Zabel (Isabella) – (1212 – 1252)
Queen regnant of Armenia
Zabel was the younger daughter of King Leo II and his third wife Sybilla, the daughter of Isabella I, Queen of Jerusalem and Amalric II of Lusignan. Her elder half-sister Stephanie was the wife of the Crusader king of Jerusalem, Jean of Brienne. Leo II designated Zabel as queen of Armenia under the regency of Adam of Baghras, betrothing her to the son of Andrew II, King of Hungary. With Leo’s death (1219) King Andrew broke off the betrothal. Adam was murdered (1221) and replaced as regent by Constantine of Lampron, who married Zabel to his own candidate, Philip, the son of Bohemond IV, Prince of Antioch. Philip proved unpopular and refused to embrace the Armenian Church, and was eventually capture in his wife’s rooms, imprisoned at Sis, and later poisoned (1225).
The queen fled to Seleucia, but the Knights Templar to whom she had fled for protection, and who had supported Philip, handed over the town and the queen into the hands of the regent Constantine, who then forced Zabel to marry his own son Hethoum of Lampron, the marriage uniting the two rival branches of the Armenian royal house. Though much against the marriage at first, Zabel at length relented, and the two were crowned together (1226), her husband becoming king Hethoum I. Zabel’s three daughters, Sibylla (1237 – 1290), who became the wife of Bohemond VI, Prince of Antioch, Euphemia (c1240 – 1309), who married Julian Garnier, lord of Sidon (died 1275), and Maria (died after 1310), who was married to Guy of Ibelin (died after 1270) and died as a nun in the convent of Notre Dame de Tyre, in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Her granddaughter, Rita of Armenia became the wife of the Byzantine emperor Michael IX Palaeologus, and adopted the Imperial name of Maria. Queen Zabel died (Jan 23, 1252) at Ked, aged thirty-nine, and was interred within the royal mausoleum at Trazarg. With her death the throne passed to Hethoum who ruled till his death (1270), when he abdicated in favour of their son Leo III (1236 – 1289).
Zabelia of Foix see Foix, Zabelia de
Zac-Kuk – (c584 – 640)
Mayan queen
Known officially as the ‘Lady Zac-Kuk,’ she succeeded as ruler of the Mayan empire at Palenque (612), on the Yucatan peninsula of Central America. Her son Pacal (born 603) succeeded as king of the Maya in 615, but Queen Zac-Kuk remained the real ruler of the kingdom until her death twenty-five years later.
Zaeske-Fell, Johanna see Fell, Johanna
Zagorka – (1873 – 1957)
Croatian novelist, dramatist and intellectual
Born Maria Juric, she was forcibly married to a wealthy Hungarian but the marriage was miserable and she left him three years later. She took up a career to support herself as a feminist and a political journalist, for which she sufferred much from contemporary misogynistic attacks during her life.
Zaharias, Mildred Ella see Didrikson, Babe
Zahida Khatun – (c1110 – 1168)
Mongol queen and ruler
Zahida was the first wife of Boz-Aba, King of Fars (died 1147). Zahina Khatun succeeded her husband on the throne of Fars, and reigned successfully as sole ruler for over two decades (1147 – 1168). She founded the madrassa (Islamic religious school) at Shiraz.
Zaida (Isabella) – (c1070 – 1107)
Queen consort of Castile (1100 – 1107)
Zaida was probably the daughter of Abn-Alheje, king of Dania. She was married firstly to Al-Mamun, king of Seville, and then became the mistress, and fifth wife, of Alfonso VI (1040 – 1109), king of Castile (1072 – 1107). With the death of her first husband Zaida became Alfonso’s concubine, and bore him a son Sancho Alfonsez (1096 – 1107). Alfonso married her (1100) after the death of his fourth wife, Bertha of Burgundy, making Zaida his legitimate wife and queen, and legitimating their son.
Zaida then took the Christian name of Isabella (Elisabeth), which would be acceptable to her Christian subjects. This fact is behind the wrongly repeated story that Alfonso was married to a French princess called Elisabeth. Queen Zaida died (Sept 12, 1107) aged about thirty-seven, and was interred in the royal Abbey of Sahagun.
Zaimis, Eleanor – (1915 – 1982)
Greek-Anglo pharmacologist
Born Eleanor Christides, she was raised and educated in Bucharest. After studying and successfully graduating from Athens University in Greece (1938) she was employed there in the pharmacology department. After marriage with a British diplomat, John Zaimis (1943) she worked with various medical and pharmaceutical research institutions at Bristol and in London, being finally appointed Reader at the School of Pharmacy in London (1954).
Eleanor Zaimis then spent twenty-five years as head of the pharmacology department at the Royal Free Hospital of Medicine (1954 – 1980). Her research was concentrated on analyzing the interaction between the human body and various pharmaceutical drugs, and she is credited with developing techniques to understand the process of lowering of blood pressure and of local anaesthetics.
Zakrzewska, Maria Elizabeth – (1829 – 1902)
German-American physician
Maria Zakrzewska was born in Berlin, Prussia and successfully trained as a midwife. Though she was appointed as assistant to the director at the Royal Hospital Charite in Berlin, her desire for promotion was frustrated at home because of her youth, and she immigrated to the USA (1853). There she studied medicine at the Cleveland Medical College in Ohio, being one of the first four women to be admitted there. She graduated as a physician in 1856.
Zakrzewska worked alongside Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell at their New York Infirmary for Women and Children and was later professor of obstetrics at the Boston Female Medical College, in Massachusetts. She became involved in various social causes such as providing amenities for the working poor and the abolition of slavery. She established the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston (1863) and later the New England Hospital Medical Society (1878), the first such association to be inaugrated by a woman, and served as first president.
Zambelli, Carlotta – (1875 – 1968)
Italian ballerina
Zambelli was born (Nov 4, 1875) in Milan, Lombardy, and studied at La Scala, making her stage debut at the Paris Opera (1894). Famous as the last foreign dancer to appear at the Russian Mariinsky Theatre (1901), she created several leading roles such as La ronde des saisons (1905), and was wildly acclaimed for her unforgettable performances as Swanilda in Coppelia. She led the Opera company for four decades and only retired as a dancer (1930) in order to become director of the dance school. She retired in 1950 and was the first person to enter the Legion d’Honneur (1926) for the field of dance, being made an Officier three decades later (1956). Carlotta Zambelli died (Jan 28, 1968) in Milan, aged ninety-two.
Zambrano, Maria – (1904 – 1991)
Spanish philosopher and essayist
Maria Zambrano was born at Velez Malaga. She went into exile after the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) and resided aboard for the next forty-five years in Chile, Cuba, France, and Mexico. She finally returned to Spain in 1985. Her works included Horizontes del liberalissimo (The Horizons of Liberalism) (1930), Filosofia y poesia (Philosophy and Poetry) (1940), Persona y democracia (Person and Democracy) (1959) and La tumba de Antigones (Antigone’s Tomb) (1967).
Zametkin, Laura Hobson see Hobson, Laura Zametkin
Zamoyska, Zofia Czartoryska, Countess – (1778 – 1837)
Polish salonniere and patron of music
Princess Zofia Czartoryska was born in Warsaw, the daughter of Prince Adam Czartoryski and his wife Countess Izabella Elizabeth Flemming. She was married at Pulawy (1798) to Count Stanislas Zamoyski (1775 – 1856). A prominent figure in Polish society, the countess is especially remembered as the patron of the composer, Frederic Chopin (1810 – 1849) during his early career. Countess Zamoyska died (Feb 27, 1837) aged fifty-eight, in Florence, Italy.
Zamudio, Adela – (1854 – 1928)
Bolivian poet and novelist
Adela Zamudio trained as a schoolteacher in Cochabamba and remained unmarried. A Liberal Christian, her critical and philosophical style made her verse popular with the poor, and she was rightly regarded as one of the pioneers of femlae emancipation in Boliva. Her earlier works included Ensayos poeticos (Poetic Tests) (1887), El castillo negro (The Black Castle) (1906) and Rafagas (Squalls) (1914). Two of her works were published posthumously Pereginando (Travelling) (1943) and Cuentos breves (Short Novels) (1943).
Zanardi-Landi, Karoline Franziska – (1882 – 1935)
Austrian adventuress and memoirist
Born countess Zanardi-Landi, she claimed to have been born in France, the illegitimate daughter of the ill-fated empress, Elisabeth of Bavaria, the wife of the Austrian emperor Franz Josef, who was tragically assassinated by an Italian (1898). Countess Larish maliciously supported this fraudulent claim in her own book Secrets of A Royal House (1935).
Karoline became the mother of the famous actress, Elissa Landi (1904 – 1948), who had a celebrated career in the USA. The countess was the author of several published works such as The Secret of an Empress (1914), which was published in London The Royal Outcast (1916) and Is Austria Doomed ? (1916).
Zanchi, Celeste Aida see Aida, Celeste
Zandt, Marie van – (1861 – 1919)
American soprano
Marie van Zandt was born (Oct 8, 1861) in New York, the daughter of the singer Jeanie van Zandt. She studied under Lamperti at Milan in Lombardy and made her stage debut in Turin (1879). She sang in London and then at the Opera Comique in Paris (1880 – 1884). She suffered from a temporary loss of her voice prior to embarking upon a successful tour of St Petersburg in Russia and later performed mainly in England. Marie van Zandt died (Dec 31, 1919) aged fifty-eight, at Cannes in France.
Zani, Giselda – (1909 – 1975)
Uruguayan poet, art critic and writer
Giselda Zani had a career as a journalist and diplomat in Buenos Aires in Argentina. She wrote La costa despierta (The Wide-awake Coast) (1930) and a collection of short stories entitled Por vinculos sutiles (Tenuous Links) (1958).
Zanuck, Virginia Fox – (1899 – 1982)
American film actress, studio executive and hostess
Virginia Fox was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and first entered silent films as a bathing beauty in the films of Max Sennett. She later became a leading lady with the comic performer Buster Keaton. Virginia became the wife (1924) of movie mogul, Dary F. Zanuck, the co-founder of Twentieth Century Fox Studios, whom she had met on a blind date. He was then a struggling screenwriter and Virginia later bore him three children.
Virginia retired from films after her marriage and established herself as a prominent hostess in California. Despite her husband’s name being often coupled with glamorous starlets the couple resided apart, but were never divorced. With her husband’s eventual retirement (1973) they became reconciled. Virginia Zanuck died (Oct 14, 1982) in Palm Springs, California, aged eighty-three.
Zapolska, Gabriela – (1857 – 1921)
Polish dramatist and novelist
Born Gabriela Korwin-Piotrowska, into a patrician family in Kiewierka, near Luck, she was educated in a convent at Lvov. Her mother had been a ballerina and Gabriela forsook the life of privilege in order to pursue an acting career in Poland and Paris, but her efforts met with minimal success. She later established her own drama school in Cracow and a touring troupe in Lemberg.
Zapolska was best remembered for her plays, which devolved around the themes of human selfishness and sexual taboos and mocked the bourgeois classes for the shallowness and hypocrisy. Adultery is the theme of two of her works Zabusia (My Darling) (1897) and Ich czworo (The four of them) (1907). Her most admired production Moralnosc pani Dulskiej (Mrs Dulska’s morality) (1906) dealt with the hypocrisy of double moral standards. Her novels included Sezenowa mitosc (Seasonal Romance) (1905), Kaska Kariatyda (Kaska the caryatid) (1888) and Oczym sie nie mowi (What is not spoken of) (1909), which dealt with the lives of poor prostitutes. Gabriela Zapolska died at Lemberg.
Zareska, Eugenia – (1910 – 1979)
Polish mezzo-soprano
Zareska was born (Nov 9, 1910) near Lemberg, and studied under Adam Didur in Lvov and then in Vienna, where she trained with Anna Bahr-Mildenburg. Eugenia Zareska made her singing debut in 1939 and then moved to Italy, where she achieved great success as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, at La Scala in Milan (1941). She performed in Rome during WW II, and afterwards appeared in Paris before permanently removing to London to live (1952).
In England she sang at the Cambridge Theatre and at Covent Garden, most notably in the title role of Carmen. Zareska sang at the important festivals held in Sienna and at Edinburgh in Scotland, and appeared in the role of Countess Geschwitz in Alban Berg’s opera Lulu at the Festival of Venice (1949). She made a variety of recordings. Eugenia Zareska died (Oct 5, 1979) in Paris, aged sixty-nine.
Zasulich, Vera – (1849 – 1919)
Russian revolutionary
Vera Zasulich was the daughter of a poor nobleman. Her father died during her early infancy and she was raised by relatives. Educated in a boarding school in Moscow, she then worked as a clerk and became involved with various radical groups. Her activities won hr a five year term of imprisonment within the Litovski fortress, and with her release Zasulich worked with the underground press in Kiev.
Outraged by the actions of General Treptov, the despised Imperial governor of St Petersburg, who ordered a political prisoner flogged for not removing his cap, Zasulich inveigled herself into the general’s presence and shot him dead (1878). She was acquitted and Tsar Alexander II ordered her to be arrested again. Through the intervention of friends she was smuggled to safety in Switzerland. She was one of the founders of the Emancipation of Labour Group in Switzerland (1883) and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Two decades later Zasulich returned to Russia where she spent her later years working as a translator.
Zaturenska, Marya – (1902 – 1982)
Russian-American poet and historian
Marya Zaturenska
was born at Kiev in the Ukraine. She immigrated to the USA with her family (1910) and was educated at Wisconsin. She became the wife of the noted American critic and poet Horace Gregory (1898 – 1982). She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1938) for her collection of lyric verse entitled Cold Morning Sky, and with her husband she co-authored A History of American Poetry, 1900 – 1940 (1946). Zaturenska also wrote a highly acclaimed biography (1949) of the famous British poet Christina Rossetti.
Zauditu (Judith) – (1876 – 1930)
Ethiopian empress regnant (1916 – 1930)
Princess Zauditu was the daughter of the Emperor Menelik II and his concubine Woizero Abetchiw of Wollo. Her father arranged her marriage, at the age of eight (1884) to Ras Ataya Selassie Johannes (1867 – 1888) son of the emperor Johannes IV, by which arrangement Menelik succeeded Johannes as emperor (1889). Her next two marriages ended in divorce, and Zauditu married fourthly (1900) to Ras Gugusa Wate (1877 – 1930), the nephew of her stepmother, the empress Taytu, but their only daughter died in infancy.
Her nephew Lij Iyasu V had been designated his gtandfather’s heir (1913), but because of his unsuitability and conversion to Islam (1916) he had never been crowned. The government deposed him and proclaimed Zauditu as empress, with Ras Tafari as her regent and heir, though her divorce from Gugusa was insisted upon as part of the agreement. Her reign was torn between the conflicting political ideals of the pro-Western faction, led by Ras Tafari, and the conservative pro-Church faction led by the war minister Hapta Giorgis. Despite this distraction however, Ethiopia joined the League of Nations (1923) and abolished slavery (1924), besides regaining valuable port regions in the Gulf of Aden under Zauditu’s rule.
Ras Tafari coveted the throne, but dared not work openly against the empress. With the death of Hapta Giorgis (1928), Ras Tafari incited the empress’s bodyguard to instigate a palace revolution, and Zauditu was forced to crown Ras Tafari as emperor Haile Selassie I. The empress’s former husband Ras Gugsa organized a revolt which Haile Selassie succeeded in neutralizing only with great difficulty. After learning of his capture and execution, the empress collapsed and died at Addis Ababa (April 2, 1930). Haile Selassie’s new constitution debarred women from being independent rulers (1955).
Zawacka, Elzbieta – (1909 – 2009)
Polish academic and freedom fighter
Zawacka was born (March 19, 1909) at Thorn in West Prussia. She attended university in Poznan where she studied mathematics and became a schoolteacher. She became involved with the Przysposobienie Wojskowe Kobiet (Female Military Training) and served as a commandant during the Polish September Campaign, and took part in the defence of Lwow. Zawacka then became a courier for the Polish underground using the codename ‘Zo.’
Zawacka served as a deputy of the Department of Foreign Communication of the Home Army, and participated in the Warsaw Uprising (1944) being appointed as a brigadier-general, on the second Polish woman to gain this honour. She was the recipient of several military awards including the Order of the White Eagle. She then returned to teaching but several years afterwards Zawacka was arrested by the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1951) and was interrogated and tortured before being sentenced to ten years detention for treason and espionage. She served only four years and was released (1955) whereupon she returned to study at Gdansk University. She later established the department of Andragogy at the Mikolaj Kopernik University in Torunwhere. She retired in 1978. Elzbieta Zawacka died (Jan 10, 2009) aged ninety-nine.
Zayas de Sotomayor, Maria de – (1590 – 1661)
Spanish writer
Maria de Zayas de Sotomayor was born (Sept 12, 1590) in Madrid, but was raised at Naples in Italy. However, she resided for the most of her life at Zaragoza in Aragon. She is best remembered for her two collections of love stories Novelas amorosas y ejemplares (Exemplary and Amorous Novels) (1635) and Desenganos amorosos (Disillusionment in Love) (1647).
Zayas also wrote a play La traicion en la amistad (Treachery in Friendship), and spent the last years of her life sequestered within a convent. A creative and imaginative writer, contemporary literary figures such as Castillo Solorzano and Lope de Vega acclaimed her work, and Zayas is considered the literary forerunner of the feminist movement in Spain.
Zeba, Jehan see Musa, Jennifer
Zedtwitz, Agnes Klaversahl, Countess von see Rasp, Agnes
Zeenat Mahal – (c1816 – 1882)
Mughal queen
Zeenat Mahal was the wife of Bahadur Shah, King of Delhi (1789 – 1862). Zeenat is thought to have been behind the murder of Sir Thomas Metcalfe, the British resident of Delhi (1853). Metcalfe had earned the queen’s hatred as a member of the British council that had decreed that after the death of her aged husband, the title of ‘king’ would be allowed to lapse, despite the existence of her own son.
Queen Zeenat’s hatred of the British never diminished, and she was prominent amongst those who urged Bahadur Shah to accept the mutiny against the British (1857). With the failure of the rebellion, the king and queen were captured, Zeenat being forced to beg for her elderly husband’s life. They were placed in captivity, and were eventually exiled to Rangoon in Burma. Widowed five years later (1862), Zeenat Mahal was never permitted to return to India and died in Rangoon twenty years later.
Zehender, Margareta see Rottmayr, Margareta Maddalena
Zeigman, Celine see Carroll, Jean
Zeil-Wurzach, Maria Franziska von – (1630 – 1693)
German princess-abbess
Countess Maria Franziska von Zeil-Wurzach was the daughter of Count Johann Jakob von Zeil-Wurzach, and his wife Johanna von Wolckenstein-Trostburg. She never married and was appointed (1648) as a canoness at the abbeys of Buchau in Bavaria, and that of St Ursula in Cologne. Maria Franziska was also appointed as deaconess at the ancient abbey of Essen, in Westphalia. She desired further office at Buchau, the financial position of the order negated the appointment of any further office holders and she was refused (1673). Perhaps out of pique, the countess remained at Essen and was appointed archdeaconess (Propstin). She was denied the position of abbess there (1689) but was later elected as Abbess of Buchau (1692 – 1693)
Zein – (1915 – 1994)
Queen consort of Jordan (1951 – 1952)
Born Zein Al-Sharaf (Aug 2, 1915), she was the daughter of Sharaf Jamal Ali ibn Nasr, who was related to the royal Hijaz dynasty. She was married in Amman (1933) to Talal of Jordan (1911 – 1972). Her husband became king in 1951, but was deposed in favour of their elder son Hussein I (1935 – 1999). She resided with her husband in Istanbul, Turkey, but with his death (July 7, 1972) she was welcomed back to the Jordanian court with all the honours due to a queen mother. Her younger son Hassan (born 1947) twice served as crown Prince. Queen Zein died (April 26, 1994) aged seventy-nine at the Royal Palace in Amman.
Zeisler, Fannie Bloomfield – (1863 – 1927)
Austrian-American pianist
Zeisler was born at Bielitz, in Austrian Silesia (July 16, 1863). From the age of two years she was raised in Chicago, Illinois in the USA. She performed in public from the age of ten and received formal training under Bernhard Ziehn (1845 – 1912) in Chicago, and under Karl Wolfsohn. Fannie received additional instruction (1876 – 1881) from the eminent Polish music teacher, Theodor Leschetizky (1830 – 1915). She toured Germany, Austria, France, and Great Britain, with great success. Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler died in Chicago, aged sixty-four (Aug 21, 1927).
Zelide see Charriere, Isabella de
Zell, Katharina – (1497 – 1562)
German Protestant reformer and writer
Born Katharina Schutz in Strasbourg, in Alsace, she was the daughter of a cabinetmaker. She was married (1523) to the religious reformer Matthew Zell, a former priest, who was excommunicated by the Catholic Church for marrying. Their two children died during early childhood. Katharina assisted her husband with his reforming work, and was heavily involved with the organization of food relief for refugees displaced by the Peasant’s War (1524 – 1525).
Apart from composing devotional verse, Zell wrote a treatise in defence of married clergy, and preached from the pulpit at her husband’s funeral (1548). She edited a religious hymnal (1534) and her work the Brief an die ganze Burgerschaft der Stadt Strasburg (Letter to the Entire Citizenry of the Town of Strasbourg) (1557), was circulated between friends and acquaintances within the burgeoning Protestant community in Strasbourg.
Zelle, Margaretha Gertruida see Mata Hari
Zenabe Worq – (1918 – 1933)
Imperial Princess of Ethiopia
Prtincess Zenobia Worq was born (July 25, 1918) in Addis Ababa, the second daughter of the Emperor Haile Selassie I (1930 – 1975), being his eldest by his second wife, the Empress Menen. Princess Zenabe was full sister to Crown Prince Asfa Wossen (1916 – 1997). The princess was married (1932) to Dejazmatch (prince) Halle Selassie Gougousa, a distant relative. Princess Zenobia died in childbirth (March 25, 1933) at Makalle, aged only fourteen.
Zenatello, Maria Gay see Gay, Maria
Zenobia, Septimia (Bat Zabbai) – (c241 – before 298 AD)
Queen of Palmyra
Septimia Zenobia was the daughter of ‘Amr, of the tribe of Amila-el-Amalik, and was a relative of King Odaenath, ruler of Palmyra, prior to becoming his second wife (c255 AD). With her husband’s death (266 AD), to which she may have been privy, Zenobia assumed control of the government in the name of her young son, Vaballath (born c257 AD). She is represented by surviving coinage.
Led by unscrupulous advisers, the queen desired to remove Palmyra from the overlordship of Rome, and she invaded Egypt and occupied large areas of Asia Minor (269 – 270 AD). At first, the emperor Aurelian did little, but when she had her son proclaimed Augustus (271 AD), he quickly recovered both Egypt and Asia Minor, and defeated Zenobia’s general, Zabdas, in two battles, Antioch and Emesa. The emperor then besieged Palmyra itself. After the surrender Zenobia, her son, and her councillors were taken into captivity. Zenobia was taken back by Aurelian to Rome, where she was publicly exhibited in his triumph, so laden with jewels that she could barely walk (272 AD).
Zenobia was granted her life, and a pension, though her son was probably executed. Zenobia was then married off by the emperor to a Roman senator. She is known to have had a villa long the Tiber River, and jewellery, popularly regarded as hers, has been recovered. By her Roman marriage she left several daughters, and her descendants were still traceable in the fifth century.
Zenonis, Aelia – (c430 – 476 AD)
Byzantine Augusta
Aelia Zenonis was the wife (c449 AD) of the usurper emperor Basiliscus (475 – 476 AD), who was brother to the Empress Verina, the wife of Leo I. The couple had three sons, Marcus, Basil, and Leo. When her husband assumed the imperial purple (Jan, 475 AD) Zenonis was accorded the rank of Augusta and figured on the coinage, examples of which have survived. Her eldest son Marcus was appointed Caesar and then joint-Augustus with his father.
It was due to her influence that Basiliscus offended the Gothic chief Theodoric by transferring the post of magister militium to his nephew Armatus, a young man of fashion, who held the favour of empress Zenonis, and whom gossip accused of being her lover. When the forces of emperor Zeno regained control of Constantinople, the empress fled with her family, and Armatus, to the church of St Sophia. They were handed over to Zeno, and were taken into captivity at Cuscus in Cappodocia, Asia Minor, where they were all immured in a dried up reservoir and were starved to death.
Zerlentes, Becky – (1970 – 2005)
American boxer
Zerlentes was born in Fort Collins, Colorado. During her youth she was a firm sports enthusiast, participating in synchronized swimming, martial arts, and boxing. Educated as a geography teacher at the University of Illinois in Chicago, she was employed to teach at the Front Range Community College, in Denver, but retained her passionate interest in amateur boxing and trained with the boxing team ‘Hard Knocks.’
Zerlentes sported a 6 – 4 record at the sport and won the regional titles, the Golden Gloves (2002). She took a break from boxing after this victory, but returned to the sport a few months later. Becky Zerlentes died in Denver, Colorado (April 3, 2005), aged only thirty-four, from head injuries received during her last fight against Heather Schmidt. She was the first woman amateur boxer to die as the result of a fight in five years.
Zetkin, Clara – (1857 – 1933)
German socialist and feminist
Born Clara Eissner at Wiedenau in Saxony, she was the daughter of a schoolteacher. She studied to become a teacher at the Leipzig Teacher’s College where she imbibed her strong socialist and feminist ideals. A member of the Social Democratic party for over thirty-five years (1881 – 1917), Zetkin became associated with the revolutionary movement in Russia, becoming personally acquainted with Lenin, and in Paris she was married to the exile Russian revolutionary Ossip Zetkin (1848 – 1889). The couple resided in Paris and in Switzerland and assisted with the founding and organisation of the Second Socialist International (1889).
With the death of her husband, Zetkin returned to Germany and edited the women’s socialist periodical Die Gleichheit (Equality) for twenty-five years (1892 – 1917) and was one of the founders of the International Socialist Women’s Congress (1907). An associate and friend of the left-wing revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, Zetkin was one of the few Social Democrats to oppose World War I, and was a founding member of the German Communist Party (1919). Her influence began to decrease with the death of Lenin (1924) and the later part of her life was spent in Russia. She wrote her account of her friendship with Lenin entitled Erinnerungen an Lenin (Recollections of Lenin) (1929). Clara Zetkin died at Arkhangekovsky in Russia.
Zetland, Cicely Archdale, Marchioness of – (1881 – 1973)
British peeress
Cicely Archdale was the second daughter of Colonel Mervyn Henry Archdale, an officer of the 12th Lancers. She was prvately educated by governesses. Cicely became the wife (1907) of Lawrence John Lumley Dundas (1876 – 1961), the Earl of Ronaldshay, eldest son and heir of Lawrence, first Marquess of Zetland, and she was presented at court to Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as the Countess of Ronaldshay. Lady Ronaldshay accompanied her husband to India when he was appointed as governor of Bengal (1917 – 1922), and she later became a member of the Royal India Society, of which organization her husband served as president.
Lady Cicely became the Marchioness of Zetland (1929 – 1961) when her husband succeeded his father in that title. The family divided its time between the estates of Aske, Richmond, and Marske Hall in Yorkshire, spending the annual season at their mansion in Arlington Street, London. Lady Cicely survived her husband as the Dowager Marchioness of Zetland (1961 – 1973) during which period she resided at Greatbridge House, Romsey, Hants. Her children were,
Zetland, Lilian Selina Elizabeth Lumley, Marchioness of – (1851 – 1943)
British peeress and volunteer activist
Lady Lilian Lumley was the third daughter of Richard George Lumley, ninth Earl of Scarborough, and his wife Frederica Mary Adeliza Drummond, the daughter of Andrew Robert Drummond. Her younger sister was the artistically talented Sibell Lumley, Countess Grosvenor. Lady Lilian was raised at the family estates of Sandbeck Park, Rotherham, Lumley Castle in Durham, and Tickhill Castle in Yorkshire, also spending time in the family’s London mansion in Eaton Square. Her education was overseen by governesses.
Lilian Lumley came out in society (1869) and was presented at court to Queen Victoria and the Princess of Wales as a debutante. She became the wife (1871) of Lawrence Dundas (1844 – 1929), Member of Parliament for Richmond. He succeeded his childless uncle as third Earl of Zetland (1873), and Lady Dundas became Countess of Zetland. Her husband was later ennobled by Queen Victoria as first Marquess of Zetland (1892) and Lilian became a Marchioness (1892 – 1929).
During WW I Lady Zetland became involved with the organization of nursing and ambulance brigades to be sent to the front, and for the care of wounded servicemen. In recognition of this valuable volunteer work, Lady Zetland was appointed L.G.St.J (Lady of Grace of St John of Jerusalem). She survived her husband as the Dowager Marchioness of Zetland (1929 – 1943).
Lady Zetland died (Dec 24, 1943) aged ninety-two. Her five children were,
Zetterling, Mai Elizabeth – (1925 – 1994)
Swedish film director and actress
Mai Zetterling was born at Vasteras in Sweden and trained at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm. She made both her stage and her film debut in the same year (1941) and made her first noticeable performance in the Swedish film, Hets (1944), produced by director Alf Sjoberg, which was released in Britain as Frenzy (1944) and in America as Torment.
Zetterling appeared in many American and British films such as Frieda (1946), and achieved a lead role in the Ingmar Bergman classic Musik i Morker (Night is my Future) (1947). She later co-wrote the documentary film The War Game (1963), with her second husband David Hughes, which was awarded first prize at the Venice Film Festival. Zetterling directed several Swedish films such as Loving Couples (1964), Doktor Glas (1967), Vincent the Dutchman (1972) and Amorosa (1986). She wrote the children’s novel Ice Island (1980) and left memoirs All Those Tomorrows (1985).
Zguriska, Zuska – (1900 – 1984)
Slovenian novelist
Zuska Zguriska was early trained as stage actress and was engaged with the Slovak National Theatre, as well as working for the Czechoslovak Radio. She studied sociology at the University of Bratislava and was employed as a scriptwriter with the state film studio near Prague in Bohemia. Zguriska’s novels included Bicianka z Doliny (Bicianca from the Valley) (1938), Metropola pod slamou (The Metropolis Under the Straw) (1949) and Zbojnicke chodnicky (The Highwaymen’s Path) (1959). She wrote the historical novel Husitska nevesta (The Hussite’s Bridegroom) (1962), and left memoirs Strminou liet (Through the Crevasse of Years) (1972).
Zhadovskaia, Julia Valerianovna – (1824 – 1883)
Russian poet and writer
Zhadovskaia was born (June 29, 1824) into a patrician family. She had been born with one arm missing whilst the other was crippled. Despite this handicap, a young academic wished to marry her, but her father refused permission. Permitted to make extended visits to Moscow and St Petersburg, Julia immersed herself in the intellectual salons prominent in Russia at this period.
Her poetry proved an outlet for her grief at her frustrated happiness, and several of her poems were set to music and became extremely popular with the peasantry. Two of her best known works were the novel Apart from the Great World (1857) and the short novella Woman’s Story (1861). She stopped writing after her marriage with a physician (1862). Julia Valerianovna Zhadovskaia died (July 23, 1883), aged fifty-nine.
Zhao Ji – (c280 – 220 BC)
Chinese queen
Zhao Ji was originally concubine to the wealthy merchant, Lu Buwei, a supporter of Zhuang Xiang, King of Qin, one of the seven feudal states of ancient China. The king married Zhao Ji, according her the royal title, and their son Qin Shihuangdi (259 – 210 BC) became the first emperor of China (221 BC).
With her husband’s death (246 BC) Queen Zhao Ji and Lu Buwei acted as joint-regents. They ruled for eight years before being forced from power (238 BC) after a court scandal in which one of Lu’s adherents was smuggled into the royal palace, disguised as a eunuch, and then discovered. Shihuangdi then ruled alone, and the queen-mother was forced into honourable retirement from which she never emerged. She was grandmother of Emperor Er Shi (230 – 206 BC), the second and last ruler of the Qin Dynasty.
Zheliabuzhinskaia, Maria see Andreevna, Maria Feodorovna
Zhirkova, Lyudmila – (1944 – 1981)
Bulgarian politician
Lyudmila Zhirkova was the daughter of President Toder Zhirkov and was educated at Sofia University and at St Antony’s College in Oxford, England. Zhirkova was elected to the Bulgarian Committee of the Arts and Culture and became chairman four years later (1975). With the death of her mother (1971) she acted as First Lady, accompanying her father on official foreign visits, and was made a member of the Party Politburo (1979).
Zhukovskaia, Alexandra Vasilievna – (1842 – 1899)
Russian Imperial mistress
Alexandra zhukovskaia was born (Nov 11, 1842) in Dusseldorf, Germany, the daughter of the famous poet, Vasili Andreyevitch Zhukovsky (1783 – 1852), and his German wife, Elisabeth von Reutern. Her father was the tutor to Tsar Alexander II, and Alexandra became the mistress of the Romanov grand duke, Alexis Alexandrovitch (1850 – 1908), the son of Alexander II and Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was almost a decade her junior. They were married secretly in Italy (1870) but the union, which was not recognized by the Imperial family, was regarded as morganatic, and Alexandra was not received at the Imperial court. Alexis later had the union annulled. Her son Alexis Alexeivitch (1871 – 1932) was granted the title of Count Belevsky-Zhukovsky, and left descendants.
Zhuo Wenjun (Chuo Wen-Chun) – (c179 – 117 BC)
Chinese poet and legendary lover
Zhuo Wenjun was married to the poet Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju. Her famous poem, ‘A Song of White Hair’ was been reprinted in modern anthologies.
Zibiah – (fl. c842 BC)
Jewish queen
Zibia was born in Beer-Sheba, Palestine, and was married to Ahaziah, King of Judah (died 841 BC). She was the mother of King Joash (842 – 800 BC). She is recorded in Kings II (12 : 1).
Ziegenhain, Luitgarde von – (c1165 – 1207)
German mediaeval heiress
Luitgarde von Ziegenhain was the daughter and heiress of Gozmar III, Count von Ziegenhain. She became the wife of Friedrich of Thuringia (c1158 – 1229), and bore him two daughters. With the death of Count Gozmar (1186) Luitgarde succeeded to the county of Ziegenhain, which her husband ruled in her name. Countess Luitgarde died (after Aug 15 in 1207). Her children were,
Zihlathi – (c1900 – 1975)
Queen consort and regent of Swaziland
Zihlathi was the daughter of Vanyane of Elwandle, chief of the Ndwandwe tribe. She was married to Sobhuza II of Swaziland, and bore him two daughters. After her children had been educated and married, Queen Zihlathi had been permitted to retire into private life in the remote village of Nsuka. However, with the death of the queen mother Nukwase (1957), the royal council elected Zihlathi to the position of Ndlovukazi (queen-mother). She accepted this honour and the duties involved, but with genuine reluctance. Queen Zihlathi died (Jan 22, 1975) at Lobamba, and her royal honours devolved upon her sister, the Queen-mother Seneleleni.
Zilveritch, Fanny see Gaal, Franciska
Zimbalist, Mary Louise Curtis Bok – (1876 – 1970)
American music patron and philanthropist
Mary Curtis Bok was born (Aug 6, 1876) in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Cyrus Curtis, the founder of the Curtis Publishing Company, and was raised in Philadelphia. Mary Curtis was married firstly (1896) to Edward Bok (died 1930), the editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal. Mrs Bok established the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (1924) and also served on the board of the Philadelphia Grand Opera (1929 – 1934). She also founded the Philadelphia Settlement Music School (1917) and received the gold medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences (1937) in recognition of her valuable contributions.
Mrs Bok was married secondly (1943) to the musician Efrem Zimbalist, and founded the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (1924) with a gift of over ten million dollars. She served as a director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and received an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania (1932). Mary Bok Zimbalist died in Philadelphia, aged ninety-three (Jan 4, 1970).
Zimburga (Cymburka) – (1394 – 1429)
Polish princess of Masovia
Princess Zimburga was born in Warsaw, the daughter of Ziemovit IV, Duke of Masovia, and his wife Alexandra of Lithuania. She became the second wife of the Hapsburg archduke Ernest I the Iron (1377 – 1424), who ruled the duchy of Styria. Famous for her great physical strength which enabled her to hammer nails into wood with her bare hands, Duchess Zimburga is traditionally said to have introduced the famous ‘Hapsburg jaw’ into the family.
Duchess Zimburga was the mother of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III (1415 – 1493) and was the ancestress of Augustus II the Strong, elector of Saxony and king of Poland and of King Juan Carlos I of Spain. Zimburga survived her husband for five years as Dowager Duchess of Styria (1424 – 1429). Five of her children died in infancy, but apart from the emperor Frederick, her surviving children were Duke Albert VI of Austria (1418 – 1463), and the princesses Margaret (1416 – 1486) and Catherine (1420 – 1493), the wives respectively of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, and Charles I, Margrave of Baden. Duchess Zimburga died (Sept 28, 1429) at Durnitz, Austria, aged thirty-five.
Zimhoni, Orna – (1951 – 1997)
Israeli archaeologist
Zimhoni was born in Tel Aviv, where she was educated and performed military service before entering Tel Aviv University (1971), where she specialized in biblical archaeology. Orna Zimhoni later joined the staff of the University of Tel Aviv (1975) and was appointed the recorder of the renewed excavations at Tel Lachish. Responsible for the publications concerning the pottery from this dig, her research assisted with the solving of certain dating anomalies (1976).
Her contributions to studies in Iron Age pottery proved very influential in the highly controversial debate which surrounded biblical chronology. Zimhoni later worked on digs at Tel Eaton, Betar, which had been the last defensive stronghold of the second Jewish revolt against Rome, Tel Jezreel, and Tel Megiddo (1994 – 1996). Orna Zimhoni died of cancer at the early age of forty-five.
Ziminska-Sygietynska, Mira – (1900 – 1997)
Polish vocalist
Ziminska was born in Warsaw and became famous after World War I as a renowned cabaret singer, for whom leading poets wrote songs. Ziminska also appeared in Polish cinema, and edited the satirical magazine Smalone (Fish Stories). During World War II whilst Warsaw was occupied by the Nazi forces, she worked as a nurse for the underground, and later sang at secretly arranged concerts in order to raise money for war victims.
After the war she and her husband, the composer Tadeusz Sygietynski, founded Mazowsze, the Polish State Folk Song and Dance Ensemble (1948) which provided music and dance tuition for successful applicants at Karolin, outside Warsaw. She presented traditional music and dance routines, carefully adapted for the stage, with the participants attired in traditional Polish costume. The company made its American debut (1961) and toured there for many seasons. Mira Ziminska-Sygietynska died (Jan 26, 1997) in Warsaw aged ninety-six.
Zimmerman, Agnes Marie – (1847 – 1925)
German-Anglo concert pianist
Zimmerman was born (July 5, 1847) in Cologne (Koln) and came to England as a small child (1851). She studied the piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and made her stage debut performing in concert at the Crystal Palace. Agnes performed with various concerts, and also travelled to Germany, where she appeared at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Saxony, at Frankfurt-am-Main and in Berlin, Prussia. She composed works for the piano, violin, and violincello, as well as sonatas for pianoforte and violin. Zimmerman edited the sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven. Agnes Zimmerman died (Nov 14, 1925) in London, aged seventy-eight.
Zins-Penninck, Judith – (c1635 – 1664)
Flemish Quaker writer
Judith was the daughter of Conrad Zins-Penninck, of Amsterdam. She married Jacob Williamson Sewel. Brought up in the Baptist theology, Judith and her husband both joined the Quaker Circle of Friends in 1657. A Quaker preacher in Holland, she visited the English Quakers in 1663. There she published Some Worthy Proverbs (translated from the Dutch). In 1722 her son William Sewel published a History of the Quakers, to which he added an unpublished Epistle of Judith’s written around the time of her early death.
Zipporah – (fl. c1750 BC)
Hebrew biblical character
Zipporah was one of the seven daughter of Jethro, the priest and sheik of Midian. She became the wife of Moses and was the mother of two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. According to the Biblical narrative, Zipporah and her sisters were drawing water for their sheep, when they were riven away by male shepherds, and rescued by Moses, who had just fled from Egypt.
Jethro then received Moses and gave him Zipporah for his wife. The Book of Exodus records that Moses one angered Jehovah greatly, and that she only saved him by having her son circumcised, and touching Moses’ feet with the foreskin. When Moses later returned to Egypt to lead the Exodus, Zipporah and her sons remained with Jethro in Midian, and she later brought them to Moses when he came to meet Israel in the desert. Zipporah was portrayed on the screen by actress Yvonne De Carlo in The Ten Commandments (1956) with Charlton Heston as Moses.
Zipprodt, Patricia – (1925 – 1999)
American costume designer
Patricia Zipprodt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of an advertising executive. She graduated from Wellesley College, Massachusetts (1947) and went to New York, where she studied at the Art Students League and at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Zipprodt created designs for many famous Broadway stage productions, and won Tony Awards for her work in Fiddler on the Roof (1964), Cabaret (1966) and, Sweet Charity (1985). She designed costumes for musicals such as Pippin (1972) and Chicago (1975), and Broadway plays such as Plaza Suite (1968), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983) and The Glass Menagerie (1983).
Her Off Broadway credits included work on Our Town (1959), The Balcony (1960) and The Blacks (1962). Zipprodt also worked on the famous film The Graduate (1967) with Anne Bancroft, and designed costumes for the Boston Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the New York City Ballet, the Houston Ballet and the Ballet Hispanico. She researched and designed more than three hundred costumes for the cast of the musical Shogun (1990) which was based on the novel of James Clavell, travelling to Japan to study the weaving and textile techniques in Kyoto. Zipprodt was inducted into the Theatrical Hall of Fame (1992). Patricia Zipprodt died of cancer (July 10, 1999) in Greenwich Village, New York.
Zirkowa, Elisaveta Ivanonva see Elisheva
Zita of Bourbon-Parma – (1892 – 1989)
The last Holy Roman empress consort (1916 – 1918)
Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma was born (May 9, 1892) at Viareggio, Italy, the tenth daughter of Roberto I, Duke of Parma and his second wife, the Portugese Infanta Maria Antonia. She was married (1911) to the Archduke Karl (1887 – 1922) who succeeded Franz Josef as emperor (1916). They were crowned king and queen of Hungary at Buda (Dec 30, 1916), but the throne was lost in 1918 and the monarchy abolished (1919). The emperor, empress and their children went into exile to Eckartsau Castle in Switzerland. After two unsuccessful attempts to regain their Hungarian kingdom, Karl and Zita were banished to Madeira, where the emperor died (1922).
An active, energetic woman, eager to leave an imprint on state policy, her judgement was not always precise. Politically the empress was a good deal more reactionary than her husband. When his ministers proposed abdication to prevent the anarchy of civil war, the empress became enraged, but she was finally persuaded to realize the inevitability of political events.
After successfully raising her eight children, the former empress resided at Geneva in Switzerland, close to her eldest son, the Archduke Otto (born 1906) known as Dr von Hapsburg, and his family. For decades the empress was well known as an intrepid traveller, and she and her suite spent months on end in palaces and hotels in different parts of the world. In her last decades the empress made lengthy family visits to her brother Xavier de Bourbon, Duke of Parma and his family, and cared for the interests of her elderly unmarried sisters, especially Henrietta, who was of feeble intellect. She revisited Vienna, her Imperial titles intact (1982) reminding Republicans that her father had succeeded to the ducal throne of Parma in 1854. The last Hapsburg empress died (Nov 14, 1989) at Graubunden, Switzerland, aged almost ninety-seven, having survived her husband almost seventy years. As queen of Hungary, Zita is on record as the longest living queen (1991). Empress Zita was interred in the Kapuchin vault in Vienna. She was portrayed by actress Heather Page in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) series Fall of Eagles (1974), with Roy McArthur as the Emperor Karl.
Zita of Lucca – (1218 – 1272)
Italian servant and saint
Zita of Lucca was born at Monsagrati, near Lucca. She was attached to the household of the Fatinelli family from an early age as a domestic servant (1230). Known for her hardworking nature and generosity to the poor, which involved her in altercations with her fellow workers and her employers, her kindly and pious nature eventually won Zita the respect and admiration of all. Zita died (April 27, 1272) and was later canonized (1696) and was later declared the patroness of all those in domestic service (1953). Her popular cult spread to England during the Middle Ages and she was known there as St Sitha.
Zitz, Kathinka – (1801 – 1877)
German writer
Her marriage was disastrously unhappy, and eventually her worthless husband threw her out into the street and she tried to eek out a living by writing. She published many stories, using various pseudonyms, which dealt mainly with the themes important in ordinary life. Zitz also produced fictionalised biographies of several famous contemporary people such as Lord Byron, Heinrich Heine, and the salonniere Rahel Varnhagen von Ense.
Ziydah, May – (1886 – 1941)
Arab poet and essayist
May Ziydah was born in Palestine and was educated and raised in Lebanon. When her father took up the position of a newspaper editor in Cairo, Egypt, May accompanied him there with the rest of her family (1908). Fluent in French, she is considered the first professional female Arabic author, and established her own famous literary salon in Cairo, which was held on the Tuesday of each week. She received politicians, artists, and journalists in her home and was regarded as a literary muse to her devoted adherents. She reviewed the work of the poet Khalil Gibran entitled Broken Wings (1912) and this ultimately led to a seventeen year correspondence between the two (1914 – 1931). These letters were edited and published in Arabic only after her death, and translated into English as Blue Flame (1987).
Zmichowska, Narcyza – (1819 – 1876)
Polish novelist
Narcyza Zmichowska worked as a teacher and had links with various Polish patriotic groups. Her novel Poganka (the heathen woman) (1846), is considered one of the finest pieces of Polish romantic fiction. Her other well-known work was Czy to Powiesc? (Is this a novel?) (1877) was a psychological portrait of a fictional but contemporary female of Narcyza’s generation. She sometimes used the pseudonym ‘Gabryella.’
Zoe Karbonopsina – (c883 – before 944)
Byzantine Augusta
Zoe Karbonopsina came from noble patrician ancestry, being related to the noted admiral Himerios, and to the chronicler, Theophanes the Confessor. She became the mistress of the emperor Leo VI (866 – 912) after the death of his third wife Eudokia Baiana (901). Leo did not marry Zoe until after she had borne their son, Constantine VII (905), becoming his fourth wife, a situation which caused much strife with the religious authorities, which viewed this marriage as uncanonical. The young prince was baptized by the patriarch of Constantinople, but Leo married Zoe secretly. The patriarch’s continued opposition to the legality of the marriage led to his replacement with Euthymios (907).
With Leo’s death he was briefly succeeded by his brother Alexander (912 – 913) who caused the empress to be banished from the palace. She returned to the palace at his death but was again forced to retire to a convent before overthrowing the patriarch Nicholad Mystikos and being proclaimed as regent for her son (914). Aided by her trusted adviser, Leo Phokas, the empress revoked previous concessions made to Simeon of Bulgaria and renewed the war between the two countries. Her troops defeated the Arab forces in Armenia (915) but Phokas was crushingly defeated at the battles of Anchialus and Katasyrtai (917). These reverses led to renewed Arab raids, which forced Zoe’s government to make a humiliating peace treaty with the Arabs in Sicily. The empress’s hold on affairs continued to slide and eventually Zoe was removed from power in a political coup. The noted general Romanus Lekapenus gained power, married his daughter Helena Lekapena to Constantine VII, and was proclaimed co-ruler with his son-in-law (919).
Empress Zoe was forced to retire from court to a convent, and never emerged. She is thought to have died before Romanus I was deposed from power (944). Her popular surname of ‘Karbonopsina’ was a reference to her beautiful ‘coal-black eyes.’ Surviving coinage portrays Zoe’s portrait jointly with that of her son.
Zoe ‘the Macedonian’ – (978 – 1050)
Byzantine Augusta
Princess Zoe was born in Constantinople, the second daughter of the Emperor Constantine VIII and his wife Helena Alypina. A regal and beautiful woman, she was betrothed in her youth (1001) to the Holy Roman emperor Otto III, but his early death (1002) prevented this match from eventuating. After her elder sister Eudocia entered a convent after having been stricken with smallpox, Zoe became her father’s heir. He arranged her marriage to Romanus III Argyrus (968 – 1034), and with Constantine’s death (1028), the couple ruled together, Zoe’s younger sister Theodora being sent to a convent.
Though a regal and beautiful woman (and Psellus actually knew her) Zoe’s marriage with Romanus III was not congenial, and the empress took as her lover Michael (IV) the son of a peasant. They caused Romanus to be drowned in his bath (1034), and then Zoe had Michael proclaimed emperor and married him. This marriage also turned out badly, the empress being confined within the women’s quarters of the Imperial palace, where she devoted her time to perfecting different techniques for producing beauty unguents. Nevertheless Michael still managed to convince Zoe to adopt his own nephew, Michael V, as his successor and granted him the rank of Caesar before he himself abdicated and retired to a monastery (1041).
Michael V then exiled the empress to a convent on the island of Prinkipos (1042), but the people, with whom she had always been a favourite, rose up in outrage at her banishment. The emperor quickly recalled Zoe to the capital, but was caught and blinded by the mob. Zoe and her sister Theodora now ruled jointly together, though the younger observed the elder’s seniority without any sign if rancour or resentment. Zoe remarried in 1042 to her third and last husband, Constantine IX Monomachus (c980 – 1056). The couple ruled together till Zoe’s death, the empress amicably accepting Constantine’s mistress, Maria Sklerena at the Imperial court. With Zoe’s death (1050), Constantine rued alone till his own death, passing the throne to her sister Theodora (1055 – 1056), the last of the Macedonian dynasty.
Zofia of Hungary see Sophia
Zorach, Margeurite – (1887 – 1968)
American painter
Born Margeurite Thompson in Santa Rosa, California, she studied at Stanford University, and the La Palette modernist school in Paris (1908 – 1911). She married fellow painter William Zorach (1912). Margeurite Zorach travelled in Europe on occasion as the companion of Jessica Dismorr, with whom she contributed articles to the Rhythmn avant-garde periodical (1911 – 1912).
Travelling extensively through Italy, Egypt, and the Middle East, she produced her work Waterfall (1912), during a visit in the Sierra Mountains. Influenced by the work of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Zorach produced The Deserted Mill (1917) and was also admired for her tapestry and sculpture designs. Margeurite Zorach died (June 27, 1968) in New York aged eighty.
Zorina, Vera – (1917 – 2003)
German-American ballerina
Born Eva Brigitta Hartwig in Berlin, Prussia, she studied ballet under Evgenia Eduardovna and Victor Gsovsky. Zorina’s first London success was when she was cast opposite the British star Anton Dolin in the play Ballerina (1933). From 1934 – 1936 she worked with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, and the choreographer Massine, with whom she was romantically involved, cast her in the role of a streetdancer in Le Beau Danube.
Zorina also made several films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the USA such as The Goldwyn Follies (1938), On Your Toes (1939), I Was an Adventuress (1940), Louisiana Purchase (1941), Star-Spangled Rhythmn (1942), Follow the Boys (1944) and Lover Come Back (1946). Her first husband (1938 – 1946) was the choreographer George Balanchine, and her third Paul Wolfe, the harpsichordist. She published the autobiography Zorina (1986).
Zorka Ljubica – (1864 – 1890)
Princess of Montenegro
Princess Zorka Ljubica Petrovic-Njegoso of Montenegro was born (Dec 23, 1864) at Cetinje, the eldest daughter of Nikola I, Prince (1860 – 1910) and King of Montenegro (1910 – 1921), and his wife Milena Vukotich, the daughter of Senator Petar Vukotic. She was sister to King Danilo I (1921) and aunt to King Michael I (1921 – 1922) and two of her sisters Anastasia and Militsa were married to Romanov grand dukes. Prior to her marriage she and her siblings dressed in the colourful Montenegrin national costume as did their parents, and Zorka and her sisters were accomplished at the piano and the guitar.
Zorka was married (1883) at Cetinje to Prince Petar Karadjordjevic (1844 – 1921). Princess Zorka died (March 28, 1890) aged twenty-five, at Cetinje after the birth of her last child, a son who did not survive her. Three decades after her death her husband became king of Serbia as Peter I (1919 – 1921). Her children were,
Zorlutuna, Halide Nusret – (1901 – 1984)
Turkish poet and novelist
Zorlutuna was born in Istanbul, the daughter of the noted journalist and political activist, Mehmet Selim Bey. She was married to a military officer, and was employed as a schoolteacher and lecturer in Turkish culture. Her published collections of verse included Geceden Tasan Dertler (Sorrow Flooding Off Night) (1930) and Ellerim Bombos (My Eyes Are Empty) (1967).
Her novels included Sisli Geceler (Misty Nights) (1922), Buyukanne (Grandmother) (1971) and Bir Devrin Romanu (2004) which was published posthumously. Her early correspondence was published as Hanim Mektuplart (Lady Letters( (1923) and she wrote her autobiography Benim Kucuk Dostlarum (My Little Friends) (1977). Halide Zorlutuna died (June 10, 1984).
Zouche, Alice le see St Maur, Alice de
Zouche, Dorothy Eva de – (1886 – 1969)
New Zealand educator, author and headmistress
Dorothy de Zouche was born (June 18, 1886) in Dunedin, where she attended school before travelling to England to attend Somerville College at Oxford. Zouche then became the assistant senior classical mistress at the Rodean School (1909 – 1917) before being appointed as headmistress of the High School for Girls at Wolverhampton in Staffordshire, a position she held for almost three decades (1921 – 1948). She served as president of the Headmistresses’ Association (1939 – 1942) and published the school memoir entitled Roedean School, 1885 – 1955 (1955). Dorothy Eva de Zouche died (July 14, 1969) at Parkdale, near Wolverhampton, aged eighty-three.
Zouche, Elena de la see Quincy, Elena de
Zouche, Elizabeth – (c1489 – 1517)
Anglo-Irish literary patron
Elizabeth Zouche was the daughter of Sir John Zouche, of Codnor, Derby, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John St John of Bletso, Bedfordshire. She became the first wife (1505) of Gerald Fitzgerald (1487 – 1534), ninth Earl of Kildare, to whom she bore several children. The countess was a well-known and respected figure during her lifetime. Her husband was much attached to her and it was only when death removed her sensible advice, that his career downturned.
Elizabeth Zouche was a woman in intellectual pursuits who fostered education. Lord Devlin, the son-in-law of the eleventh Earl of Kildare, prepared a primer of the Irish language for Queen Elizabeth I, for whose encouragement he observed that, ‘…men yett lyvinge, which knewe Elizabethe Zouche, daughter to the Lord Zouche, sometime Countesse of Kyldare, do affirme that in short tyme she learned to reade, write and perfectly speak the tongue.’ Lady Elizabeth died (Oct 6, 1517) at Lucan, aged under thirty. Her grieving husband caused her to be interred with great pomp near her mother-in-law, Alison Eustace, the first wife of Gerald, eighth Earl of Kildare, at Kilcullen in Kildare. Her children included,
Zouche, Mary le see Engaine, Mary
Zrinyi, Ilona see Ilona Zrinyi
Zubaidah – (c765 – 831)
Arab queen of Baghdad
Zubaidah was the granddaughter of Al-Mansur (died 774), the famous Caliph of Baghdad. She was married to her cousin Harun al-Rashid (763 – 809) and became reknowned for her extravagance, as did her husband. Harun and his court were described in many storied from, The Thousand and One Nights, which depict Queen Zubaidah as a beautiful and forceful woman.
The queen was noted for her patronage of poetry and music. Her marriage remained childless for several years before she finally bore a son and heir, al-Amin, whom she caused to be closely brought up with her stepson, Harun’s child by a slavewoman.
With her husband’s death civil war broke out between the two brothers and the queen tried unsuccessfully to mediate between them, and her son was killed whilst trying to escape from the besieged Baghdad (809). Zubaidah’s refusal to seek revenge, and her generosity towards her stepson and his wife Queen Buran, ushered in a period of political and dynastic peace. Zubaidah then resided in retirement and made her last public appearance during her sixth pilgrimage to Mecca, shortly before her death. She was famous for the building works and gardens she constructed in Baghdad, and also financed improvement to the wells and water supply along the nine hundred mile route from Baghdad to Mecca. Several cities were named Zubaidiyah in her honour.
Zubair, Aasiya – (1972 – 2009)
Muslim-American broadcaster
Aasiya was born in the USA and was trained as an architect. She became the wife of Muzzammil Hassan, the founder-owner of Bridges TV, the first American Muslim television network to broadcast in English. She then went on to study at the State University of New York College at Buffalo (2007 – 2009). Apparently a victim of domestic violence Aasiya was found murdered at the television station (Feb 12, 2009) after her husband had turned himself in to police and confessed to the crime.
Zucchi, Virginia – (1849 – 1930)
Italian ballerina
Virginia Zucchi was born in Parma and studied in Milan. Acclaim at her performance in Padua led to her being engaged at La Scala (1874), where she appeared in Manzetti’s Rolla (1875) and in the opera La gioconda (1876). She also appeared at Covent Garden in London and in Berlin, Prussia.
Zucchi visited St Petersburg where she appeared at the Livadia summer theatre (1885). There she was so enthusiastically received that she was engaged by the Imperial Theatre and made repeated visits to Russia. Zucchi returned to France (1889) and appeared at Milan, Nice, and Monte Carlo. She taught at her own school which she established in Nice, and died there.
Zuck, Alexandra see Dee, Sandra
Zuckerman, Lillian – (1916 – 2004)
American character actress
Zuckerman was born (Sept 16, 1916) in Baltimore, Maryland. Her film credits included appearances in Deadbeat (1976), Nobody’s Perfect (1981) and The Mean Season (1985). Lillian Zuckerman died (Oct 11, 2004) in Miami, Florida, aged eighty-eight.
Zuniga, Catalina de – (c1557 – 1628)
Portugese grandee
Catalina de Zuniga Sandoval y Roxas was a descendant of Jorge de Portugal (1490 – c1543), Conde de Gelves and his second wife Isabella de Colon de Toledo, the granddaughter of the famous maritime explorer Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon). She became the wife (1574) of Fernando Ruiz II de Castro de Portugal (1548 – 1601), Marques de Sarria and Viceroy of Naples. She became the Marquesa of Sarria and accompanied her husband to Naples where she took up her duties as Vicereine. Catalina inherited the county of Gelves which she passed to her third son in her lifetime. She survived her husband as the Dowager Marquesa de Sarria (1601 – 1628) and died in Madrid aged about seventy, having borne her husband eight children,
Zuylen, Belle van see Charriere, Isabelle Agnes Elisabeth de
Zuzovic, Cvijeta – (1552 – 1648)
Croatian poet
Zuzovic was born in Dubrovnik but was raised abroad in Italy, where she received a magnificent education, becoming fluent in languages and the classics. She later returned to Dubrovnik and was married to a Florentine patrician who was appointed consul to Dubrovnik. The couple later returned to reside in Italy (1582). Considered a great beauty, she was admired for her learning and was particularly noted for her witty epigrams, though none of her work has survived. Cvijeta Zuzovic died aged ninety-five.
Zvantseva, Yelizaveta Nikolaievna – (1864 – 1921)
Russian painter and educator
Zvantseva studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and at the studios of Ilya Repnin and Pavel Chistyakov at the St Petersburg Academy of the Arts (1889 – 1896). She then pursued further study under Rodolphe Julian and Filippo Colarossi in Paris. Yelizaveta Zvantzeva founded in Moscow the most progressive art school in pre-Revolutionary Russia (1899), the Zvantseva School of Drawing and Painting, where students were taught by painter such as Valentin Serov and Nikolai Ulyanov.
From this school, which later removed to St Petersburg (1906) evolved the later leading artistic representatives of the Russian avant-garde, including Mikhail Matyushin, Olga Rozanova, Marc Chagall, Valdimir Kozlinsky, and Sergei Gorogetsky. She retired from teaching when her school was amalgamated into the Free Studio association after the Revolution. Yelizaveta Zvantseva died (Aug 22, 1921), aged fifty-six.
Zwyslava of Moravia see Adelaide of Silesia