mountain range on the planet Venus was named after her. She returned to the screen after an absence of three decades to appear in The Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and the television film The Wolvercote Tongue (1988). Christine Norden also appeared in the tv series Chance in a Million (1987).

Nordenflycht, Hedvig Charlotta – (1718 – 1763) 
Swedish lyric poet and author
Hedvig Nordenflycht was born in Stockhom, the daughter of a civil servant who was raised to the nobility in 1727. Hedvig combined her natural religious inclinations with the philosophies of Voltaire and Rousseau. Together with the poets Jacob Gyllenborg and Gustaf Creutz, she established the first Swedish literary salon and founded the ‘Order of the Builders of Thought,’ which encompassed a group of like-minded intellectuals, and enabled Creutz to introduce the philosophy of the Enlightenment to Swedish society.
Her own volume of poems Den Sorgande Turtur-Dufwan (The Sorrowing Turtle Dove) (1743) was inspired by the death of her husband Jacob Fabricius, whom she had married in 1741. This was the first example in Swedish of truly subjective poetry. She experimented with the ode and the epic before returning to lyric poetry in the last years of her life, and in 1752 she was awarded a government pension because of her literary contributions.
During her last years, Hedvig became involved in a passionate love-affair with the much younger Johan Flischerstrom, which ended unhappily. Hedvig Nordenflycht attempted to commit suicide by drowning, but caught a related illness, and died (June 29, 1763) aged forty-four, at Lugnet, near Stockholm.

Nordica, Lillian – (1857 – 1904) 
American soprano
Born Lillian Norton in Farmington, Maine, and was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying under John O’Neill. She toured America and Europe with Gilmore’s Grand Boston Band (1876 – 1878) and later studied with Antonio Sangiovanni at the Milan conservatory, and it was he who suggested she adopt the surname of ‘Nordica’. Her first operatic appearance was as Donna Elvira at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan (1879), whilst in St Petersburg, she performed before Tsar Alexander II, the week before his assassination (1881).
Nordica studied with Giovanni Sbriglia in Paris from 1881 – 1882, and made her Paris debut in the role of Margeurite in Theodore Gounod’s Faust. She made her debut in Covent Garden, London as Violetta in La Traviata (1887) and first appeared at the Metropolitan opera in New York (1891) in the role of Valentine in Les Huguenots. Nordica was wildly acclaimed in the role of Isolde at the Metropolitan (1895) and then chiefly performed Wagnerian roles. Her second husband was the Hungarian tenor, Zoltan Doeme, from whom she was divorced in 1904. Lillian Nordica died (May 10, 1914) at Batavia, Java, during a trip round the world.

Nordstom, Dagmar – (1903 – 1976)
American composer, pianist, and vocalist
Nordstrom was born (Dec 12, 1903) in Chicago, Illinois, and was the younger sister to Siggie Nordstrom. During the 1920’s she cut several piano rolls for Steinway including ‘I Still Love You’ ‘Sweet Dreams’ and ‘Are You Happy’ by Milton Ager. Her marriage with a socialite proved brief, and when her sister Siggie became a widow, the two performed in nightclubs in London, New York, and aborard cruise liners billed as ‘The Nordstrom Sisters.’
Her own song ‘Remembering You’ was published in the USA. The sisters continued to work together in radio and on the club circuit for the next two decades or so, but Dagmer sometimes performed solo. Like her elder sister Dagmar remained a popular social figure in New York. Her portrait was painted by Greta Kempton. Dagmar Nordstrom died (April 9, 1976) aged seventy-two, in New York.

Nordstrom, Siggie – (1893 – 1980)
American model and actress
Siggie was born (June 14, 1893) in Chicago, Illinois, and was the elder sister to Dagmar Nordstrom. She originally worked as a milliner’s model in Chicago, before appearing on Broadway in the play, Very Good Eddy. She gave up her career after marrying the businessman, Samuel Ferebee Williams (1883 – 1931). With his death she performed with her edler sister Dagmar, as the lead vocalist in their singing act ‘The Nordstrom Sisters.’
They performed at The Ritz Hotel in London during WW II, and then worked in clubs in New York, and on cruise liners. Siggie long remained a popular social figure in New York. Siggie Nordstom died (Dec 24, 1980) aged eighty-seven, in Jefferson, Maryland.

Norfolk, Agnes Tylney, Duchess of – (1477 – 1545)
English Tudor courtier
Agnes Tylney was the daughter of Hugh Tylney, of Boston, and sister to Sir Philip Tylney of Lincoln. Her mother was a daughter of Walter Tailboys. Agnes became the second wife (1497) at Sheriff hutton Castle, Yorkshire, of Thomas Howard (1443 – 1524), Earl of Surrey, whose first wife, Elizabeth Tilney (formerly Lady Bourchier), had been his first wife. Agnes bore him a large family of children. She was the stepmother of Thomas Howard (1473 – 1554), third duke of Norfolk. Through this marriage Agnes became the step-grandmother to two English queens, Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, and was a prominent figure at the court of Henry VIII (1509 – 1547).
The countess of Surrey was present at the marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales to Catharine of Aragon (1501), and attended the funeral of Elizabeth of York (1503), the wife of Henry VII. Soon afterwards she accompanied Margaret Tudor to Scotland for her marriage with James IV. Lady Surrey served Margaret as chief lady-in-waiting, and remained at the Scottish court for some months before returning to England and her family. With the accession of Henry VIII (1509) the countess became lady-in-waiting to Catharine of Aragon. After the defeat of the Scots at Flodden (1513) her husband was restored to his dukedom of Norfolk and Lady Agnes became Duchess of Norfolk (1514 – 1524), the second highest peeress in the land after the Duchess of Buckingham. The duchess stood godmother to the Princess Mary (1516) and survived her husband for two decades as the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk (1524 – 1545). She was left the palatial residences of Horsham and Lambeth Palace for use during her lifetime.
During the intense outbreak of the ‘sweating sickness’ (1528) the dowager managed to save several lives by administering her own form of successful treatment. She made her patients fast for sixteen hours and stay in bed for twenty-four hours. She then kept them in isolation for a further week, treating them with treacle and herbs. As a widow the duchess carried the train of Anne Boleyn at her coronation (1533), and then acted as godmother to the Princess Elizabeth later the same year (Sept, 1533). The duchess carried the infant princess, her step-great-granddaughter, in the christening procession at Greenwich Palace. She survived the downfall of the Boleyns and after the executiom of her son Thomas (1536) for daring to aspire to marry the king’s niece, Lady Margaret Douglas, the duchess pleaded for his remains to be returned to her, to be interred in the proper manner at Thetford Abbey, which request was granted.
The duchess was one of the ladies who attended Anne of Cleves (Jan, 1540) on her arrival at Greenwich. The duchess was an ardent Catholic and when Henry VIII married her granddaughter, Catharine Howard (July, 1540), who had been absent mindedly raised in her own household, she was as much pleased as was her stepson, the Duke of Norfolk, and the rest of the Catholic faction at court. It appears the duchess never tried to interfere with her powerful stepson, and there appeared an uneasy affection between them.When Queen Catharine was arrested, together with Francis Dereham, a former retainer of the duke’s (Nov, 1541), the duchess sent a servant named Pewson to Hampton Court Palace to obtain information. Moreover, in her own possession the duchess had two coffers belonging to Dereham, which contained papers, apparently of some incriminatory importance. She ordered them to be broken open and examined the contents. The Duke of Norfolk was sent to Lambeth to examine the same coffers, and when it was found that the Dowager Duchess had already done so, it was naturally suspected that she had destroyed certain papers that might somehow have compromised her. The old lady was closely questioned, but professed that her only motive was to search for evidence to send to the king. Her servant Pewson was then arrested. Early in 1542 King Henry ordered the Dowager Duchess to be committed to the Tower of London, on a charge of misprision of treason. After the execution of Queen Catharine and Lady Rochford (Feb), the duchess was pardoned her life, and saved herself from further severe treatment by revealing to the Lord Privy Seal and the secretary, Thomas Wriothesley, the place where she had hidden the sum of eight hundred pounds. She then received a complete pardon and was released from the Tower (May 2, 1542). All her estates were confiscated and the duchess returned to the manor of Framlingham, in Nordolk, where she lived the remainder of her life.
In the episode concerning Catharine Howard in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) with Keith Michell as the king and Angela Pleasance as Queen Catharine, the duchess was portrayed by Catherine Lacey, her stepson the duke being played by Patrick Troughton. Duchess Agnes died (May 27, 1545) aged sixty-eight. She was buried firstly at Thetford Abbey, but her remains were transferred several months later (Oct, 1545) to Lambeth Church for internment in a tomb, she had prepared prior to her death. The duchess bore thirteen children, of whom seven survived infancy,

• Lady Catherine Howard (c1499 – 1554). She was married firstly to Sir Rice ap Griffith Fitzuryan (c1490 – 1536), and secondly to Henry Daubeney (1493 – 1548), first Earl of Bridgewater.
• Lady Anne Howard (c1500 – 1559). She became the wife of John de Vere (1499 – 1526), fourteenth Earl of Oxford but died childless.
• Lord Richard Howard (c1503 – 1517). He died unmarried.
• Lady Elizabeth Howard (c1507 – 1534). She became the first wife of Henry Radcliffe (1507 – 1557), second Earl of Sussex and left issue.
• Lady Dorothy Howard (c1509 – 1546). She became the second wife of Edward Stanley (1509 – 1572), third Earl of Derby and left issue.
• Lord William Howard (1510 – 1575). He became the first Baron Howard of Effingham, was married twice, and left many descendants.
• Sir Thomas Howard (1512 – 1536). He was executed by order of Henry VIII, and his secret marriage with Lady Margaret Douglas was annulled.

Norfolk, Anne Mowbray, Duchess of    see   Mowbray, Anne

Norfolk, Catherine Neville, Duchess of – (1399 – 1483)
English Planatagenet courtier
Lady Catherine Neville was the eldest daughter of Sir Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmorland, and his second wife, Joan Beaufort, the legitimated daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and his third wife (and former mistress) Katherine Swynford. Her future husband John Mowbray (1389 – 1432), the second Duke of Norfolk, then the fourth Earl of Nottingham was sent to be raised in her father’s household (1411) after which Mowbray and Catherine were betrothed (1412), the marriage taking place shortly afterwards. The young Lady Nottingham gave birth to her only son, John Mowbray (1415 – 1461) whilst her husband was absent in France, fighting at the siege of Harfleur. The countess later attended the coronation of Katherine de Valois, the wife of Henry V, at Westminster (Feb, 1421) though it remains doubtful whether her husband was present.
Lord Nottingham was later recognized by parliament as Duke of Norfolk (1425) and the couple resided mainly at Framlingham Castle. The duke and duchess were both present at the coronation of Henry VI (Nov 6, 1429), the duke officiating as marshal of England. By the terms of her husband’s will, the duchess inherited all his estates at Axholme and in Yorkshire, with the castles and honours of Bramber in Sussex, and Gower in Wales, for life. The historian Dugdale listed nearly thirty manors, or portions of manors, in Norfolk and six other counties which were included in Duchess Catherine’s jointure. Her son, the third duke, enjoyed only a small portion of his patrimony because the Dowager Duchess survived him, as well as three more husbands, her second being Sir Thomas Strangways, and her third, John, Viscount Beaumont (died 1460).
Despite her great age, the duchess was an extremely wealthy woman, and Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Edward IV, arranged for her to be married (1465) to her own younger brother, Sir John Woodville (1445 – 1469), over forty years her junior, as her fourth husband. Very justifiable outrage was felt at this marriage, and a contemporary described the bride as a ‘juvencula of nearly eighty or around that age.’ William of Worcester denounced the marriage as maritagium diabolicum but it did last long, Woodville being captured and executed by the Lancastrian forces (1469).
The Dowager Duchess was present at the marriage of her infant great-granddaughter, Anne Mowbray, to Richard, Duke of York, the second son of Edward IV (1478), and was one of the three duchesses of Norfolk who were present at the coronation of Queen Anne Neville (July 5, 1483), the wife of Richard III. The duchess died soon afterwards, aged about eighty-four. The children of her first marriage were,

• John Mowbray (1415 – 1461). He succeeded his father as third Duke of Norfolk (1432 – 1461) and left issue. His direct line died out with his granddaughter, Anne Mowbray, Duchess of York (1481), who died childless.
• Lady Catherine Mowbray (c1419 – 1478). She became the second wife of Sir Edward Neville (1410 – 1476), first Baron Abergavenny, and left issue.

Duchess Catherine’s second marriage with Thomas Strangways produced two daughters,

• Joan Strangways (c1436 – 1485). She was married firstly to Sir William Willoughby, and secondly to William de Berkeley (1426 – 1492), Marquess of Berkeley, as his second wife.
• Catherine Strangways (c1438 – before 1474). She became the wife of Sir Henry Grey (1435 – 1496), seventh Baron Grey of Codnor.

Norfolk, Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower, Duchess of – (1788 – 1870)
British musical composer
Lady Charlotte Leveson-Gower was born (June 8, 1788) at Marylebone, London, the eldest daughter of George Granville Leveson-Gower, the first Duke of Sutherland, and his wife Elizabeth Gordon, Countess of Sutherland. Lord Byron was said to have considered marrying her but for her connection with Lord Carlisle, his guardian. Lady Charlotte was married (1814) at Westminster to Henry Charles Howard (1791 – 1856), Earl of Arundel and Surrey, who later succeeded as the thirteenth Duke of Norfolk (1842). The couple had five children who was royal license took the surname of Fitzalan-Howard.
The duchess served at court as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria (1842 – 1843) after which served part time as an Extra Lady of the Bedchamber. The duchess produced a large collection of songs and piano pieces which included works by such composers and Mozart and Georg Frederic Handel, which was translated in the entirety into five languages (1811 – 1823). This collection is preserved at Yale University in the USA.
Charlotte survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk (1856 – 1870). The Duchess of Norfolk died (July 7, 1870) aged eighty-two, in Middlesex. She was interred at Arundel Castle, Sussex, with her husband. Her children were,

• Henry Granville Fitzalan-Howard, Earl of Surrey (1815 – 1860). He succeeded his father as the fourteenth Duke of Norfolk (1856 – 1860) and left issue.
• Lord Edward George Fitzalan-Howard (1818 – 1883). He was created first Baron Howard of Glossop by Queen Victoria (1869) and left issue.
• Lady Mary Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard (1822 – 1897). She became the wife of Thomas Henry Foley (1808 – 1869), fourth Baron Foley and left issue.
• Lord Bernard Thomas Fitzalan-Howard (1825 – 1846). He died unmarried.
• Lady Adeliza Matilda Fitzalan-Howard (1829 – 1904). She became the wife of Lord George John Manners (1820 – 1874) and left issue.

Norfolk, Eleanor Bourchier, Duchess of – (1412 – 1474)
English Plantagenet courtier
Lady Eleanor Bourchier was the only daughter of William Bourchier, Comte d’Eu, and his wife Anne, Countess of Buckingham and Dowager Countess of Stafford, the daughter of Prince Thomas, Duke of Gloucester the youngest son of Edward III. Eleanor was married (1424) to John Mowbray (1415 – 1461), then earl of Nottingham, a papal dispensation having been obtained from Pope Martin V, as the couple were related within the prohibited degrees. Lord and Lady Nottingham were present at the coronation of Henry VI (Nov 6, 1429), and the countess was later summoned to attend the funeral of Queen Joan, the widow of Henry IV, at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent (1437). She was the mother of John Mowbray (1444 – 1476), fourth Duke of Norfolk (1461 – 1476) whose only child and heir, Anne Mowbray (1472 – 1481) became the wife of Prince Richard, Duke of York, the younger brother of Edward V (1483).
Lord Nottingham was created third Duke of Norfolk by Henry VI (1445), and the new duke and duchess then attended the king’s marriage with Margaret of Anjou at Titchfield Abbey. The duchess of Norfolk and her husband retained their close ties with the Lancastrian court until about 1458, when, due to strong family ties, they adhered to the Yorkist cause. The duke and duchess attended the coronation of Edward IV (June 28, 1461) where the duke officiated as Earl-Marshal. Eleanor survived her husband as Dowager Duchess of Norfolk (1461 – 1474). She attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Woodville (May, 1465) and received assignment of her dower estates soon afterwards.
Some of her correspondence with John Paston has survived. Duchess Eleanor died (Nov, 1474) aged sixty-two, and was buried in Thetford Abbey.

Norfolk, Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of – (1494 – 1558)
English courtier and literary figure, she was the eldest daughter of Edward Stafford, third Duke of Buckingham and his wife, Lady Eleanor Percy, the daughter of Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland. Her paternal grandmother was Catherine Woodville, the sister to Queen Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, and aunt of Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII and mother to Henry VIII. Lady Elizabeth Stafford was betrothed firstly (1512) to Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, but he was married to her younger sister Catherine instead, and Elizabeth was married (1513) to Thomas Howard (1473 – 1554), son and heir of the Earl of Surrey, who was restored to the dukedom of Norfolk (1524) after which Elizabeth became the Countess of Surrey. Elizabeth was Howard’s second wife. His first had been Princess Anne of York, the daughter of Edward IV, and aunt of Henry VIII. She bore him four children.
Elizabeth’s marriage was notoriously unhappy, and the duchess (as she became in 1524), although of a jealous and vindictive temperament herself, was one of the most accomplished women of her time. She was patron to the poet John Skelton who produced the verses, A Goodly Garland or Chapelet of Laurell, whilst her guest at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire. The duchess accused her husband of cruelty at the time of their daughter Mary’s birth (1519) and he then installed his children’s laundress, Bess Holland, as his mistress. This affair continued for many years, much to the duchess’s horror and indignation. She complained bitterly to Thomas Cromwell of her treatment, and her husband threatened to incarcerate her. Appeals to husband and wife from both Cromwell and Henry VIII, failed to secure reconcilement and the couple separated permanently (1533), the duchess retiring to Redbourne House in Hertfordshire where she resided in a modest style. She refused to sue for a divorce, but discord spread among other members of the family, and they were all at variance.
The duchess of Norfolk had served at court for sixteen years in the household of Catherine of Aragon, and remained devoted to the queen and the Princess Mary after the ascendancy of the Boleyn faction. She despised her niece Anne Boleyn, and was engaged in organizing to help the queen send letters abroad, secreted within oranges. She was detected and dismissed from the court (1532) and the Spanish ambassador observed in a letter to the Emperor Charles V that, “ The Duchess of Norfolk has been dismissed from the court owing to her speaking too freely, and having declared in favour of the Queen, much more openly than people like her to do.” The duchess later flatly refused to attend Anne’s coronation (June, 1533) where her absence as the wife of the highest peer in the realm, was much commented on publicly, it being believed that her devotion to Queen Catherine was the cause.
During the last years of Henry VIII the duke of Norfolk was committed to the Tower where he remained until the accession of Queen Mary, when he was released and soon died (Aug 25, 1554). The duchess later attended the coronation of Queen Mary, and was an important personage at her court, favouring her marriage with Philip of Spain. The Duchess of Norfolk died (Nov 30, 1558) aged sixty-four, at Lambeth Palace, London, and was buried in the Howard Chapel at Lambeth. Her children were,

• Lady Catherine Howard (c1514 – 1530). She became the first wife of Edward Stanley (1509 – 1572), third Earl of Derby.
• Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517 – 1547). He wrote verses and was later executed by Henry VIII for treason. He was the father of Thomas Howard (1536 – 1572), the fourth Duke of Norfolk.
• Lady Mary Howard (1519 – 1557). She became the wife of Henry Fitzroy (1516 – 1539), Duke of Richmond, the natural son of Henry VIII and Bessie Blount, but died childless.
• Lord Thomas Howard (1520 – 1582). He was created Viscount Bindon, and was married four times and left issue.

Norfolk, Lavinia Mary Strutt, Duchess of – (1916 – 1995)
British peeress
The Hon. (Honourable) Lavinia Strutt was born (March 22, 1916) the only dahter of Algernon Henry Strutt (1883 – 1956), third Baron Belper, and his wife Hon. Eva Bruce, daughter to the second Baron Aberdare, and later the wife of Archibald Primrose (1882 – 1974), sixth Earl of Rosebery. Lavinia was married (1937) to Sir Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (1908 – 1975), the sixteenth Duke of Norfolk and became the Duchess of Norfolk (1937 – 1975). She held the canopy for Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI, at their coronation in the same year as she was married.
For her civic activities she was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) (1971) by Queen Elizabeth II and as widow she served as Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex (1975 – 1995). When not in London the duchess resided at Arundel Park in Sussex. The duchess died (Dec 10, 1995) aged seventy-nine. Her children were,

• Lady Anne Elizabeth Fitzalan-Howard (born 1938), whose husband Miles Francis, Lord Herries of Terregles in Scotland, succeeded as the seventeenth Duke of Norfolk (1975). They left issue.
• Lady Mary Katharine Fitzalan-Howard (born 1940), who served as lady-in-waiting to HRH Princess Alexandra, the queen’s cousin from 1964. She was the heiress presumptive to the Barony of Herries of Terregles. She was unmarried.
• Lady Sarah Margaret Fitzalan-Howard (born 1941)
• Lady Theresa Jane Fitzalan-Howard (born 1945), who became the wife of Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr (born 1945), Earl of Ancram.

Norfolk, Mary Mordaunt, Duchess of – (1660 – 1705)
English Stuart peeress and divorce litigant
Lady Mary Mordaunt was the daughter and heiress of Henry Mordaunt, second Earl of Peterborough and his wife Lady Penelope O’Brien, daughter of Barnabas O’Brien, Earl of Thomond. She was married (1677) to Henry Howard (1655 – 1701) and was then appointed to serve at court as lady-in-waiting to Mary Beatrice, Duchess of York with a pension of five hundred pounds annually. Her husband succeeded as the seventh Duke of Norfol (1684) but their marriage remained childless. The duchess was a particular friend to James II and her butler James Craggs acted as her intermediary with certain negotiations with the king. When Craggs’s serviced were no longer required the duchess successfully recommended him to the Duke of Marlborough.
The duchess became involved in a scandalous liaison with Sir John Germain (1650 – 1718) and when news of this became known the Duke caused Mary to be removed from court and placed in a French convent for over a year. He then forced her to sign away various of her properties to him as the price of her freedom but when she returned to England the duchess resumed her relationship with Germain. Her husband sued for divorce in the House of Lords (1692) and the proceedings became a fashionable event and led to the publication of the pamphlet The Secret Letters of Amour between the Duchess and Mynheer. She accused the duke of adultery and her cause was espoused by the Jacobites despite her obvious guilt. Norfolk then claimed one hundred thousand pounds from Germain in damages and the jury found in favour of Norfolk. However they revealed their sympathy for the duchess by only awarding her husband damages of one hundred marks.
The duchess then resided with Germain at Drayton in Northamptonshire and inherited the barony of Mordaunt becoming suo jure Baroness Mordaunt (1693 – 1705). Her divorce from the duke was finalized in 1700 by Act of Parliament and he was ordered to return her large dowry though this was never done. She then returned to her maiden name of ‘Lady Mary Mordaunt’ and married Germain (1701). This union remained childless. Duchess Mary died (Nov 17, 1705) aged forty-five, leaving Germain all the estates she had inherited from the Mordaunt family. She was buried as the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk,

Norgate, Kate – (1853 – 1935)
British historian and author
Kate Norgate was the daughter of noted bookseller, Frederick Norgate and was granddaughter to the noted journalist Thomas Starling Norgate. Kate was influenced by the work of the prominent historian Alice Stopford Green, and her first work England under the Angevin Kings (1887) took fifteen years to complete.
Kate Norgate was the author of John Lackland (1902), The Minority of Henry III (1912) and Richard the Lion Heart (1924). She was elected an honorary fellow of Somerville College, Oxford (1929) in recognition of her literary contributions.

Noris, Assia – (1912 – 1998)
Russian-Italian film actress
She was born Anastasija Noris von Gerzfeld in St Petersburg. Noris appeared opposite the famous Italian actor Vittorio di Sica, in films directed by Mario Camerini (1895 – 1981).

Norman, Florence Priscilla McLaren, Lady – (1883 – 1964)
British baronetess
The Hon. (Honourable) Florence McLaren was the younger daughter of Sir Charles McLaren, first Baron Aberconway, and his wife, Laura Elizabeth Pochin. She was married (1907) to Sir Henry Norman (1858 – 1939), first baronet (1915 – 1939), as his second wife. Florence survived her husband for twenty-five years as the Dowager Lady Norman (1939 – 1964). Lady Norman was an active member of the campaign for female suffrage, and was member of the Liberal Women’s Suffrage Union and the Women’s liberal Federation.
Lady Norman served at the front with the ambulance and nursing services during WWI, receiving the 1914 star with bar, two medals, and was mentioned in despatches. In recognition of these services, she was created CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by King George V (1917). She also served as a trustee of the Imperial War Museum, and was appointed a Justice of the Peace for London. Lady Norman became the first woman to be appointed to the board of the Royal Earlswood Hospital. Lady Norman died (March 1, 1964) aged seventy-nine, at Antibes, France. She left three children,

• Laura Rosalind Norman (born 1908). She was married to Sir Aubrey Francis Burke (1904 – 1989), and left descendants.
• Major Willoughby Rollo Norman (1909 – 1997). He made his career as a successful banker, was married twice and left descendants.
• Wing Commander Anthony Charles Wynyard Norman (born 1912). He served in WW II (1939 – 1945) and was created CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by King George VI (1945). He was married and died childless.

Norman, Gertrude – (1848 – 1943)
Anglo-American character actress
Gertrude Norman was born in London. After establishing her acting credentials with an impressive stage career, Norman appeared in American films from 1911 onwards, specializing in motherly and grandmotherly roles. She appeared in over thirty silent films including The Coward (1911), The Unwelcome Mrs Hatch (1914), Molly Make-Believe (1916) as the mother in Persuasive Peggy (1917), as Sophronia Pennington in Widow by Proxy (1919), as the countess in Beach of Dreams (1921), and in Age of Innocence (1924).
Norman’s appearances in sound films included that of Mrs Greene in The Greene Murder Case (1929), an elderly Christian matron in the Cecil B. De Mille classic The Sign of the Cross (1932) with Claudette Colbert, and as Grandma Albrenetez in The Trumpet Blows (1934). Her last two film appearances were uncredited roles in The Crusades (1935) and The Plainsman (1936) when she was almost ninety. Gertrude Norman died (July 20, 1943) aged ninety-five, in Hollywood, California.

Norman, Maidie – (1912 – 1998)
Black American actress
Maidie Norman was born (Oct 16, 1912) in Villa Rica, Georgia. She graduated from university and became a professor of theatre arts and lectured at UCLA (University of California in Los Angeles). Norman’s first film role was as Kitty West in The Burning Cross (1947). Other film credits included appearances in Torch Song (1953), About Mrs Leslie (1954), Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955) and Written on the Wind (1956).
Norman was best remembered as the unfortunate maid Elvira brutally murdered with a hammer by Bette Davis in the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Norman switched over to television and made many varied appearances in popular programs such as Dragnet, Perry Mason, Death Valley Days (1965), Mannix and Ironside. She played a librarian in an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975) and made appearances in popular African-American sitcoms such as Good Times (1975) and The Jeffersons (1975).
Norman was married twice and was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (1977). She retired from the screen in 1988. Maidie Norman died (May 2, 1998) in San Jose, California.

Norman, Mildred Lisette see Peace Pilgrim

Normand, Henrietta Rae – (1859 – 1928)
British classical painter and portraitist
Born (Dec 30, 1859) in London, her works included Eurydice (1886), Ophelia (1890) and Echo (1890). She also produced society portraits such as her Portrait of the Lady Tenterden (1906). Henrietta Normand died (March 26, 1928) aged sixty-eight, at Foxhill Gardens in Upper Norwood.

Normand, Mabel – (1892 – 1930)
American actress
Mabel Ethelreid Normand was born (Nov 16, 1892) at New Brighton on Staten Island, New York, the daughter of a vaudeville musician. She worked as amodel for artists and photographers prior to appearing in films from an early age (1910). She starred, mainly in comic roles, in over one hundred silent films, co-starring with Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle her early career being overseen by Mack Sennett. Pert and blonde she was extremely popular and herself directed a series of comic films such as Mabel’s Stormy Love Affair and Mabel’s Bare Escape.
Her career was later ruined by the scandalous revelations of her drug addiction, and her involvement in the scandalous murder of director William Desmond Taylor (1922). She layer entered a sanitarium (1929) but never recovered. Mabel Normand died (Feb 22, 1930) aged thirty-seven, in Monrovia, California. She was portrayed by Marisa Tolmei in the film Chaplin (1992) and by Bernadette Peters in the Broadway musical Mack and Mabel (1974).

Normann, Regine – (1867 – 1939)
Norwegian novelist and story writer
Regine was born at Vesteralen in northern Norway. With the death of her father (1871) she was went to be raised with relatives at Trondenes. She married a teacher, and endured his brutality for a decade before she left him and escaped to Oslo (1894). Regine Normann established herself in Oslo as a teacher and later remarried (1908 – 1913) to the writer Tryggve Andersen, though this marriage ended in divorce.
She made her literary debut with Krabvaag, Skildringer fra et lidet fiskevaer (Krabvaag, Sketches from a Little Fishing Village) (1905), which were followed by Bortsat (Among Strangers) (1906) and Staengt (Closed) (1908), which dealt with the oppressive marriages endured by many Norwegian women, and which established Normann as a realistic and objective writer. She wrote Min hvite gt (My White Boy) (1922), a collection of stories inspired by her teaching years. She later retired to Vestralen where she died.

Norman-Neruda, Wilma      see    Neruda-Halle, Wilma Maria Francisca

Noronha, Joana Paula Manso de – (fl. c1850)
Argentinian journalist
After the breakup of her unhappy marriage, Joana Manso de Noronha removed to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. There she established herself as a journalist and literary critic. Her outspoken feminist views made her unpopular within her own insular Brazilian society.

Norreys, Bessie Pierrepoint, Lady   see   Pierrepoint, Elizabeth

Norris, Kathleen Thompson – (1880 – 1966)
American novelist and short-story writer
Kathleen Thompson was born (July 16, 1880) in San Francisco, California, and was educated at home. She was married (1909) to the novelist Charles Gilman Norris (1881 – 1945), and some of her work was published in women’s magazines in New York. Norris was best remembered for her best-selling novel of family life Mother (1911).
In all she published more than six dozen novels including Over at the Crowleys (1946), Miss Harriet Townshend (1955) and Family Gathering (1959). Her novel Beauty’s Daughter (1935) was adapted for the screen as Navy Wife (1935). Kathleen Norris died (Jan 18, 1966) aged eighty-five.

Norris, Malda    see   Davis, Norma Lochlenah

Norris, Zoe    see   Gardener, Martha

North, Marianne – (1830 – 1890)
British traveller and flower painter
Marianne North was born (Oct 24, 1830) at Hastings, the daughter of Frederick North, a Liberal member of parliament, and was raised in Norfolk. She had little formal education but showed an early talent for painting, notably detailed reproductions of plants, which she studied in detail at various botanical gardens.
North travelled with her father to Asia Minor and the Middle East, and with his death (1869) devoted the remainder of her life to the study of botany and natural history, travelling to remote and dangerous parts of ther globe in order to fulfill this task. She discovered the largest of all species of pitcher plants, the Nepenthes northiana in Sarawak, and the capucin tree Northia seychellana in the Seychelles Islands.
Miss North returned to England in 1879 and established The North Gallery at her own expense (1882). She left two volumes of memoirs entitled Recollections of a Happy Life (1892) and Further Recollections of a Happy Life (1893), which were published posthumously. Marianne North died (Aug 30, 1890) aged fifty-nine, at Alderly, Gloucestershire.

North, Susan – (1797 – 1884)
British peeress
Lady Susan North was born (Feb 6, 1797) the elder daughter of George Augustus North (1757 – 1802), third Earl of Guildford and his second wife Susan, the daughter of the famous banker, Thomas Coutts. Lady Susan was married (1835) to Colonel John Sidney Doyle (1804 – 1894), who changed his surname to North for himself and his issue (1838), and they were the parents of William Henry John North (1836 – 1932).
Her only brother Frederick had died an infant, and with her father’s death (1802) the earldom of Guildford had devolved upon Susan’s uncle, whilst the barony of North of Kirtling fell into abeyance between Susan and her sister Lady Georgiana North, and their half-sister Maria North, Marchioness of Bute. It remained so until 1841 when Georgiana and Maria had both. The abeyance was then terminated in favour of Susan North, who then became the tenth Baroness North, a peerage she held for over four decades (1841 – 1884). With Susan’s death (March 5, 1884) aged eighty-seven, her son William succeeded her as eleventh Baron North.

Northampton, Elizabeth Brooke, Marchioness of – (1526 – 1565)
English Tudor courtier
Elizabeth Brooke was born (June 12, 1526) the daughter of George Brooke (1497 – 1558), ninth Baron Cobham and his wife Anne Braye, the daughter of Edmund, Baron Braye. Elizabeth was married (1548) to Sir William Parr (1513 – 1570), Marquess of Northampton, the brother-in-law of King Henry VIII through his sixth wife Catharine Parr, as his second wife. Lord Northampton was at first advised to put Elizabeth away as his first wife, Anne Bourchier, was still living, but his divorce from his first wife was at length granted by parliament, and Elizabeth became the Marchioness of Northampton.
Lady Northampton was a close friend to her husband’s nice, the Princess Elizabeth, and acted as communicator bewteen the princess and the French ambassador, Francois de Noailles, concerning the suit proposed by the Italian prince, Emanuel Philibert of Savoy (1557). Lady Northampton and her husband were present at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, who closely attended Lady Northampton during her final illness, which was caused by breast cancer. Prior to this she had travelled to Antwerp in Holland in order to vainly consult physicians there.
Lady Northampton died (April 2, 1565) aged thirty-eight, at Blackfriars, London. She was interred in St Paul’s Cathedral, but her tomb was later destroyed during the Great Fire (1666).

Northampton, Emma Marjory Thynne, Marchioness of – (1893 – 1980)
British peeress and volunteer worker
Lady Emma Thynne was born (July 5, 1893) the second daughter of Thomas Thynne, fifth Marquess of Bath and his wfe Violet Catherine Mordaunt, the daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, baronet. She became the first wife (1921) of William Bingham Compton (1885 – 1978) and became the Marchioness of Northampton. The marriage remained chilless and ended in divorce (1942) though she retained her title afterwards.
During WW II Lady Northampton served as a regional administrator with the WVS (Women’s Voluntary Services) (1939 – 1945) and in recognition of this valuable work she was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by King George VI (1943). She never remarried and long resided at Horningsham, near Warminster in Wiltshire. She served with the County Council (CC) of Wiltshire.

Northampton, Helena, Marchioness of     see   Parr, Helena

Northampton, Margaret Clephane, Marchioness of – (1793 – 1830)
British poet
Margaret Clephane was the daughter and heiress of Major-General Douglas Maclean Clephane, of Torloisk, Scotland, and his wife Marianne Modian. She was married (1815) in Edinburgh, to Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton (1790 – 1857), second Marquess of Northampton. Lady Margaret bore her husband six children including, Charles Compton (1816 – 1877), who succeeded his father as third Marquess of Northampton (1857 – 1877), William Campton (1818 – 1897), who succeeded his brother as fourth Marquess of Northampton, and Reverend Alwyne Compton (1825 – 1906), Bishop of Ely, Kent (1886 – 1905). Her daughter Marion, the wife of John Cust, Lord Alford, was a noted artist.
Intimate with Sir Walter Scott, the famous novelist, her own most noted poem ‘Irene’ was privately printed. Some of her minor verses appeared in the Miscellanies. Residing in Italy from 1820, Lady Northampton became involved with the cause of Italian nationalism. Lady Northampton died (April 2, 1830) in Rome, from the effects of childbirth. She was buried at Castle Ashby in England.

Northchurch, Baroness  see  Davidson, Frances Joan, Lady

Northcliffe, Mary Elizabeth, Lady     see    Hudson, Mary Elizabeth Milner, Lady

Northumberland, Anne Cecil, Countess of – (1612 – 1637)
English Stuart peeress
Lady Anne Cecil was baptized (Feb 23, 1612) at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall Palace, London, the daughter of Sir William Cecil, second Earl of Salisbury and his wife Lady Catherine Howard, the daughter of Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk. Anne fell in love with Algernon Percy (1602 – 1668), tenth Earl of Northumberland but they were only able to marry, despite her large dowry, only after much trouble between their respective families due to a long standing grudge. The ceremony took place in Jan, 1629 and the marriage proved a happy one.
The Countess died of smallpox (Dec 6, 1637) aged twenty-five, at Dorset House in Salisbury Court, London, and was buried at Petworth. Her portrait by Anthony Van Dyck is preserved at Hatfield House. Lady Northumberland left five daughters, only one of whom, Lady Elizabeth Percy (1636 – 1718), the wife of Arthur Capell, first Earl of Essex, left descendants.

Northumberland, Catherine Neville, Countess of – (1545 – 1596)
English Tudor aristocrat, peeress, baronial claimant and courtier
Catherine Neville was the eldest of the four daughters of John Neville, fourth and last Baron Latimer (1530 – 1577), and his wife, Lady Lucy Somerset (1523 – 1583), the daughter of Henry Somerset (1493 – 1549), second Earl of Worcester. Catherine Neville was married firstly (1562) to Henry Percy (1532 – 1585), eighth Earl of Northumberland. She bore him ten children. During the reign of Elizabeth her husband became involved in plans for the restoration of Mary Stuart of Scotland. He was arrested and committed to the Tower of London, where he was murdered.
Catherine survived him as the Dowager Countess of Northumberland (1585 – 1596). At her father’s death without male issue, the barony of Latimer fell into abeyance between the countess and her three sisters. She herself inherited Burton Latimer, and several other estates by the terms of her father’s will. Her inheritance descended through the earls and dukes of Northumberland (sometimes incorrectly styled Lords Latimer, in Catherine’s right) to the seventh Duke of Atholl. During her widowhood she remarried to Francis Fitton, of Binfield, Berkshire. Countess Catherine died (Oct 28, 1596) aged fifty-one. The children of her first marriage were,

• Henry Percy (1564 – 1632). He succeeded his father as ninth Earl of Northumberland (1585 – 1632) and left descendants.
• Hon. (Honourable) Thomas Percy (c1566 – 1587).
• Lady Lucy Percy (c1569 – after 1603). She was married firstly to Sir John Wotton, and secondly to Sir Hugh Owen, of Anglesey.
• Lady Eleanor Percy (1573 – 1650). She became the wife of Sir William Herbert (1573 – 1656), first Baron Powis of Powis, and left descendants.
• Hon. William Percy (1575 – 1648)
• Hon. Sir Charles Percy (1576 – 1628)
• Hon. Sir Richard Percy (1577 – 1648)
• Hon. Sir Alan Percy (1578 – 1611)
• Hon. Sir Josceline Percy (1579 – 1631)
• Hon. George Percy (1580 – 1632)

Northumberland, Catherine Spencer, Countess of – (1477 – 1542)
English Tudor aristocrat
Catherine Spencer was the younger daughter of Sir Robert Spencer, of Spencercombe, Devon, and his wife Lady Eleanor Beaufort, the widow of James Butler (1420 – 1461), Earl of Ormonde and Wiltshire, and daughter of Edmund Beaufort (1405 – 1455), the second Duke of Somerset. Through her maternal grandfather Catherine was a descendant of Edward III (1327 – 1377). She became the wife (c1498) of Henry Algernon Percy (1378 – 1527), the fifth Earl of Northumberland and became Countess of Northumberland (c1498 – 1527). She and her husband attended the court of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, and that of Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon, attending the latter at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France (June, 1520).
The countess is said to have opposed the marriage of her son with Anne Boleyn as she did not think highly of the Boleyn family. She survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Northumberland (1527 – 1542). Lady Northumberland died (Oct 19, 1542) aged sixty-five, and was buried at Beverley Minster. Her children were,

• Lady Margaret Percy (c1500 – 1540). She became the second wife of Henry Clifford (1493 – 1542), first Earl of Cumberland and left issue.
• Henry Algernon Percy (1502 – 1537). He succeeded his father as the sixth Earl of Northumberland (1527 – 1537). He married Lady Mary Talbot but died childless and was the first love of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII.
• Sir Thomas Percy (c1503 – 1537). He was executed for his participation in Aske’s conspiracy and was the father of Thomas Percy (1528 – 1572) who succeeded his uncle as the seventh Earl of Northumberland (1537 – 1572) and Henry Percy (1532 – 1585), the eighth Earl of Northumberland.
• Sir Ingram Percy (c1505 – c1540).
• Lady Maude Percy (died after 1540). She became the wife of John Conyers (1524 – 1557), third Baron Conyers.

Northumberland, Charlotte Florentia Clive, Duchess of – (1787 – 1866)
British courtier and sketcher
Lady Charlotte Clive was born (Sept 12, 1787) in Florence, Italy, the daughter of Edward Clive, first Earl of Powis, and his wife Lady Henrietta Antonia Herbert, the daughter of Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis. She was married (1817) Hugh Percy (1785 – 1847), third Duke of Northumberland, whom she survived two decades as Dowager Duchess (1847 – 1866).
The duchess was governess to the Princess Victoria (1835 – 1837), but was forced to resign this post because of differences with the princess’s mother, the Duchess of Kent and her favourite, Sir John Conroy. The duchess had taken her responsibilities seriously, actually drawing up a plan of study for the princess, but an educated princess was not what Sir John Conroy desired, so the duchess resigned. In 1824 she had privately printed a volume entitled Castles of Alnwick and Warkworth etc, from Sketches by Charlotte Florentia, Duchess of Northumberland.
The duchess died (July 27, 1866) aged seventy-eight, at Twickenham, Middlesex. She was interred beside her husband in the Chapel of St Nicholas in Westminster Abbey.

Northumberland, Dorothy Devereux, Countess of – (1563 – 1619)
English Tudor courtier and peeress (1594 – 1619)
Lady Dorothy was the daughter of Walter Devereux, first Earl of Essex and his wife Lettice Knollys (later Countess of Leicester) the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, and sister to Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex, executed for conspiracy against Elizabeth (1601). She served at court as maid-of-honour to Queen Elizabeth and created a scandal by marrying secretly (1583) to Sir Thomas Perrot (died 1594). Her daughter Penelope Perrot nbecame the wife of Sir Robert Naunton and her granddaughter Penelope Naunton became the first wife of Philip Herbert (1621 – 1669), fifth Earl of Pembroke and left issue.
With Perrot’s death she then remarried (1594) to Henry Percy (1564 – 1632), ninth Earl of Northumberland. She quarreled with Northumberland and later lived apart from him but they were evutually reconciled. With his arrest for involvement in the Gunpowder plot aganst James I (1605) she campaigned on his behalf and became his ‘most untiring petitioner and advocate’ being aided by the sympathy of Queen Anne. Lady Northumberland then stood godmother to the queen’s daughter Princess Mary (1605) and with her husband she vigorously protested against the imprisonment of Sir Walter Raleigh. The countess died (Aug 3, 1619) and was buried at Petworth. Her Percy children were,

• Henry Percy, styled Lord Percy (1595 – 1596). He died in infancy.
• Henry Percy, styled Lord Percy (1596 – 1597). He died in infancy.
• Lady Dorothy Percy (1598 – 1659). She became the wife of Robert Sidney (1595 – 1677), second Earl of Leicester and left issue.
• Lady Lucy Percy (1599 – 1660). She became the wife of James Hay, first Earl of Carlisle and left issue.
• Henry Algernon Percy (1602 – 1668). He succeeded his father as the tenth Earl of Northumberland (1632 – 1668) and was married twice and left issue.
• Henry Percy (1604 – 1659). He was created Baron Percy of Alnwick (1643).

Northumberland, Eleanor Neville, Countess of – (c1403 – 1463)
English Plantagenet courtier and peeress
Lady Eleanor Neville was the daughter of Sir Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland and his second wife Lady Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford, and was granddaughter to King Edward III (1327 – 1377). Lady Eleanor’s first marriage, which may have only been a betrothal, was with Richard le Despenser (1400 – 1414) and remained childless. Eleanor was quickly remarried at Berwick (1414) to Henry Percy (1394 – 1455), second Earl of Northumberland, after her mother had successfully solicited Henry VI to restore Percy to the earldom of Northumberland, and Eleanor was Countess of Northumberland for over four decades (1414 – 1455).
Their marriage was celebrated by Bishop Percy in his ballad The Hermit of Warkworth, whilst a curious account of Lady Northumberland, her husband and children was preserved in an ancient manuscript preserved in the British Museum, which claimed to be extracted ex registro Monasteriji de Whitbye. Northumberland was killed at the battle of St Albans fighting for the Lancastrians (1455) and Eleanor survived him as Dowager Countess of Northumberland (1455 – 1463). Countess Eleanor died aged about sixty. Apart from three sons who died young, the countess left eight children,

• Lady Joan Percy (1419 – after 1455). She became a nun at the Abbey of Whitby.
• Henry Percy (1421 – 1461). He succeeded his father as third Earl of Nortumberland (1455 – 1461) and left descendants.
• Thomas Percy (1422 – 1460). He was created Lord Egremont but left no issue.
• Lady Katherine Percy (1423 – 1504). She became the wife of Edmund Grey (1414 – 1489), first Earl of Kent, and left descendants.
• George Percy (born 1424). He became Prebendary of Beverley.
• Sir Ralph Percy (1425 – 1464).
• Sir Richard Percy (c1427 – 1461).
• William Percy (1428 – 1462). He became a priest and was appointed as Bishop of Carlisle.

Northumberland, Eleanor de Poynings, Countess of – (1422 – 1483)
English Plantagenet heiress and peeress
Eleanor de Poynings was the only child and heiress of Richard de Poynings (died 1430), and the granddaughter and heiress of Robert de Poynings (1380 – 1446), fifth Baron Poynings. Eleanor was married (1435) to Lord Henry Percy (1421 – 1461), later the third Earl of Northumberland (1455 – 1461) and bore him several children. With her father’s death (1446) Lady Percy and her husband received livery of her inheritance (Nov 16), and her husband was summoned to Parliament as Lord de Poynings in Eleanor’s right.
Her husband succeeded his father as third Earl of Northumberland (1455) and Eleanor was countess until his death six years later, when he was killed at the battle of Towton (1461). Eleanor survived him as Dowager Countess of Northumberland for over two decades (1461 – 1483). The sole heiress of the ancient feudal Poynings family, the countess was a benefactress of Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. She was summoned to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Woodville (May, 1465), the wife of Edward IV, at Westminster Abbey in London. Countess Eleanor died (Feb 11 or 20, 1483) aged sixty. Her five surviving children were,

• Lady Elizabeth Percy. She became the wife of Henry le Scrope, Baron Scrope of Bolton.
• Lady Eleanor Percy (died after 1461). She remained unmarried.
• Lady Anne Percy (c1447 – 1522). She was married firstly to Sir Thomas Hungerford (c1445 – 1469), secondly to Sir Laurence Raynsford, and thirdly to Sir Hugh Vaughan.
• Henry Percy (1449 – 1485). He succeeded his father as fourth Earl of Northumberland and was married to Lady Maude Herbert, daughter of William, Earl of Pembroke, and left descendants.
• Lady Margaret Percy. She became the wife of Sir William Gascoigne.

Northumberland, Helen Magdalen Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of – (1886 – 1965)
British courtier
Lady Helen Gordon-Lennox was born (Dec 13, 1886) the daughter of the seventh Duke of Richmond and Gordon. She was married (1911) to Alan Ian, Earl Percy (1880 – 1930), later the eighth duke of Northumberland (1918 – 1930), to whom she bore six children, and whom she survived as Dowager Duchess over three decades (1930 – 1965). The duchess was appointed to serve at court as Mistress of the Robes (1937 – 1964) to Queen Elizabeth, wife and widow of George VI (1936 – 1952).
In recognition of her loyal service, the duchess was appointed GCVO (Grand Dame Commander of the Victorian Order) by George VI (1938).  During the Second World War she served as captain of the Women’s Transport Service (F.A.N.Y.) (1939 – 1943) and was later appointed as commander (1946). She was a patron of the Surrey Branch of the British Red Cross and served for over a decade (1939 – 1953) as president, as well as being Master of the Percy Foxhounds (1930 – 1933). The duchess retired from royal service (1964) after a career of almost three decades.
The duchess died (June 13, 1965) aged seventy-eight. She was interred with her husband in the Chapel of St Nicholas in Westminster Abbey. Her children were,

• Henry George Alan Percy (1912 – 1940), ninth Duke of Northumberland (1930 – 1940), for whom George V stood sponsor at his christening. He died unmarried, being killed in action at Tournai, in Belgium during WW II.
• Hugh Algernon Percy (born 1914). He succeeded his brother Henry as tenth Duke of Northumberland (1940). He left descendants.
• Lady Elizabeth Ivy Percy (born 1916). She was married to Sir Douglas Douglas-Hamilton (born 1903), fourteenth Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, and left descendants.
• Lady Diana Evelyn Percy (1917 – 1978). She was the first wife of Sir John Sutherland Egerton (born 1915), sixth Duke of Sutherland.
• Captain Lord Richard Charles Percy (born 1921). He served in WW II (1941 – 1945), and was married twice, leaving descendants.
• Lieutenant Lord Geoffrey William Percy (born 1925). He served as page to his mother at the coronation of George VI (1937) and served in WW II (1943 – 1944). He was married and left descendants.

Northumberland, Jane Guildford, Duchess of – (1503 – 1555)
English Tudor courtier
Jane Guildford was the daughter of Sir Richard Guildford, of Hempstead, Kent, and his wife Joan, later the wife of Sir Anthony Poyntz, of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire. Jane became the wife (1525) of Sir John Dudley (1502 – 1553). Lady Dudley and her husband attended the court of Henry VIII, and Lady Jane was present at the funeral of Queen Jane Seymour, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor (1537). She was one of the ladies who attended Anne of Cleves after her arrival at Greewich Palace (1540), and was a friend to Catharine Parr, the king’s sixth and last wife, being in attendance at their marriage at Hampton Court Palace (1543).
After her husband was ennobled as Duke of Northumberland, she attended the Princess Mary during her visit to Edward VI (Jan, 1552) and was then present at the marriage of her son, Lord Guildford Dudley, with Lady Jane Grey, the great-niece of Henry VIII, at Durham House (1553). She and her husband apparently treated Lady Jane with such harshness that she came to detest her husband’s parents. The duchess was arrested, together with her son and daughter-in-law, after the failure of their attempt to gain the throne, and the triumph of Queen Mary, and were imprisoned within the Tower of London (July, 1553). The duke was executed (Aug) for his part in the conspiracy against Mary, but the duchess was released.
Queen Mary permitted the duchess to retain sufficient maintenance for her rank, through the intercession of the Spanish ambassador, Diego de Mendoza. She retained the estate of Halesowen, which had formed part of her jointure, and was permitted to retain the Palace of Chelsea. The duchess of Northumberland died (Jan 15, 1555) aged fifty-one, at Chelsea Palace, London, and was buried there. Chelsea Palace was then repossessed by the crown. The death of her eldest son Lord Warwick at Penshurst (Oct, 1554), had hastened her own.
Her will, which survives, was written in her own hand, and the duchess requested her executors “ not in any wise to let me opened after I am dead ; I have not loved to be bold afore woman, much more would I loathe to come into the hands of any living man, be he physician or surgeon.” She was interred with suitable ceremony in Chelsea Church. The duchess of Northumberland bore thirteen children, of whom five died in infancy. The survivors were,

• Sir John Dudley (1526 – 1554). He became first Earl of Warwick, and was married, but died childless.
• Sir Ambrose Dudley (1528 – 1590). He became the second Earl of Warwick (1554 – 1590) and was married three times, but left no surviving issue.
• Sir Henry Dudley (1530 – 1557). His widow, Margaret Audley, became the second wife of Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk.
• Sir Robert Dudley (1533 – 1588). He was the famous favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and was created Earl of Leicester. He was married firstly to Amy Robsart, and secondly to Lettice Knollys, the widow of Walter Devereux, first Earl of Essex, but left no surviving issue.
• Lord Guildford Dudley (1535 – 1554). He was husband to the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. Both were executed.
• Lady Catherine Dudley (1536 – 1620). She became the wife of Henry Hastings (1535 – 1594), third Earl of Huntingdon.
• Lady Mary Dudley (1537 – 1586). She became the wife of Sir Henry Sidney, and was mother of the poet Sir Philip Sidney (1554 – 1586).
• Lady Temperance Dudley. She died unmarried.

Northumberland, Mary Talbot, Countess of – (c1505 – 1572)
English Tudor peeress
Lady Mary Talbot was the fifth daughter of George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Anne Hastings. Negotiations for Lady Mary’s marriage with Lord Henry Percy (1502 – 1537), who succeeded his father as fifth Earl of Northumberland (1527) were begun in 1516 but not completed until 1524 – 1525, due partly to Percy’s infatuation with Anne Boleyn, later the wife of Henry VIII. This association was ended by order of the king via Cardinal Wolsey, and Percy’s marriage with Lady Mary took place soon afterwards.
Their only child died in infancy and the couple soon quarreled. The countess left her husband’s home and returned to live under her father’s roof. She wished for a divorce and accused Lord Northumberland of having made a pre-contract with Anne Boleyn, which thus invalidated her own marriage. She confided her allegation to her father Lord Shrewsbury, who cautiously mentioned the matter to the Duke of Norfolk. King Henry ordered an inquiry, Northumberland denied the accusation and the countess attempt to gain a divorce was routed. The couple remained married and Lord Northumberland left Henry VIII as his heir as ‘… my wyff is a young woman and lykk to contynew’ which would seem to indicate an impaired intellect.
Mary survived her husband for thirty-five years as the Dowager Countess of Northumberland (1537 – 1572) and never remarried. During the reign of Mary I (1553 – 1558) the countess received a grant of land from the demolished abbeys but during the reign of Queen Elizabeth she was suspected of being a secret Roman Catholic because of her friendship with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. After the great rebellion in the north (1571) despite her age and infirmity, with no ability to govern her household, the countess’s house was nevertheless laid under great suspicion as a result of the plotting Catholics.
Lady Northumberland died (between April 16 and June 4, 1572) aged in her late sixties. She was buried in Sheffield Church. In the film The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana, Lady Mary was portrayed by Tiffany Freisberg and Lord Percy by Oliver Coleman.

Northumbria, Maria Maddalena Gouffier, Duchess di – (c1632 – c1676)
Italian aristocrat and courtier
Born Marie Madeleine Gouffier, of French ancestry, she was married firstly to a lord di Marradi, of the Romagna region, and secondly remarried to Carlo Dudley (1614 – 1686), Duca di Northumbria (1649 – 1686), the grandson of Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603). The duchess predeceased her husband, and left him seven children. Apart from four other daughters she was the mother of,

• Dona Maria Cristina Dudley (born c1648). She was married to Andrea, marchese Palleotti, of Bologna. Her daughter Adelaide Palleotti, a famous beauty at the court of George I of England (1714 – 1727) was the wife of Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury.
• Roberto Dudley (c1651 – 1706), Duca di Northumbria (1686 – 1706). He died unmarried.
• Antonio Dudley (1653 – 1728), Duca di Northumbria (1706 – 1728).

Norton, Caroline Elizabeth Sarah – (1808 – 1877) 
British novelist and women’s rights campaigner
Caroline Sheridan was born in London, the second daughter of Thomas Sheridan (1775 – 1817), a member of the civil service who served as colonial treasurer of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and his wife Caroline Henrietta Callander, and was the granddaughter of the famous dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 – 1816) and of the composer Thomas linley (1733 – 1795). She was the sister of Helena, Lady Giffard and Jane Georgiana, Duchess of Somerset, and all three were famous as beauties. She attended school in Surrey prior to her marriage (1827) to the Hon. (Honourable) George Chapple Norton (1800 – 1877), a barrister and brother of the third Baron Grantley, to whom she bore three sons.
Caroline turned to writing because of financial difficulties and published the poem ‘The Sorrows of Rosalie’ (1829) and then became the editor of the court magazine La Belle Assemblee (1831) and of the English Annual (1834 – 1838). Mrs Norton was seperated from her husband, who accused her of adultery with Lord Melbourne (1836) and took custody of their children. She continued writing in order to support herself, though he husband tried to obtain the profits. Her pamphlet A Plain Letter (1839) influenced the passing of the Infant Custody Bill. She was reunited with her children but the unexpected death of her youngest son (1842) left her grief-stricken. From 1845 she lived alone and supported herself with some small success. When her estranged husband brought a suit against her and secured all her copyright interests (1853) Mrs Norton wrote in favour of the Divorce Bill and the first Married Woman’s Property Bill in her works English Laws for Women in the Nineteenth Century and A Letter to the Queen (1855).
With George Norton’s death (1875) Caroline remarried secondly (1875) to a friend, Sir William Stirling-Maxwell (1818 – 1878), ten years her junior, when she was already stricken with her last illness. Lady Stirling-Maxwell died two months later (June 15, 1877) aged sixty-nine. Her published works included the collections of verse The Dream (1840) and The Lady of Garaye (1862). Caroline Norton was the model for the main character of George Meredith’s famous novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). Her second son Thomas Brinsley Norton (1831 – 1877) became the father of the fifth Baron Grantley.

Norton, Frances – (1640 – 1731)
British writer
Frances Freke was the third daughter of Ralph Freke of Hannington, Wiltshire, and his wife Cecilia, the daughter of Sir Thomas Culpeper, of Hollingbourne, Kent. She was married (c1672) to Sir George Norton, of Abbotsleigh, Somerset, to whom she bore three children, of whom the only survivor was Grace Norton, Lady Gethin. Lady Norton was seperated from her husband, who died in 1715.
Two of Frances Norton’s works were published in 1705, The Applause of Virtue and Memento Mori or Meditation on a Death, inspired by the death of her daughter Grace (1697). She was later remarried at Whitehall, when aged nearly eighty, to Colonel Ambrose Norton (died 1723), the cousin of her first husband. She then remarried (1724) to William James. Lady Norton died (Feb 20, 1731) aged ninety, and was interred in the family tomb in Westminster Abbey, London.

Norton, Mary – (1903 – 1992)
British children’s novelist and phantasy writer
Mary was born (Dec 10, 1903) in Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. She was educated in a convent school and later worked for the War Office. She was married (1927) to Robert Norton, after which she spent some years living in Portugal and the USA. Mary Norton was best known as the author of Bed-Knob and Broomstick (1957) which was made into a film by Walt Disney starring Angela Lansbury as Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and The Borrowers (1952) which was awarded the Library Association Carnegie Medal (1952). This novel had four sequels The Borrower’s Afield (1955), The Borrower’s Afloat (1959), The Borrower’s Aloft (1961) and The Borrowers Avenged (1982). Mary Norton died (Aug 29, 1992) in Hartland, aged eighty-eight.

Norton, Mary Teresa Hopkins – (1875 – 1959)
American politician and Congresswoman (1921 – 1951)
Mary Hopkins Norton was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She organized a day care centre for the children of working mothers and became the first woman to serve on the New Jersey State Democratic Committee (1921 – 1944). Mary Teresa Norton was a strong campaigner for women’s rights, and a prominent anti-discrimination activist, and fought for the introduction of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Norwich, Alice Leman, Countess of – (c1630 – 1680)
English Stuart courtier and aristocrat
Alice Leman was the daughter of Robert Leman, of Brightwell Hall, Suffolk, and his wife Mary, the daughter of William Cooke, of Brome Hall, Norfolk. Educated by the Catholic nuns in Ghent, Flanders, Alice was a great heiress. She was married firstly to Sir Thomas Barker, of Fressingfield, Suffolk, and secondly to Charles Goring (c1615 – 1671), third Earl of Norwich, whom she survived as Dowager Countess of Norwich (1671 – 1680). Alice died childless and her will has survived. Lady Norwich was buried (July 23, 1680) at Leyton, Essex, with her second husband.

Norwich, Diana Manners, Viscountess    see   Cooper, Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, Lady

Norwood, Lily    see    Charisse, Cyd

Norwood, Melita – (1912 – 2005)
Latvian-Anglo spy
Melita Sirnis was the daughter of Alexander Sirnis, a bookbinder. Raised amidts the literature of Lenin and Trotsky, she joined the Communist Party (1936). Several years earlier (1932), she was become employed as a secretary with the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association at Euston, which was involved with nuclear research.
Norwood was recommended to the KGB by Andrew Rothstein, one of the fouding members of the British Communist Party and became enrolled as a full agent (1937) with the codename ‘Hola.’ She passed on secret documents to the Russians over a period of nearly thirty-five years. Suspicions aroused concerning her sympathies in 1951 were further cemented in 1966, yet MI5 declined to interview her, fearful of seeming to persecute an elderly woman. She retired in 1972 and papers later produced (1999) by former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, after his defection to the West (1992) fully revealed her activities. Melita Norwood died (June 2, 2005) aged ninety-three, at Bexleyheath.

Nossis – (fl. c350 – c300 BC)
Greek poet
Nossis was born in Epizephryrian Locri, in southern Italy, the daughter of Theophilis. She composed epigrams in honour of the goddesses Hera and Aphrodite, of which twelve survive. One was a prayer to the goddess Artemis for assistance in childbirth, and several of the verses concern portraits of contemporary women. Her work inspired the American poet and novelist Hilda Doolittle to compose her Nossis.

Nostitz-Rieneck, Sophie von Hohenburg, Countess von – (1901 – 1990)
Austrian Imperial aristocrat
Born HSH (Her Serene Highness) Princess Sophie Marie Franziska Antonia Ignatia Alberta von Hohenburg (July 24, 1901) at Konopischt, she was the only daughter of the Hapsburg archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863 – 1914), heir (1889 – 1914) to the emperor Franz Josef, and of his morganatic wife, Sophie von Chotek, Princess von Hohenberg. Sophia and her two brothers did not bear the Imperial style, taking instead their mother’s rank. Her parents were both assassinated at Sarajevo in Bosnia (1914) and she and her brothers were raised in the household of their late father’s friend, Prince Jaroslav von Thun und Hohenstein, but the family properties in Czechoslavakia were confiscated at the end of WW I (1918).
Princess Sophie and her brothers then spent their time between residence in Vienna and Artstetten Castle. She was later married (1920) at Teschen Castle, on the river Elbe, to Count Friedrich Leopold Joseph Hubertus Maria von Nostitz-Rieneck (1893 – 1973). For a period of seven years (1938 – 1945) Sophie was deported from Austria by the Nazis and interred in the concentration camp at Dachau. Countess Sophia survived her husband as Dowager Countess von Nostitz (1973 – 1990) and spent her last years living at Salzburg. There she granted private interviews to the British historian, Lavender Cassels, author of The Archduke and the Assassin (1984). Countess Sophia died (Oct 27, 1990) aged eighty-nine, at Salzburg, and left four children,

• Count Erwein von Nostitz-Rieneck (1921 – 1949). He served with the German army during WW II and died unmarried, as a Russian prisoner of war at the concentration camp at Vysky.
• Count Franz von Nostitz-Rieneck (1923 – 1945). He died unmarried, being killed during WW II at Brent.
• Count Alois von Nostitz-Rieneck (1925 – 2003). He married and left descendants.
• Countess Sophie von Nostitz-Rieneck (born 1929). She was married to Baron Ernst von Gudenus (1916 – 1972) and left descendants.

Notburga Karolina Maria - (1883)
Princess of Bavaria
HRH (Her Royal Highness) Princess Notburga was born (March 19, 1883) at Villa Amsee, the fifth daughter of Ludwig III, King of Bavaria (1913 - 1918) and his wife the Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, the daughter of Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este. She was the younger sister of Crown Princess Rupprecht of Bavaria (1869 - 1955). Notburga lived for only five days and died (March 24, 1883) at Wildenort Castle. She was interred within the Dom Church in Munich

Notestein, Ada     see     Comstock, Ada

Notre Dame de Thermidor   see   Tallien, Therese Cabarrus

Nottingham, Catherine Carey, Countess of – (1546 – 1603)
English Tudor courtier
Catherine Carey was the daughter of Henry Carey, first Baron Hunsdon and his wife Anne Morgan. Her father was the first cousin to Queen Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603). Catherine became the first wife (1563) of the queen’s uncle, Lord Charles Howard (1536 – 1624) who was later created first earl of Nottingham. After her marriage she served as lady of the Privy Chamber to the queen, with whom she was a great favourite. She later received a grant of the manor of Chelsea for life (1591). Lady Nottingham died (Feb 25, 1603) aged fifty-six, only a month before the queen, who was much grieved by her death, a contemporary, Philip Gaway, noting that, “ Her (Catherine’s) death her Majestie took much more heavily than did my lord.” She was interred at Chelsea with magnificent ceremony.
Worthless tradition represents Lady Nottingham as the bitter enemy of Lord Essex, who had insulted her husband. She is said to have intercepted the delivery of the ring sent by Essex to Queen Elizabeth, which would have saved him, and thus ensued he went to his death. According to this same apocryphal tale Lady Nottingham later confessed her action to the queen on her deathbed, and begged her forgiveness. The grief-stricken Elizabeth refused to grant it. Lady Nottingham’s children included,

• Lady Frances Howard (1565 – 1628). She was married firstly to Henry Fitzgerald (1562 – 1597), twelfth Earl of Kildare, and secondly Henry Brooke (1564 – 1619), Lord Cobham, and left descendants.
• Lady Elizabeth Howard (1566 – after 1603). She became the wife of Sir Robert Southwell (died 1598), of Woodrising, Nofolk. Their daughter, Elizabeth Southwell, eloped to Italy with her cousin Robert Dudley, the natural son of Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester and Lady Douglas Sheffield (nee Howard). She left many descendants.
• Lady Margaret Howard (1568 – after 1603). She became the wife of Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Leveson (1570 – 1605), of Littleshall, Shropshire.
• William Howard (1577 – 1615). He became Lord Howard of Effingham but predeceased his father, leaving an only daughter.
• Charles Howard (1579 – 1642), Lord Howard of Effingham (1615 – 1624), who succeeded his father as second Earl of Nottingham (1624 – 1642). He was married twice but died childless, and the title became extinct in the Howard family.

Nottingham, Elizabeth Lestrange, Countess of   see   Lestrange, Elizabeth

Novaes, Guiomar – (1893 – 1979)
Brazilian pianist
Novaes was born (Feb 28, 1893) and became internationally famous for her performances of the works of the Romantic composers such as Bach and Mozart. She equally established for herself a reputation for renditions of the works of contemporary composers such as Claude Debussy. Guiomar Novaes died (March 7, 1979) aged eighty-six, at Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Novakova, Tereza – (1853 – 1912)
Bohemian novelist
Tereza was born in Prague. She married and produced a family, but managed to continue her lifelong interest in ethnography writing Kroj lidovy a narodni vysivani na Litomyslsku (Folk Costume and Embroidery in Litomyslsko) (1898) and Z nejvychodnejsich Cech (From Easternmost Bohemia) (1898).
With the deaths of her husband and several of her children, Novakova retired to reside permanently in eastern Bohemia to research her ehtnographic studies (1908). For over three decades (1875 – 1908) she edited the feminist journal Zensky svet (Woman’s World). Her last work was Z ‘enskeho hnuti (From the Women’s Movement) (1912). Tereza Novakova died in Prague.

Nova Sondag, Jacqueline – (1935 – 1975)
Colombian composer
Jacqueline was born in Ghent, Flanders, in Belgium, and studied music with Fabio Gonzalez Zuleta, Luis Antonio Escobar and Blas Emilio Atehortua at the Facultad de Artes of the National University of Colombia in Bogota. Nova Sondag later received a scholarship (1967) to study at the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires in Argentina. There she received instruction from Alberto Ginastera, Vladimir Ussachevsky, roman Haubenstck, and Gerardo Gandini amongst other notable musicians and composers.
She later formed the Agrupacion Nueva Musica in Bogota. Apart from chamber and electronic music, she wrote piano pieces and sacred music. Her other works included Moviles 12 (1967) for piano and strings, Ensayos (1968) for strings and Segmentos (1979) for oboe, which was published posthumously. Jacqueline Nova Sondag died (Jne 13, 1975) aged forty, in Bogota.

Novello, Clara Anastasia – (1818 – 1908)
British operatic soprano
Clara Novello was born (June 10, 1818) in London the daughter of Vincent Novello (1786 – 1861). Her elder sister was Mary Victoria Cowden Clarke. She received basic musical education in York prior to traveling abroad to study under Choron in Paris (1829). She made her stage debut at Windsor Castle in Berkshire with great success (1832) and with the retirement of Catherine Stephens (1835) Clara became the leading soprano in London.
Possessed of a perfectly trained and clear voice, she was also attractive in person. Novello performed in the Gewandhaus concerts at Leipzig (1837) on the invitation of Felix Mendelssohn, and also appeared in Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich and St Petersburg. She made her first stage appearance in Italy in the title role of Rossini’s opera Semiramide (1841) and Handel’s Acis and Galatea (1843). She became the wife (1843) in England of the Conte Gigliucci, the governor of Fermo, who managed to obtain her release when the Italian authorities detained her at Fermo due to a misunderstanding.
After her marriage Clara novella retired to Italy to reside with her husband, but the political upheavals of 1848 resulted in the confiscation of their property and she was forced to resume her singing career. Clara performed in Rome and Lisbon and quickly re-established herself in England as the premier concert soprano. She sang before the royal family and assembled dignitaries at the opening of the Crystal Palace (1854) and at the Handel Festival held at that venue (1859). She retired finally in 1860 and lived both in England and Italy with the count. With his death she became the Dowager Contessa Gigliucci (1893 – 1908).
Clara Novello died (March 12, 1908) aged eighty-nine, in Rome. She left a volume of memoirs entitled Reminiscences (1910) which were published posthumously by her daughter Contessa Valeria Gigliucci. Her portrait was painted by her brother Edward Petre Novello and by Edward Magnus.

Novikova, Klavdia Mikhailovna – (1898 – 1969)
Russian mezzo-soprano
Novikova was born in Odessa, the daughter of Mikhail Novikov. She became the pupil of the noted contralto Evgenia Zbrueva at the Petrograd Conservatory, and later studied under La Mochalova. Klavdia Novikova had an impressive thirty year career (1926 – 1958) with the Moscow Operetta Theatre.

Novikova, Olga Alexievna – (1848 – 1925)
Russian political organiser and author
Born Olga Kireeff in Moscow, she the daughter of a horse guards officer. Her mother, Alexandra Albieva was mentioned in the poetic works of Pushkin Lermontov. Olga married Lieutenant-General Ivan Novikoff (died 1890), the rector of the University of St Petersburg. Madame Novikova began her political literary career with the idea of continuing the work of her late brother, who was been killed in the Turkish was, defending the cause of Slavonia.
Novikova devotedly promoted the idea of the Anglo-Russian allegiance to such an extent that Prime Minister Disraeli nicknamed her the ‘M.P. for Russia.’ Novikova worked closely with William E. Gladstone in furthering the cause for Slavonia until his death (1898). Apart from articles published in the Pall Mall Gazette and the Westminster Gazette she also wrote for the Asiatic Review, and for French and Russian newspapers.
The author of the pamphlets Searchlights on Russia and More Searchlights on Russia, her other written works included Is Russia Wrong? Friends or Foes and Skobeloff and the Slavonic Cause. Olga Novikova died (April 21, 1925) aged seventy-six.

Novitskaia, Maria Georgievna – (1897 – 1981)
Russian social activist and reformer
Maria Shavelskaia was born in St Petersburg, the daughter of George Shavelsky, who served as presbyter to the Russian army and navy. She was educated at the Empress Marie Institute in St Petersburg. With the outbreak of WW I she volunteered to become a nurse at the front, and was awarded medals for personal bravery. She resided with her husband, the engineer Khmelevsky in Turkestan (1917 – 1921) and then immigrated to Bulgaria before finally settling in the USA.
Divorcing her first husband she remarried to G. Novitsky. Madame Novitskaia devoted four decades of her life to assisting the causes of refugee children throughout Europe, through the Society of Aid to Russian Children Abroad, which had been co-founded by her second husband. Maria Novitskaia died aged eighty-three, in America.

Novo Mercato, Pernel de – (c1210 – after 1293)
English mediaeval nun
This lady became a religious recluse at Womersly and was buried in the Church of the Blackfriars at Pontefract. She was still living in 1292 when her made good her claim on a wheat allowance paid for her upkeep in seclusion. She was probably the wife of Sir John de Novo Mercato (died before Sept, 1247) whom she long survived. Dame Pernel was the mother of Sir Adam de Novo Mercato (Newmarch) (c1230 – 1283).

Noyes, Beppie – (1919 – 2007)
American children’s author and illustrator
Born Beatrice Spencer (July 20, 1919) in Detroit, Michigan, she studied theatre at Vassar College. Her second husband was the war correspondent Newbold Noyes and Beppie assisted with the establishment of the Potomac Almanac in Washington D.C. Beppie Noyes’ published two books for children Mosby, the Kennedy Center Cat (1978) for which produced the illustrations, and Wigglesworth: The Caterpillar Who Wanted to Fly (1985). Beppie Noyes died (July 3, 2007) aged aged eighty-seven.

Nubkhesbed (Nubkhesed) – (fl. 1147 – 1143 BC)
Queen consort of Egypt
Nubkhesebed was the wife of Ramesses VI (died c1141 BC) being identifed as ‘King’s Great Wife’ by surviving funerary inscriptions. The couple had a daughter named Iset, who is attested by a surviving stela from Koptos which identifies her parents. Her husband’s mummy was found in the tomb of Amenhotep I (1898). Hers has not been identified.

Nubneti – (fl. c2300 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
A member of the VIth Dynasty (2392 – 2282 BC), or perhaps later, the identity of her husband remains unknown. Queen Nubneti was interred at Saqqara, where surviving inscriptions gave her the titles of ‘King’s Wife’ and ‘Great of Sceptre‘ a particularly Old Kingdom queenly epithet.

Nugent, Maria Skinner, Lady – (c1775 – 1834)
American-Anglo memoirist
Maria Skinner was the seventh daughter of Cortlandt Skinner, the attorney-general of New Jersey in America. She was married in Belfast, Ireland (1797) to Field Marshal Sir George Nugent (1757 – 1849), the Commander-in-chief of the British army in India, to whom she bore five children. She spent several years in India with her husband and her memoir of this period was published posthumously in London as A Journal from the Year 1811 to the Year 1815 (1839).

Nugent, Rose – (1967 – 1998)
British society figure
Sheelin Rose Nugent was the daughter to Lady Eliza Guiness and stepdaughter of Martin Mays-Smith, and was the niece of the ill-fated Lady Henrietta Guiness and of the Earl of Iveagh. She was killed in a freak accident, being thrown from a horse-drawn caravan near her home in Lambourne, Berkshire and died later (Nov 30, 1998) in hospital at Swindon, Wiltshire.

Nuitz, Agnes von – (c1150 – 1186)
German medieval saint
Agnes was born at Nuitz, near Cologne (Koln), and was the twin sister of Hildegund, also honoured as a saint, who lived disguised as a Cistercian monk at Schonau in Worms. After her mother’s death, Agnes‘s father forced her to take the veil as a nun at the local convent in Nuitz. She remained there until her death, whilst her sister was then at Zusmarhus, near Augsburg, on her return journey from Palestine. Hildegund was said to have had a vision of her sister’s soul being carried up to heaven, accompanied by celestial music. Agnes von Nuitz was listed as a saint (Feb 21) by Henriquez in his Lilia Cistercii and by Monstier in his Gynecaeum.

Nukada – (c630 – 690)
Japanese princess and poet
Princess Nukada no Okimi was the daughter of Prince Kagami and was the favourite wife of the emperor Temmu. She bore the emperor a daughter Toochi, later the consort of the Emperor Kobun. For some time she was taken to become a consort to her brother-in-law the Emperor Tenji, but with his death Nukada retirned to Temmu’s household. Considered one of the most talented poets of the period, Nukada’s verses were preserved in the famous Manyoshu collection.

Nukwase – (c1879 – 1957)
Queen mother of Swaziland (1938 – 1957)
Nukwase was the daughter of Ngolotjeni, chief of the Ndwandwe tribe and his wife Msindvose Ndlela. Her sister Lomawa was the wife of the Swazi king Ngwane V (1875 – 1899) and the mother of King Sobhuza II (1900 – 1986). She became the secondary wife of her brother-in-law, Ngwane V, to whom she had been betrothed whilst he had married her sister. She bore him a son Prince Mkukwane (died 1939), and two daughters, Princess Mnengwase and Princess Lomusa.
As a widow she later joined the household of the queen mother and regent Labotsibeni (1902). Interested in Christianity the princess was eventually baptized in the Methodist faith (1914) which she retained the rest of her life, and was a devout churchgoer. It was largely due to her influence that her stepson Sobhuza II granted missionaries land near Lobamba for the building of a national church (1948).
Princess Nukwase supervised the funeral arrangements for her sister, the queen mother Lomawa (1938), and then the Swazi Inner Council elected Nukwase as queen mother (Ndlovukazi). This honour meant that she had to abandon Western dress and adopt the traditional dress of her country, to which she agreed. During WW II she arranged that the wives of Swazi officials worked with the wives of white officials and soldiers to provide clothing and comforts for the British troops. Nukwase was presented with the King’s Medal in recognition of her valuable contribution to the war effort. She accompanied Sobhuza II to Goedgegun, on the border of Mahamba, where she received the visiting King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth, and their two daughters (1947). Queen Nukwase died (Sept 15, 1957) at Lobamba. She was interred at Zabeni.

Nuna Domna    see   Munia Domna

Nunan, Marjorie Estella – (1910 – 1963)
Australian pensioner’s advocate
Nunan was the daughter of Francis Joseph Nunan. Crippled, she never married and devoted herself to civic causes in Brunswick, Melbourne during the 1940’s. She was appointed to be the first president of the Combined Pensions Association of Victoria (1954) and helped to establish the Australian Commonwealth Pensioner’s Federation (1956). Marjorie Nunan died (Jan 12, 1963) aged fifty-two.

Nunes, Guiomar – (1693 – 1731)
Portugese victim of the Spanish Inquisition
Guiomar Nunes was a Jewish converso, and was the wife of a tinsmith named Francisco Pereyra. Nunes was attached to the sugar plantation of Santo Andre outside the city of Paraiba, probably as a worker. Guiomar Nunes was accused of heresy and was arrested and interrogated by the Holy Office. She refused to confess her guilt and was then condemned to death, being burnt alive (June 17, 1731) aged thirty-seven, in the grounds of the convent of Santo Domingo in Lisbon.

Nunez, Ximena    see    Guzman, Ximena Nunez de

Nunilo – (d. 851)
Spanish virgin Christian martyr and saint
Nunilo and her sister Alodia were the daughters of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. With the death of their father the mother remarried to a second Muslim husband, and the two girls were sent to live with Christian relatives at Castro Viejo, near Majara in Castile. Nunilo and Alodia resided as Christian laywomen and remained unmarried, attracting a reputation for religious piety.
Eventually they came to the attention of the Moorish authorities and were arrested. Refusing to abjure their faith, they were both beheaded. Both women were commemorated together (Oct 21), their feast recorded in the Acta Sanctorum and the Roman Martyrology.

Nunilo Ximena – (c879 – after 911)
Spanish Infanta
Infanta Nunilo Ximena of Navarre was the daughter of Garcia II Jimenez, King of Navarre. She became the first wife of Infante Fruela (later King Fruela II) of Leon (c875 – 925) and bore him two sons. They were Infante Alfonso Froilaz, the titular King of Leon and Infante Ordono Froilaz el Ciego (c903 – 932), Count of the Asturias.

Nunje – (1578 – 1652)
Chinese Manchu princess
Princess Nunje Ko Ko was the daughter of T’ien-ming, Emperor of Manchuria and his wife, the daughter of Tunggiya. Nunje was married (before 1601) to the lieutenant-general Hohori (1561 – 1624), the first prince Yung-ch’in, of the Donggo clan, and was created Duchess Yung-ch’in by her father. Nunje bore her husband six children, and she survived him almost three decades as the Dowager Princess Yung-ch’in (1624 – 1652). Her younger sister Makuta became the wife of Legdan Khan, himself a descendant of Jenghiz Khan.

‘Nun of Kent, the’    see   Barton, Elizabeth

Nur al’Alam – (fl. 1675 – 1678) 
Indonesian ruler
Nur al’Alam was the second of four female rulers of the Atjeh Empire in northern Sumatra. Nur succeeded Queen Taj al-‘alam, who may have been her mother or sister (1675), and ruled until 1678. Her full Muslim title, Nur al-‘Alam Nakiyyat al-din Shah, translates as ‘Light of the World, purity of the faith.’ Her relationship with her successor Queen Inayat remains uncertain. Mecca apparently did not approve of female rule in Atjeh, but though Queen Nur faced some religious opposition, she retained her throne.

Nur Jahan – (1571 – 1645)  
Mughal empress
Nur Jahan was the daughter of a Persian official who served at the Mughal court of the emperor Akbar the Great. Originally named Mihr-un-Nisa, she was married firstly to a Persian, Sher Afghan Kan, to whom she bore a daughter. They resided in Bengal, but after his death came to court as lady-in-waiting to the stepmother of the Emperor Jahangir (1569 – 1627), who married her (1611). The empress used her position to gain positions at court to enrich her family, her brother being appointed chief minister. She formed a clique with her family and Asaf Khan, and her stepson Prince Khurram, later the emperor Shah Jahan, who married her own niece Mumataz Mahal.
Jahangir remained addicted to opium and alcohol and virtually handed over the running of the empire to Nur Jehan, who controlled the administrative affairs, issued decrees in her own name, and was the only female ruler in Indian history to issue coins in her own name. Her attempts to retain power led to estrangement from her stepson, who openly rebelled and provoked a civil war (1623 – 1626). Captured and briefly imprisoned, she managed to regain control of the government, but with her husband’s death (1627), her stepson forced her into honourable retirement.

Nurmi, Maila – (1921 – 2008)
Finnish-American actress
Born Maila Elizabeth Syrjaniemi (Dec 21, 1921) in Petsamo, she was the niece of the famous athlete Paavo Nurmi (1897 – 1973). She modelled with Alberto Vargas (1896 – 1982) and Man Ray (1890 – 1976) in Los Angeles, California. Maila Nurmi was best known for creating the 1950’s character known as ‘Vampira’ which role she played as a host of television horror movies and in films such as Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956), I Passed for White (1960) and The Magic Sword (1962). Maila Nurmi died (Jan 10, 2008) aged eighty-six, in Los Angeles.

Nuthead, Dinah – (fl. 1695 – c1700)
American printer and publisher
The first of her three husbands ran the first printing press in Virginia, before removing to Maryland. With the death of her first husband (1695), Dinah paid a fee for the license to continue his press, and managed a modest income. She became only the second woman in the colonies to operate a printing press.

Nutt, Elizabeth – (fl. c1710 – 1731) 
British printer and bookseller
With the death of her husband John Nutt (1720), Elizabeth took over the running of his business in the Savoy, London. She kept a pamphlet shop at the Royal Exchange, and printed the six volume work Magna Britannica by T. Cox.

Nwapa, Flora Nwanzuruahu – (1931 – 1993)
Nigerian novelist
Flora Nwapa was born in Ogwuto, in the state of Imo. She graduated from the University of Ibadan and travelled to Great Britain to study. She received her diploma from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Flora trained as a teacher and was employed as a female education officer at the ministry of education in Nigeria, Flora was later appointed assistant registrar at the University of Lagos.
Flora Nwapa founded the Tana Press Ltd, which published children’s books. She continued to teach, and held several government and political appointments. Her published works include Idu (1970), Never Again (1975), One is Enough (1981) and Women are Different (1981). She was also the author of This is Lagos and Other Stories (1971) and Wives at War and Other Stories (1992).

Nyakasikana, Nehanda – (1862 – 1898)
Zimbabwean patriot
Nehanda Nyakasikana established herself as a leader in the Zimbabwean war of independence from British colonial rule. She organized a defensive stronghold in the mountains at Musaka, and led her warriors on raiding sorties against white owned mines, properties and farms. Captured by the British in Dec, 1897, she was hanged for murder and sedition the following April.

Nyblom, Helena Augusta – (1843 – 1926)
Danish poet, novelist and dramatist
Helena Roed was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of the painter and academic, Jorgen Roed. She was raised in literary circles and was married (1864) to Carl Rupert Nyblom, later the professor of aesthetics at Uppsala University in Sweden, to whom she bore six children. Madame Nyblom established a literary salon in her home in Uppsala, and wrote poetry, stories, and literary reviews, assisting her husband edit a collection of Holberg plays.
Her area was that of the fairy tale and gothic phantasy, and she defended the work of Selma Lagerlof from her detractors. She produced a collection of tales for all ages entitled Det var en gang. Sagor for sma och stora (Once Upon a Time: Tales for Young and Old) (1897 – 1898). Nyblom’s work was extremely popular and she later received a government pension in recognition of her literary contribution (1908). One of her best known works was the play Det ringer (It’s Ringer) (1910) a popular parody of how the telephone had changed contemporary society. Helena Nyblom died (Oct 9, 1926) aged eighty-two, in Stockholm.

Nymaathap (Nemaathep) – (fl. c2090 BC)
Queen of Egypt
Nymaathap was the wife of King Khasekhemwy, last ruler of the IInd Dynasty (c2800 – 2584 BC), and the mother of King Djoser, first king of the IIIrd Dynasty (2584 – 2520 BC), and was perhaps also the mother of Pharoah Sanakhte. Queen Nymaathap ruled as regent for Djoser, and was accorded the title of ‘Mother of the King,’ being worshipped as ancestress of the IIIrd Dynasty kings.
The III Dynasty was really only a continuation of the IInd, which seems to bear out the theory that Nymaathap’s marriage had uhsered in a period of peace. She was accorded several honorific titles such as ‘Mother of the King’s children,’ ‘Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt’ and ‘All that she orders is done for her,’ all of which indicate both her importance and prominence. Her chapel was at Saqqara.

Nympha – (d. c350 AD)
Graeco-Roman Christian martyr
Nympha was the member of a Panormitan sect. She suffered martyrdom at Porto in Italy.

Nyoho    see   Shikishi

Nyro, Laura – (1947 – 1997) 
American songwriter and lyricist
Born Laura Nigro (Oct 18, 1947) in the Bronx, New York, she was the daughter of a piano tuner. She attended the New York High School of Music and Art and resided in Greenwich Village. Her first recoding was the album More Than a New Discovery (1966) and her song Stony End (1970) was made famous by singer Barbra Streisand and the Fifth Dimension group had a hit with her tune Wedding Bell Blues (1969).
Later albums included Eli and the Second Coming (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969). Nyro later worked the nightclub circuit in New York and San Francisco. Laura Nyro died aged forty-nine, in Connecticut.

Nysa of Bithynia (1) – (fl. c230 BC)
Greek queen
Nysa was probably the daughter of King Ziaelas of Bithynia. She was married to the Seleucid king Antiochus Hierax (265 – 226 BC). There were no recorded children.

Nysa of Bithynia (2) – (c120 – after 59 BC)
Greek queen and heiress
Nysa was the only child of King Nikomedes III of Bithynia in Asia Minor, and his wife Orodaltis. Mithridates VI of Pontus wished to marry her, as the heiress of the kingdom, but her father refused to consent. Mithridates then invaded Bithynia and carried the princess off to reside in captivity at Cabeira, as a hostage to her father’s political behaviour. She bore Mithridates a son.
The Roman army of Lucullus later freed Nysa (71 BC) and she was permitted to reside with her widowed mother, Queen Orodaltis. However, Rome would not recognize her rights as legitimate queen of Bithynia or the claims of her son, despite Julius Caesar’s personal intervention with the senate on her behalf.

Nysa of Cappadocia – (fl. 99 – c94 BC)
Queen consort of Pontus
Nysa was the daughter of the Cappodocian nobleman Gordius. She was married (99 BC) to Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus (132 – 63 BC) as his second wife and received the royal titles. Her father was killed because of involvement in a vague plot against Mithridates, and Queen Nysa seperated from the king. Mithridates then permitted her to rule the city of Amaseia as her personal domain.

Nysa of Pontus – (c170 – 111 BC)
Queen consort of Cappadocia
Nysa was the daughter of Mithridates IV, King of Pontus and his wife Stratonike of Syria, the daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus III. She was married (c155 BC) to Ariarathes V (c175 – 130 BC), king of Cappodocia, in Asia Minor, and became the mother of king Ariarathes VI (c145 – 116 BC). With her husband’s death Nysa ruled Cappadocia as regent for her son. She was later involved in his removal and the placement of her grandson Ariarathes VII on the throne, whilst she continued to rule the kingdom as regent till her death.

Nyssia – (fl. c690 – c670 BC)
Queen of Lydia
Nyssia was the wife of Candaules of Sardis, King of the Lydians. Herodotus records the tale of how Candaules, proud of Nyssia’s beauty, showed her off naked in her bath. The queen, outraged, conspired with his minister and guardsman Gyges, and Candaules was assassinated (c687 BC). Nyssia then married Gyges to legitimize him as the next king, and he ruled Lydia for three decades. They were the parents of King Ardys who ruled (c652 – c630 BC). One source gives her the name Argeia.

Nyswander, Dorothy Bird – (1894 – 1998)
American public health advocate and educator
Dorothy Nyswander was born (Sept 29, 1894) and studied at the University of Nevada and then went to Berkeley, where she pursued her interest in educational psychology. Nyswander was appointed director of the City Health Center in Astoria, Queens (1939) and she then worked with the Works Progress Administration, and after WW II she was attached to the Federal Works Agency, where she became instrumental in setting up day care centres to assist working mothers. Nyswander later came to Berkeley where she was a professor of public health and established the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley. She was the author of Solving School Health Problems and retired in 1957. Dorothy Bird Nyswander died (Dec 18, 1998) aged one hundred and four, in Berkeley, California.

Nzinga, Mbande – (c1582 – 1663) 
Angolan queen
Ruler of the Matamba, in the province of Ndongo, adjoining the Portugese colony of Angola, she was a famous African warrior queen who fought to maintain her independence from the Portugese. Nzinga negotiated a treaty personally with the Portugese governor (1626) and adopted Christianity, being baptised as Dona Ana de Souza. After the death of her brother she was driven drom her kingdom (1627).
The queen established her own kingdom in Matamba over which she ruled more than three decades (1630 – 1663), and where she plotted the fall of the Portugese and later allied herself with the Dutch. Nzinga later abandoned Christianity, though she was received back into it prior to her death.