P

Paabtamer – (fl.c700 – c650 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
A member of the XXVth Dynasty (721 – 656 BC), the identity of her husband remains uncertain. He was possibly either King Piye (Piankhy) or Taharqa of Napata. Queen Paabtamer was the mother of a prince named Pegatteru, and of a daughter, probably Shepenwepet II, who became the priestess (adoratrix) or ‘God’s Wife of Amun.’ When the queen died her son returned from Nubia to Egypt, in order to conduct her funeral ceremonies and burial. She was interred at Abydos, where her tomb was later discovered and excavated. Her own stela is preserved at Oxford in England. Surviving inscriptions from her tomb give the queen the titles of ‘King’s Sister,’ ‘King’s Daughter,’ ‘Chantress of Amun’ and ‘Mother of the Adoratrix.’

Paalzow, Henriette von – (1788 – 1847)
German novelist, artist, and woman of letters
Born Henriette Wach, she was the daughter of a councillor. Henriette was married young to a military officer, but later left her husband’s home in Westphalia, and returned to the family roof to reside with her mother and brother in Berlin, where she concentrated on writing to provide herself with an income, and established an intellectual salon there of some note. Henriette later resided briefly in Koln (Cologne) (1836 – 1837) where she write the play, Maria Nastasti, which was published a decade later (1846), against her own wishes. Paalzow was particularly known for her historical novels, which concentrated on the adventures and dramas within aristocratic families. Her best known works were Godwie Castle.Aus den Papieren der Herzogin von Nottingham (Godwie Castle.From the Papers of the Duchess of Nottingham) (1836), Sainte Roche (1839) and Jakob van der Nees (1844). Henriette von Paazlow died (Oct 30, 1847) aged fifty-nine, in Berlin.

Paar, Maria Antonia von Liechtenstein, Princess von – (1749 – 1813)
Austrian Imperial courtier
Princess Maria Antonia was the eldest daughter of Johann Nepomuk Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein (1732 – 1748) and his wife Countess Maria Josepha von Harrach. She was married (1768) to Wenzel, second Prince von Paar (1744 – 1812) and they left many descendants. She was appointed by the Empress Maria Theresa (1770) to accompany her daughter Marie Antoinette to the border for her handover ceremont prior to her marriage with the French Dauphin (Louis XV). Maria Antonia survived her husband as the Dowager Princess von Paar (1812 – 1813).

Pacatula – (fl. 410 – 413 AD)
Roman Christian patrician
Pacatula was the daughter of Gaudentius, who dedicated her to a life of virginity after the sack of Rome by the Vandals (410 AD). When she was still a child her father received a letter from St Jerome (413 AD) which contained detailed instructions for Pacatula’s education and instruction for the religious life. This letter was recorded in Jerome’s Epistulae.

Paccia Marciana – (c155 – 186 AD)
Roman patrician
The first wife of the future emperor Septimius Severus (193 – 211 AD), she was of the family of Marcius Barea and Paccius Africanus, both proconsuls in the first century AD, and the family had Punic origins. Paccia Marciana and Septimius were married in 175 AD, but their union appears to have remained childless. The alleged daughters sometimes ascribed to the couple, both named Septimia, said to have been provided with dowries and husbands (193 AD), are now known to be fictional. The emperor is said to have omitted all mention of Paccia Marciana in his autobiography, though he was stated to have set up statues in her honour when he gained the Imperial throne.

Pachelbin, Amalia – (1688 – 1723)
German flower and still-life painter
Amalia Pachelbin was employed as an artist by the archducal court at Nuremburg. Her married name was Beer. An example of her floral work was preserved in the Residenzmuseum in Munich, Bavaria, as were two watercolours in the Kupforstichkabinett in Berlin, Prussia.

Pachler-Koschak, Marie Leopoldine – (1792 – 1855)
Austrian pianist and concert performer
Pachler-Koschak was born at Graz (Oct 2, 1792) and was a friend to the composer, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827). Marie Pachler-Koschak died (April 10, 1855) aged sixty-two, at Graz.

Pacifica – (c1195 – 1258)
Italian Clarissan nun
Pacifica was a relative of St Clara of Assisi, and was one of the first nuns to live under her Clara’s rule. Appointed abbess of the convent of Spello, miracles were attributed to her piety. The Franciscan order revered her as a saint (March 24).

Pack, Nina – (b. 1869)
French soprano
Nina Pack studied singing at the Paris Conservatoire, and made her stage debut at the Paris Opera as Madeleine in Rigoletto (1889). Her other roles included Hilde in Sigurd, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and she sang Carmen at the Salle Favart. Pack performed regularly at the Opera Comique and played Sieglinde in Die Walkure in Geneva, Switzerland.

Packard, Eleanor – (1904 – 1972)
American journalist and war correspondent
Eleanor was born in New York City, and was educated at the University of Washington and the Columbia School of Journalism. She was married to fellow journalist Reynolds Packard, the two worked together as a team, travelling on assignment together to Vietnam, the South Seas, and China. The Packards worked together during and after World War II, being popularly known as ‘Pack and Peebee.’ From 1948 they were both attached to The New York Daily News, and Eleanor covered events such as Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War, and the war in Germany and Italy. Packard covered the demises of three popes, Pius XI (1939), Pius XII (1958), and John XXIII (1963), and is said to have been the first woman to be received in a papal audience wearing slacks. She was later attached to The United Press. Eleanor Packard died (May 4, 1972) in Rome.

Packe, Margaret    see    Hargreaves, Margaret

Packer, Joy Petersen, Lady – (1905 – 1977)
South African romantic fiction and travel writer
Joy Petersen was born in Cape Town and was married in England to a British naval officer, Sir Herbert Packer, who was later made an admiral. Joy Packer travelled extensively with her husband in the Middle East and the Balkan regions, and these journeys formed the basis of her work Pack and Follow: One Person’s Adventures in Four Different Worlds (1945). Lady Packer also wrote several works which were based upon her husband’s private correspondence including Grey Mistress (1949), Home from the Sea (1963) and Deep at the Sea (1975). Her most popular work was the historical romance Valley of the Vines (1955), which was later made into a television series. Other works included, The High Roof (1959), Leopard in the Fold (1969) and Veronica (1970).

Packer, Ruth – (1910 – 2005)
British soprano
Ruth Packer was especially acclaimed for her interpretations of the heroines of Giuseppe Verdi, and for her performance in the role of Abigail in Nabucco for the Welsh National Opera. Packer left the stage in 1958 and devoted herself to establishing herself as a highly regarded vocal trainer. She joined the faculty of the Royal College of Music, and later, the London Opera Centre. She retired at the age of seventy (1980).

Paculla Annia – (c230 – 186 BC)
Roman Bacchanalian cult leader
Paculla Annia was a native of Campania. She was appointed priestess of an all female cult founded by her to honour of the god Dionysius. Later she altered the rules of admission and began initiating young men into the cult. Paculla Annia encouraged promiscuity by introducing orgiastic nocturnal rites. This movement, which supported crimes like forgery and murder, attracted large numbers of adherents and quickly became a threat to social order and stability. Large numbers were eventually rounded up by order of the Senate in Rome, and put to death. Presumably Paculla Annia suffered this fate.

Padilla, Maria de – (1335 – 1361)
Spanish courtier
Maria de Padilla was the daughter of Juan Garcia de Padilla. Maria became the mistress of Pedro I ‘the Cruel’, king of Castile (1350 – 1369) in 1351, the same year he was forced to marry the French princess Blanche de Bourbon for dynastic reasons. Pedro immediately deserted his queen for Maria, whom he established at the castle of Castro Kerez, where their son Alfonso, and his three sisters, Beatriz, Constanza (Constance) and Isabella were all born. Maria retained the king’s affection till her death at the age of twenty-five, and was interred in the Cathedral of Seville, in Andalusia.

Soon after Maria’s death the king convoked a special meeting of the Cortes (estates) in Seville, and declared that he and Maria had been lawfully married, producing his chaplain, his chancellor, and a brother of Maria’s as witnesses to the ceremony. The archbishop of Toledo took their oaths, the couple’s marriage was declared legitimate, and thus Maria’s children became legitimate. This decision was also an admission of bigamy. Maria was never crowned or even recognized as queen in her lifetime, and nothing more could be done than provide her with a magnificent funeral. Her son Alfonso died young in 1367, and of her two younger daughters, the elder Constanza (1354 – 1394) was recognized by the Plantagenets as titular Queen of Castile (1369 – 1388) and married John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, whilst her younger sister Isabella married his brother Edmund, Duke of York, both sons of Edward III.

Padilla de Sanz, Trina – (1864 – 1957)
Puerto-Rican poet
Trina Padilla was the daughter of the poet-physician Jose Gualberto Padilla. Like her father, Trina wrote polemics against the work of the Spanish poet, Manuel de Palacio. She published various poems in several contemporary Puerto-Rican periodicals, but her verse was considered sentimental and unoriginal. Her work was published in one collection entitled De mi collar (1926). Popularly known as ‘La Hija del Caribe’ her other published works included Algunos poemarios: Rebeldia (1918) and Calices abiertas (1943).

Padmalladevi – (c1275 – 1332)
Queen consort of Nepal
Padmalladevi was the wife of King Jayatungamalla, and mother of King Jayarudramalla (1295 – 1326). With the death of her husband (c1310) her son ruled till his own death (June 16, 1326) whereupon the queen mother ruled the small kingdom as regent for her granddaughter Queen Nayakadevi until her own death.

Padmore, Lady    see   Culhane, Rosalind

Padovani, Lea – (1920 – 1991)
Italian film actress
Lea Padovani’s career began with the end of WW II. She appeared in such movies as Give Us This Day (1949), Montparnasse 19 (1957) and The Naked Maja (1958) which was released in the USA.

Padshah Begum – (c1233 – 1295)
Mongol queen
Padshah Begum was the daughter of Baraq Hajib, King of Kirman and his wife Qutlugh Terken. She was married firstly to the Ilkhanid sultan Abaqa (died 1282), and secondly to the Ilkhanid prince Gay Khan (died 1295). Padshah Begum was assassinated.

Padusia – (c390 – 430 AD)
Roman conspirator
Padusia was the wife of the military commander Flavius Constantius Felix, who held the Imperial post of magister militum (425 – 430 AD) and was consul (428 AD). She is attested by a surviving inscription from Rome. Padusia, her husband, and a Christian deacon named Grunitus were all accused of plotting against the powerful military commander Aetius. He ordered all three to be condemned and executed in Ravenna. Padusia is believed to be identical with the court lady named ‘Spadusia,’ who was identified as a friend and confidante of the empress Galla Placidia, the mother of Valentinian III. Her story was recorded in the Chronicle of Prosper Tiro and in the Chronicon of Haydatius Lemicensis.

Paetina, Aelia    see   Aelia Paetina Tuberonis

Paganell, Agnes – (c1100 – after 1141)
English medieval heiress
Agnes Paganell was the daughter of a Norman noble Fulk Paganell. She was married (c1015) to Robert de Brus, second feudal Baron of Skelton (c1075 – 1141) bringing him the manor of Careton in Yorkshire, and other lands, as her dowry. Her husband and second son Robert were both present at the battle of Standard (1138), though on opposing sides. Her son, then aged only fourteen, is said to have been taken prisoner by his own father, who sent him as a prisoner to King Stephen. The king however, courteously allowed Robert to return home to Lady Agnes at Skelton. It would appear that this was a family arrangement to prevent the family estates, in the case of either side winning, from being forfeited. Agnes survived her husband, and left four children,

• Adam de Brus (c1120 – 1196), third feudal Baron of Skelton.
• Robert de Brus (1124 – 1194), surnamed ‘Le Meschin.’ He became the first Baron of Annandale and left descendants.
• Pagan de Brus. He became ancestor of the Bruce family of Pickering.
• Agatha de Brus. She was married to Ralph de Middleham.

Page, Anita – (1910 – 2008)
American silent and sound film actress
Page was born Anita pomares (Aug 24, 1910) at Flushing in New York. Her first film appearance was a bit part in the silent film The kiss for Cinderella (1925) after she had begun her career as a film extra (1924). Anita Page appeared opposite Lon Chaney in the horror film While the City Sleeps (1928). She achieved national fame when she appeared in Our Dancing Daughters (1928) with Joan Crawford. Page and Crawford appeared in the two following films Our Modern Maidens (1929) and Our Blushing Brides (1930). Page co-starred in The Broadway Melody of 1929, the first film to win an Oscar Award for best picture. By the end of 1928 Page ranked only second to Greta Garbo as the highest-ranking film star at Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer.
Page remained friends with Crawford and the magnate William Hearst, and was also a friend to actresses Jean Harlow and Marion Davies. Her popularity was said to have eventually enraged Crawford. Her career declined after she supposedly rejected the advances of director Irving Thalberg, the husband of Norma Shearer. She appeared in several low budget films such as Soldiers of the Storm (1933) and Jungle Bride (1933) but her hey-day was over. She later quietly returned to films after the death of her second husband (1991) and made a cameo appearance in the horror film Frankenstein Rising (2008). Anita Page died (Sept 6, 2008) aged ninety-eight.

Page, Damaris – (c1620 – 1669)
English courtesan
Damaris Page was born at Stepney, near London, and became a prostitute whilst in her early teens. She was married (1640) to William Baker, and then operated brothels and bawdy houses in London, the most notorious of which was situated on the Ratcliffe Highway, and catered especially for seamen and dockworkers. A more upmarket house in Rosemary Lane catered for the needs of naval officers. Arrested for bigotry and manslaughter, after the death of a woman on whom she was performing an abortion, Page was sentenced to be hanged. This sentence was commuted to three years in Newgate Prison after it was verified that she was pregnant. Page returned to her lucrative profession when released from prison and died a woman of considerable wealth.

Page, Emily Rebecca – (1834 – after 1895)
American editor and poet
Emily Page was born in Bradford, Vermont. She wrote various articles for several magazines and periodicals, such as the Carpetbag and the Ladies’ Repository, over a career that spanned several decades. Page worked in Boston, Massachusetts as editorial assistant to the noted traveller and novelist Maturin Murray Ballou (1820 – 1895), who published several prominent magazines such as the Daily Globe, The Flag of Our Union, and the Sunday Budget. Page was the author of a volume of poems entitled Lily of the Valley (1859), amongst other works. Emily Page survived her employer.

Page, Estelle Lawson   see   Lawson, Estelle

Page, Gale – (1913 – 1983)
American film and television actress
Born Sally Perkins Rutter (July 23, 1913) in Spokane, Washington, Gale Page was a leading actress during the war years, and she appeared in such films as Four Daughters (1938), Knute Rockne: All American (1940) and Anna Lucasta (1949), amongst many others.

Page, Geraldine – (1924 – 1987)
American stage and film actress
Geraldine Page was born (Nov 22, 1924) in Kirksville, Montana and attended the Goodman Theatre Dramatic School, in Chicago, Illinois. She went to New York (1945) and established herself there as a brilliant stage actress after her success in Summer and Smoke (1952) by Tennessee Williams. Her notable stage roles included that of Alexandra del Lago in Williams’s Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and Mother Miriam Ruth in Agnes of God (1982). Her notable film appearances included Dear Heart (1965), Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) with Mildred Dunnock and Ruth Gordon, and The Beguiled (1971) with Clint Eastwood, where she played the headmistress of a Southern girls school during the Civil War. Other film credits included The Day of the Locust (1974) with Karen Black, Nasty Habits (1976), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) and The Trip to Bountiful, for which performance she won an Academy Award (1985).

Page, Gertrude – (1873 – 1922)
Anglo-Rhodesian novelist
Gertrude Page was born in Bedfordshire, England and her married name was Dobbin. She arrived in South Africa at the time of the Boer War. Her seventeen novels included The Veldt Trail, Love in the Wilderness (1907), The Edge o’Beyond (1908) which achieved great popularity, The Supreme Desire (1916) and Jill on a Ranch (1921) which went through twelve editions. Getrude Page died (April 1, 1922) in Salisbury, Rhodesia.

Page, Joy – (1924 – 2008)
American film actress
Born Joy Cerette Paige (Nov 9, 1924) in Los Angeles, California, she was the daughter of the Mexican-American film star Don Alvarado (Jose Paige). Her stepfather was Jack Warner, the head of Warner Brothers Studios, which connection enabled her to land her first movie role as the Bulgarian bride Annina Brandel in the classic film Casablanca (1942), which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Joy Page appeared in several other films including Kismet (1944), The Shrike (1955) and Tonka (1958). She did some television work and appeared in the first season of the Walt Disney series The Swamp Fox (1959). She was married (1945) to the actor and Warner Brothers executive William T. Orr, from whom she was later divorced (1970) and was the mother of the noted writer and producer Gregory Orr (born 1954). Joy Page died (April 18, 2008) aged eighty-three, in Los Angeles.

Page, Mary Trotman, Lady – (1674 – 1728)
English Stuart baronetess (1714 – 1720)
Mary Trotman was the daughter of Thomas Trotman, a wealthy merchant and citizen of London. She became the wife of Sir Gregory Page (1668 – 1720), the first baronet (1714) of East Greenwich, London, who made a fortune from the South Sea Company (1720). She was the mother of Sir Gregory Trotman (1689 – 1775), second baronet (1720 – 1775), the noted collector and builder of Morden College at Blackheath, and director of the East India Company. Her eldest daughter Mary Page (c1697 – 1744) became the wife of Sir Edward Turner (1691 – 1735), first baronet (1733 – 1735), of Ambrosden, Kent, and left issue. Lady Mary survived her husband as the Dowager Lady Page (1720 – 1728).

Page, Maud Mabel – (1867 – 1925)
British painter and botanical illustrator
Maud Page was born in London, and began to paint the native plant life when she removed to live in South Africa (1911). Page worked for ten years (1915 – 1925) in the Bolus Herbarium, at the University of Capetown. She produced Flowering Plants of South Africa; Annals of the Bolus Herbarium (1916 – 1928). Other examples of her work appear in the Journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa (1917 – 1925). Maud Page died unmarried in Cape Town.

Page, Ray – (1902 – 2000)
New Zealand-Australian conservationist
Born Nellie Elizabeth Rachal Birt at Pahiatua, near Wellington, her mother died at her birth and she was raised by an elder sister before attending a convent school. Ray studied agriculture and accountancy, and came to Australia in 1927, where she worked as a restaurant accountant for two decades and later married (1947) a bank worker, Peter Page. A keen bushwalker, she and her husband worked to preserve the Blue Gum Forest and North Era Beach in the Blue Mountains, and established their own rural retreat at Jamberoo, where they were famous for their hospitality. She lobbied the government to improve the Wildflower Protection Act in order to prevent people picking flowers from public land. She was widowed in 1977. Ray Page survived cancer (1978) and died aged ninety-seven.

Paget, Agnes Charlotte – (1831 – 1858)
British socialite and traveller
Agnes Paget was the daughter of Sir Arthur Paget (1771 – 1840) and his wife Lady Augusta Fane, daughter of the tenth Earl of Westmorland, and divorced wife of the first Earl of Morley. Agnes was married (1854) to her first cousin Lord George Augustus Frederick (1818 – 1880), who was the younger son of the first Marquess of Anglesey. Lady Agnes Paget was one of the great blonde beauties of the Victorian period, which fact was recorded by the Morning Post coverage of the wedding. Soon afterwards she remained in London whilst her husband left on his military posting as commander of the Light Dragoons, to the Crimea. With his subsequent return to the battlefield after the battle of Balaclava, Agnes accompanied him aboard the City of Glasgow, together with several other British ladies including Lady Stratford de Redcliffe and Lady Anne Carew and her daughters, and visited Balaclava itself (April, 1855) where her beauty excited much comment at cavalry parades and military reviews.
Agnes and her party travelled by steamship to Constantinople, where it was accidentally fired upon by Russian forces. There she was received by Lord Raglan, Omar Pasha and the Sardinian ambassador General della Marmora. Her looks and elelgance excited such comment that the French communist leader Vico commissioned Lady Paget’s portrait to painted on the wall of his room, and then called her husband to view it. The official Crimean photographer, Roger Tenton, referred to her as ‘the belle of the Crimea.’ During her stay in the Crimea Lady Paget also visited army hospitals, where she personally distributed newspapers and stationery to the men, and sat with the dying. She viewed the battle of Sebastopol (June 6, 1855) from the comfort of Lord Raglan’s own carriage. Soon after the death of Lord Raglan, at whose deathbed she was present, Agnes and her husband returned by sea to England. Lady Agnes Paget died (March 10, 1858) aged only twenty-six, in Berkeley Square, London, a few hours after giving birth to her second child. Her two sons were Cecil Stratford Paget (1856 – 1936), who became an army captain and married but died childless, and Charles Angus Paget (1858 – 1867) who died in childhood.

Paget, Lady Caroline – (1913 – 1973)
British aristocrat, society figure, and artist’s model
Born Lady Alexandra Cecilia Caroline Paget (June 15, 1913), she was the daughter of Sir Charles Henry Alexander Paget, sixth Marquess of Anglesey, and his wife Lady Victoria Marjorie Harriet Manners, daughter to the Duke of Rutland. Lady Caroline later became the second wife (1949) of Sir Michael Duff, baronet.  Lady Caroline was much admired by the artist Rex Whistler, whose numerous portraits of her included a famous nude which remains in possession of the Paget family. Lady Caroline Paget died (May 22, 1973) aged fifty-nine.

Paget, Elizabeth – (1568 – 1570)
English infant peeress
Elizabeth Paget was the only child and heiress of Sir Henry, second Baron Paget, and his wife Catherine Knevet, who remarried to Sir Edward Cary. Elizabeth inherited her father’s title as a baby, becoming de jure third Baroness Paget, but died aged barely two years, whereupon the barony passed to her uncle Thomas, who succeeded as fourth Baron Paget.

Paget, Dame Mary Rosalind – (1855 – 1948)
British social reformer, nurse and midwife
Mary Paget was the daughter of a police magistrate, John Paget and was cousin to the reformer Eleanor Rathbone. She trained as a nurse at the Westminster Hospital and became particularly experienced with midwifery at the British Lying-In Hospital, which was the springboard for her interest in reform. Paget became one of the joint founders of the Midwives Institute (1881), which was later renamed the Royal College of Midwives. One of her most important aims was that these midwives should be registered, and this was achieved with the introduction of the Midwives Act (1902). Mary Paget later founded and organized the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. King George V created her DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) (1935) in recognition of her decades of valuable public service.

Paget, Minnie Stevens, Lady (Mary) – (1855 – 1919)
American-Anglo socialite and volunteer activist
Mary Stevens was the daughter of Paran Stevens a prominent financier. She became the wife (1878) of the noted British general, Sir Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget (1851 – 1928). Lady Paget was involved in volunteer work for the war effort during WW I. Lady Minnie Paget died (May 18, 1919).

Paget, Muriel Evelyn Vernon Finch-Hatton, Lady – (1876 – 1938)
British philanthropist
Lady Muriel Finch-Hatton was born in London the only daughter of Edward Finch-Hatton, twelfth Earl of Winchilsea and his wife Edith Harcourt. She was married (1897) to Sir Richard Paget, second Baronet (1908 – 1955), of Cranmore Hall in Shepton Mallet, and they had five children. Lady Muriel established the Invalid Kitchens of London (1905), of which organization she remained the honorary secretary. With the outbreak of World War I she became involved with the Belgian Refugees Committee and then established and organized the Anglo-Russian base hospital in Petrograd, togther with several field hospitals at the front (1915). She accompanied the Russian army into Romania and assisted with her nurses during a serious typhus outbreak (1917).
At the especial request of President Masaryk, Lady Paget travelled to Czechoslavakia (1919) where she became involved in the establishment of hospitals and the setting up of social programs to improve child welfare. For over fifteen years she was involved with assistance being provided to British nationals then resident within Russia, who had been reduced to poverty because of the Revolution (1922 – 1938). Muriel Paget was appointed as delegate to the fifteenth International Red Cross conference in Japan (1934) Her valuable work was recognized by the countries she aided, and she was the recipient of various prestigious European orders such as the Latvian Order of the Three Stars, the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, the Russian Red Cross, and the Czechoslavakian Order of the White Lion. At home she received the OBE (Order of the British Empire) (1918) from King George V, and the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) from King George VI (1938) in recognition of her valuable work. Lady Muriel Paget died in London aged sixty-one (June 16, 1938).

Paget, Violet      see      Lee, Vernon

Paget, Walburga Ehrengarda Helena von Hohenthal, Lady – (1839 – 1929)
German-Anglo courtier and author
Countess Walburga von Hohenthal was born (May 3, 1839) the daughter of Count Karl Friedrich von Hohenthal. She was married (1860) to Sir Augustus Paget (1823 – 1896), the British diplomat, the fourth son of Henry Bayley Paget, first Earl of Uxbridge. Walburga was appointed as lady-in-waiting (dame d’honneur) to the Prussian crown princess Victoria, daughter to Queen Victoria and sister to Edward VII, with whom she long remained on terms of close friendship. Lady Paget also remained on close terms with the Danish royal famiky while her husband served as ambassador to Copenhagen. She played a background role in the romance leading to the marriage of Princess Alexandra to Bertie, the English Prince of Wales (1863).
Beautiful and vivacious, Lady Paget was much liked by Queen Victoria, who stood sponsor to her daughter at her christening (1863). Her friendship with Princess Alexandra lasted many decades and ended only with that lady’s death (1925). Likewise she received frequent endearing mentions in the memoirs and private correspondence of the Empress Frederick. She left several volumes of memoirs such as Scenes and Memories (1912), Embassies of Other Days (1923), the two volume work In My Tower (1924) and The Linings of Life (1928). Lady Paget died (Oct 11, 1929) aged ninety. She left three children,

• Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Frederick Paget (1861 – 1927). He served during WW I.
• Alberta Victoria Paget (1863 – 1944). She was married to Robert Windsor-Clive, first Earl of Plymouth (1857 – 1923) and left descendants.
• Sir Ralph Spencer Paget (1864 – 1940). He had a long and distinguished ambassadorial career.

Pageti – (fl. c2500 BC)
Egyptian princess
Pageti was the daughter of Prince Nefermaat and his wife Itet. Her father was the son of King Senefru of the Ivth Dynasty (c2520 – c2392 BC). She was the half-niece to King Khufu and full niece to his wife, Queen Meryetyotes I, and was first cousin to King Djedefre. She was portrayed as a child on a surviving relief from her father’s tomb at Meidum.

Pagliughi, Lina – (1907 – 1980)
Italian-American coloratura soprano
Pagliughi was born in New York, the daughter of immigrants. She studied singing in San Francisco, California and made her stage debut at the age of eight (1916) in the prescence of the great primadonna Luiza Tetrazzini. Lina then travelled to Italy where she studied singing in Milan, and continued her vocal instruction. She made her official debut in Rigoletto in Milan (1927), and was best remembered for her performances in Lucia di Lammermoor. She retired in 1957) and established a singing school in Milan. Gramophone recordings of her work survive. Lina Pagliughi died at Savignano sul Rubicone, near Forli, Italy.

Pagu, Patricia    see   Galvao, Patricia

Pahl, Margaret Ann – (1908 – 1980)
American nun and victim in a sensational satanist cult murder
After a lifetime consecrated to service in the Roman Catholic faith, Sister Pahl became a caretaker at the Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio upon her retirement. At the age of seventy-one she was found strangled and stabbed to death on the floor adjoining the hospital chapel, after having attended the chapel in order to prepare for the Easter mass. Sister Pahl had been stabbed over two dozen times and knife wounds marked a cross on her neck and chest.
The hospital chaplain, Father Gerald Robinson was questioned by police after a blood-stained letter-opener was found in his room, but he was released for lack of firm evidence, and permitted to conduct Sister Pahl’s funeral mass. Nearly two decades later (2004) new evidence provided to police by victims of a satanic cult group led to Father Robinson’s arrest and conviction for murder and gross sexual abuse amongst other charges (2006) after forensic evidence produced proof that Robinson’s letter opener had been the weapon. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a mandatory fifteen years. He was said to have been disappointed at not becoming a military chaplain and took his disappointment out on Sister Margaret whom he apparently disliked.

Pahlow, Gertrude Curtis Brown – (1881 – 1937)
American author
Gertrude Brown was born in Reading, Massachusetts. Under her married name Mrs Pahlow wrote works such as The Gilded Chrysalis (1914), The Cross of Heart’s Desire (1916), Murder in the Morning (1931), The Bright Torch (1933) and Hermitage Island (1934) amongst others. Gertrude Pahlow died (Jan 29, 1937) aged fifty-five.

Paige, Joy Cerette    see   Page, Joy

Paige, Mabel – (1880 – 1954)
American actress
Mabel Paige was born in New York, and first appeared on stage in 1884. She made about a dozen appearances in silent film comedy shorts (1915 – 1916) such as Mixed Flats, often appearing with the younger Oliver Hardy and her own husband Charles Ritchie. During the 1940’s Mabel was under contract to Paramount and Columbia Studios and was best remembered for her performances as sharp-tongued, imperious dowagers. She was best known for her dramatic performance in Someone to Remember (1943) Mabel also appeared in the films Lucky Jordan (1942), Murder He Says (1945), Nocturne (1946), Johnny Belinda (1948) and Houdini (1953).

Pailhars, Andree de – (c1179 – after 1250)
Spanish-French mediaeval heiress
Guillermina de Pailhars, called Andree, was the daughter and heiress of Artal IV, Count of Pailhars-Subira (died c1182) and his wife Guillermina de Erill, the daughter of Guillermo, Seigneur de Erill. Through her father she was a descendant of Loup, Count of Pailhars in Foix during the tenth century. She was married firstly to Bernard Roger, Vicomte de Courserans, and then (1217) to his brother Roger II, Vicomte de Courserans (died 1240), as his second wife. With the death, without issue, of her brother Bernard III of Pailhars-Subira (c1199) Andree became the countess of Pailhars-Subira, which estates and properties she retained till her death. She was still living in 1250. Being childless the countess disposed of Pailhars to her stepson, Roger III de Courserans, half by gift and half by sale.

Pailthorpe, Grace Winifred – (1883 – 1971)
British criminal psychologist
Grace Pailthorpe trained as a physician, and worked as a surgeon-in-charge of a flying ambulance unit during World War I. Pailthorpe gained international acclaim for her pioneering work concerning criminal psychology, and published her official report, Studies in the Psychology of Delinquency, and her book, What We Put in Prison (1932), which assisted her establishment of the first psychological treatment of prisoners, the Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency, which later evolved into the Portman Clinic. Grace Pailthorpe died (July 19, 1971) aged eighty-seven, at St Leonard’s-on-the-Sea.

Paine, Caroline – (c1820 – c1880)
American traveller and author
Almost nothing is known of her personal life. Caroline travelled through Egypt, North Africa and Turkey (1850 – 1851) and published a narrative account of her adventures entitled Tent to a Harem : Notes of an Oriental Trip (1859) which was published in New York.

Paisley, Mary – (1717 – 1757)
Irish Quaker minister and devotional writer
Born Mary Neale, near Mountrath, County Laois, she was the daughter of poor parents. Raised in the Society of Friends, she passed a religious crisis in 1744, and travelled to England and America as a preacher. Mary Neale was married to fellow Quaker, Samuel Paisley, and died suddenly several days afterward. The work Some Account of the Life and Religious exercises of Mary Neale …. Principally compiled from her own writings (1795) was published posthumously by her husband almost forty years after her death.

Paiva-Araujo, Marquesa de    see   Lachmann, Therese Pauline Blanche

Pakarinen, Maikki – (1871 – 1929)
Swedish soprano
Pakarinen was born at Joensuu (Aug 26, 1871) became the first wife (1893) of the noted Swedish composer and conductor Edvard Armas Jarnefelt (1869 – 1958). They were later divorced in 1908 and she remarried to the composer Selim Palmgren. Her first husband’s sister Aino Jarnefelt was the wife of the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957). Madame Pakarinen was the author of A Guide to Singing. Maikki Pakarinen died (July 4, 1929) aged fifty-seven, at Turku.

Pakhomova, Ludmila Alexievna – (1946 – 1985)
Russian athlete and ice-skater
Ludmila Pakhmanova was born (Dec 31, 1946). She was a talented skater from an early age and was acclaimed as the national Russian ice-dancing champion nine times in a ten years period (1964 – 1975). During this time she continued her studies at the Lunarcharskii State Institute of Theatrical Arts. Ludmila was married to fellow ice-skater and dancer, Alexander Gorshkov, and the couple became famous world-wide, winning half a dozen world championships for Soviet Russia, including the Olympic gold medal at the Innsbruck games (1976). Ludmila retired after this and turned her talents to coaching younger skating champions, including Natalia Annenko. Ludmila Pakhomova died in Moscow from leukaemia, aged thirty-eight.

Pakington, Dorothy Kitson, Lady – (1531 – 1577)
English political activist
Dorothy Kitson was the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson, of Hengrave, Suffolk, and his wife Margaret Donington, later the wife of John Bourchier, Earl of Bath. Dorothy became the wife (c1547) of Sir Thomas Pakington (c1517 – 1571), an important coutier of Queen Elizabeth I. She bore him a son and two daughters. With the death of Sir Thomas, Lady Dorothy was the sole executrix of his will. As a widow she became well known for her interference in electioneering matters, and issued a writ in her own name (May 4, 1572) as ‘ lord and owner of the town of Aylesbury,’ appointing burgesses for the constituency. Lady Pakington later remarried to Thomas Tasburgh, of Hawridge, Buckinghamshire. Her son was Sir John Pakington (1549 – 1625), a prominent figure at the court of Queen Elizabeth. Lady Dorothy died (May 2, 1577) aged thirty-six.

Pakington, Dorothy Coventry, Lady – (c1624 – 1679)
English author
Dorothy Coventry was the daughter of Thomas, Lord Coventry, and lord keeper (1625 – 1639) and his second wife, Elizabeth Alderlsey, of Spurstow, Cheshire. Dorothy was married (c1644) to Sir John Pakington, of Westwood, Worcestershire, to whom she bore three children. Of a religious inclination, Lady Pakington became a close friend of the Protestant divine Henry Hammond who resided in her husband’s household, and she herself held open house for men of religious conviction such as Bishop Fell and Richard Allestree. She is credited as the author of the Whole Duty of Man which was published anonymously (1658). Her authorship was publicly revealed for the first time by the scholar and author George Hickes (1697). Lady Pakington died (May 10, 1679) aged about fifty-five. She was interred in the church of Hampton Lovett in Worcestershire.

Palaeologina, Anna Dukaina – (1068 – before 1135)
Byzantine princess
Anna Dukaina was the daughter of Andronikus Dukas and his wife Maria, who was the daughter of Trajan, Tsar of Bulgaria. Her elder sister Irene Dukaina became the wife of the Emperor Alexius I Komnenus. She was married (1081) to the Greek prince Giorgios Palaeologus (died c1110), and their daughter Anna Palaeologina later became the wife of Uros I (c1070 – 1140), King of Serbia. Her granddaughter Helena of Serbia became the wife of Bela II, King of Hungary.

Palaeologina, Theodora Angela – (c1267 – 1342)
Byzantine princess
Theodora Angela was the niece of Nikephorus Tarchaneiotes. Widowed in 1294, she was the mother of the Emperor Johannes VI Palaeologus Kantacuzene. The heiress of the important fiefs of Jerrhai and Lemnos, Theodora died a prisoner of Alexis Apokaukos during the Byzantine civil wars.

Palaiseau, Dame Catherine de    see   Juvenal, Catherine

Palatina – (fl. 562 – c570)
Gallo-Roman patrician
Palatina was the daughter of Gallomagnus, who was Bishop of Troyes in 573 and 581 – 583. She became the wife (562) of Bodegiselus, dux in Provence and Austrasia, to whom she bore a son. The poet Venantius Fortunatus wrote a poem in praise of her character ‘de Palatina filia Galli Magni episcopei ‘ which is preserved in his surviving work, the Carmina.

Palatine, Madame de La     see    Orleans, Duchesse d’

Paletzkaya, Juliana Dmitrievna – (1533 – 1569)
Russian princess
Juliana Dmitrievna was the daughter of Prince Dimitry Paletzky. The Emperor Ivan the Terrible arranged for Juliana to marry (1548) his brother, Duke Yuri of Uglich (1533 – 1563). This marriage produced an only child Prince Vassily Yurievitch (1559 – 1560) who died in infancy. A close friend of her husband’s sister-in-law the Empress Anastasia, the duchess was self-effacing, virtuous and pious, devoting herself to religious beneficence and charitable works.
With the death of her husband Ivan arranged a magnificent funeral and provided Duchess Juliana with luxurious accommodation within a royal convent. There she remained retired from the world. However at the age of thirty-six, she became the innocent victim of one of the Tsar’s mad rages. In a fit of anger because he considered that Juliana was living too retired an existence, he affected to consider this as an insult to his former goodness to her and ordered her to be murdered by his henchmen.

Paley, Olga Valerianovna Karnovitch, Princess de – (1866 – 1929)
Russian semi-royal and morganatic wife
Olga Karnovitch was born in St Petersburg (Dec 14, 1866) the daughter of Valerian Valerianovitch Karnovitch and his wife Olga Meszaros. She was married firstly to Erich von Pistohlkors, to whom she bore a daughter, Marianne Pistohlkors (1890 – 1976) who was married three times, lastly to Count Nicholas von Zarnekau (1886 – 1976). Olga and Pistohlkors were later divorced. Madame Pistohlkors was married secondly at Leghorn (1902) to the Romanov grand duke, Paul Alexandrovitch (1860 – 1919) as his second wife, though Tsar Nicholas had refused his formal permission. The marriage was morganatic and Olga was created countess von Hohenfelsen (1904) by Prince Luitpold of Bavaria. A decade later Tsar Nicholas II relented somewhat and created her Princess de Paley with the qualification of Serene Highness (1915). Her husband was murdered in St Petersburg by revolutionaries, as was her son, though the princess managed to flee Russia with their two daughters, and found refuge in Finland (1920). She later settled in Paris where she died (Nov 2, 1929) aged sixty-two. By Grand Duke Paul she left three children,

• Vladimir Pavlovitch, Prince de Paley and count von Hohenfelsen (1897 – 1918). He was killed by Bolsheviks at Alapayevsk in Siberia. His poetry has survived.
• Irina Pavlovna, Princess de Paley (1903 – 1993). She was married firstly to her cousin Prince Feodor Alexandrovitch of Russia (1898 – 1968) from whom she was divorced, and secondly to Hubert de Montbrison (1892 – 1981). She left descendants through her first marriage.
• Natalie Pavlovna, Princess de Paley (1905 – 1981). She was married firstly Lucien Lelong (1889 – 1958) from whom she was divorced, and secondly John Chapman Wilson (1899 – 1961).

Palffy, Dorothy Evelyn Deacon, Countess – (1892 – 1960)
American socialite
Born Dorothy Deacon (April 12, 1892), she was sister to the famous beauty Gladys Deacon, who later married the British duke of Marlborough. Dorothy was married firstly in London (1910) to Prince Anton Albert Radziwill (1885 – 1935), to whom she bore a daughter. Dorothy and Radziwill’s marriage was later annulled in Rome (1921) and she remarried (1922) to the Hungarian Count Francis de Paul Palffy de Erdod. This marriage also ended in divorce (1928) and there were no children. Her only child was Princess Elzbieta Radziwill (born 1917) who was married twice, firstly to Prince Witold Czartoryski (1908 – 1945) and secondly to Jan Tomaszewski (born 1903). Countess Palffy died (Aug 17, 1960) aged sixty-eight, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Palfrey, Deborah Jeane – (1956 – 2008)
American high profile madam
Deborah Palfrey was born (March 18, 1956) in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania. She had served time in prison for prostitution (1990), but then ran a high class call girl organization by telephone, from her own home in southern California, known as Pamela Martin and Associates. Palfrey became rich and made over two million dollars from her business, employing well over one hundred women, who serviced some very influential people in politics, business, and society circles, many of whose phone numbers were listed in her private directory.  She was arrested and convicted of running a business for prostitution (April 15, 2008) being dubbed the ‘DC Madam’ by the media. Deborah Palfrey was awaiting sentencing, when she committed suicide at her mother’s home in Tarpon Springs, Florida, by hanging herself (May 2, 2008), aged fifty-two.

Palla – (fl. c70 – c50 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Palla was mentioned in Cicero’s Pro Caelio. The historian Dio Cassius recorded that she was the mother, or stepmother, of Lucius Gellius Poplicola, consul (36 BC). It transpired that Caelius had been charged with illegally alienating some of her property from the rightful heirs, which was the cause of a family disagreement.

Palladia – (c275 – c304 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Palladia was the wife to a Christian soldier, to who she had borne several small children. Her husband, together with two hundred and fifty of his fellow soldiers and their captain, Meletius, were all condemned and executed for their refusal to reject their faith, during the persecutions instituted by the Emperor Diocletian. Palladia, together with two other Christian women, Marciana and Susanna, together with their young children were all brutally killed, their limbs being broken. Venerated as martyrs (May 24), the three women are usually represented in religious art with a child holding a palm leaf.

Pallavicini, Guglielma – (c1309 – 1358)
Greek mediaeval ruler
The daughter of Alberto Pallavicini, Lord of Thermopylae in Bodonitsa, and his wife Maria dalle Carceri, she succeeded to her father’s estates as an infant. Bodonitsa was ruled by her mother and stepfather during her minority, and after her marriage (1327) by her husband Bartolommeo Zaccaria of Genoa. With his death (1334) Guglielma remarried to Niccolo Zorzi, a Venetian patrician, which alliance permitted her to retain the fief of Negroponte and to assert her claims to the castle of Larmena.
The dispute over Larmena continued and was eventually decided in favour of the Venetians which caused Guglielma to blame her husband for this failure. When Zaccaria ordered the execution of one of her relatives Guglielma aroused the mob against him and his was forced to flee Negroponte. Despite an order from the Venetian Senate she refused to restore Zaccaria to his former position or return his estates. Even arbitration by Queen Giovanna I of Naples and Humbert II of Dauphine, a papal naval commander failure to heal the breach and eventually the dowry of Giglielma’s daughter was confiscated in order to pay Zaccaria. With his death (1354) Guglielma installed her eldest son Francisco Zaccaria as joint ruler and managed to salvage her relationship with the Venetians. At her death she was succeeded by Francisco.

Palli, Angeliki – (1798 – 1875)
Graeco-Italian writer
Angeliki Palli was born in Italy into a patrician Greek family, and was raised at Livorno. Well educated she spent time amongst the literary salons and intelligentsia of her native city, and herself produced plays, dramas and verse. Angeliki Palli is best remembered as the author of a work for young nursing mothers entitled Discorso di una donna alle giovani maritote del suo paese (1851), which exhorted them to educate themselves and thus achieve some form of emanciptation from paternalism. Her last work, the poem Epiro e Thessalia, was a patriotic acknowledgement of the place in her heart accorded by her to her homeland Greece.

Palm, Etta Aelders    see    Aelders, Etta Palm d’

Palmatia – (fl. 491 AD – 519)
Byzantine Imperial courtier
Palmatia was the friend of Princess Anastasia, the wife of Pompeius, the nephew of the Emperor Anastasius I. Both women received a letter from Pope Hormisdas asking them to assist his papal envoys in Constantinople and he styled them ampulitido vestra. This letter has survived and is preserved within the Collectio Avellana: epistulae imperatorum, pontificum, aliorum AD 367 – 553.

Palmer, Miss – (1839 – 1857)
Anglo-Indian victim of the Sepoy Rebellion
The daughter of Colonel Palmer of the 48th Northern Infantry, she was engaged to be married to a young officer. Miss Palmer, whose Christian name remains unrecorded, arrived in Lucknow by ship from England (Dec, 1856) and was amongst the group of civilians who became trapped in the siege of the British Residency at Lucknow several months afterwards. Disregardin advice to remove from the unsafe upper floor of the Residency, she was engaged in removing some of her possessions to safety when she was struck by a shot which almost completely severed one of her legs (July 1, 1857). Despite her pleas that she be left to die in peace, army surgeons amputated her leg, but she died within days, showing great personal fortitude and courage, her only concern being for her grieving father.

Palmer, Alice Elvira Freeman – (1855 – 1902)
American educator and poet
Alice Freeman was born in Colesville, New York, and became the wife of educator and author, George Herbert Palmer (1842 – 1933), head of the Philosophy department at Harvard University for forty years (1872 – 1913). Alicia Palmer served five years as the president of Wellesley College (1882 – 1887) and was the founder of the American Association of University Women. With her husband she wrote The Teacher: Essays and Addresses on Education, which were published posthumously (1908), as was her volume of poems A Marriage Cycle (1915). Alice Freeman Palmer died (Dec 6, 1902) aged forty-seven.

Palmer, Anna – (fl. 1393)
English mediaeval anchorite
Anna resided in religious seclusion in Northampton. When her orthodoxy was called into question and she was routinely questioned by the commissioners investigating the Lollard heresy, Anna denied any dealings with heresy though she referred to the Bishop of Lincoln as the ‘Anti-Christ.’ This caused her to be arrested and placed in prison prior to being sent to London for further examination. Her ultimate fate remains unrecorded.

Palmer, Anna Campbell – (1854 – 1928)
American author
Anna Campbell was born in Elmira, New York, and married George Archibald Palmer. She wrote several works, using the pseudonym Mrs George Archibald including Verses from Mother’s Corner (1889), Lady Gay (1898) and In the Blue Country (1910). Anna Campbell Palmer died (June 18, 1928) aged seventy-four.

Palmer, Lady Barbara    see   Villiers, Barbara

Palmer, Bertha Honore – (1849 – 1918)
American socialite and diplomatic figure
Bertha was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry Honore, and was educated by nuns in a convent in Georgetown. She became the wife (1871) of the diplomat Potter Palmer (1826 – 1902). Mrs Palmer was the international ambassador for the Women’s Columbian Exposition (1891) and was elected as president of the Board of Lady Managers and was the only female member of the National Commission for Paris Exposition (1900). Mrs Palmer was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the French government in recognition of her work. Mrs Palmer died (May, 1918) in Chicago, Illinois.

Palmer, Elizabeth Mary – (1832 – 1897)
New Zealand musician
Elizabeth Naylor was born in Bramford, Suffolk, England, the daughter of George Naylor, a vicar. She married a farmer, George Palmer (1853) and emigrated to Nelson, New Zealand with him and their daughter aboard the Cresswell (1856), another child being born during the voyage. Eleven more children would follow. Once her children were old enough, Palmer began teaching music from home (1871) and established a career as a performer and promoter of theatrical events in Nelson. She organized musical evenings and amateur dramatic entertainments, which proved extremely popular, and teamed up with the Swedish violinist, Andrew Norberg, to perform in concerts, in which several of her own daughters, all musically talented, also performed. After a brief residence in Wellington, Palmer removed to Wairapa, where she gave concerts in Masterton, taught music and gave vocal training at the Clareville School. She wrote the lyrics and music for the popular ballad, ‘Twas only a dream’ (1884). The family later returned to Wellington, where she appeared with the baritone, John Prouse. From 1890 she suffered increasing ill-health. Elizabeth Palmer died (May 31, 1897).

Palmer, Ethleen – (1906 – c1965)
Australian printmaker
Ethleen Palmer was born in South Africa and immigrated to Australia during her youth. She studied commercial art and design at the East Sydney Technical College in Sydney, New South Wales, and later began a career there as a teacher (1938). Palmer’s work was heavily influenced by her love of the Japanese style of colour printing, and she held many exhibitions of her work, some of them solo shows, over a fifteen year period (1935 – 1949). The Society of Arts and Crafts and the Society of Women Painters were amongst the organizations that sponsored exhibitions of her work.

Palmer, Frances Flora Bond (Fanny) – (1812 – 1876)
Anglo-American painter
Fanny Bond was born in England the daughter of Robert Bond, a wealthy attorney. Educated in London, she married (c1834) Edmund Srymour Palmer, an improvident rake for a good family. The family, including two siblings and a brother-in-law, immigrated to the Unites States in the mid 1840’s. Fanny Palmer created about two hundred documented lithographs for the Currier and Ives Company, and these proved very popular with the American public, she being able to express so clearly the spirit and drama of the world of the Western frontier. Her range of subject matter was particularly diverse, but Fanny was best remembered for her impressive atmospheric landscapes.

Palmer, Lilli – (1911 – 1986)
German actress
Born Lillie Marie Peiser at Posen in Germany, she was the daughter of a German surgeon and an Austrian actress. She performed on stage from her earliest childhood. She appeared in German films from 1932, and later moved to Great Britain, where she adopted the surname of Palmer, and appeared in films there until she went to America at the end of the war with her first husband Rex Harrison (1945). Her earliest film roles in England included Crime Unlimited (1934), A Girl Must Live (1938), Man  with 100 Faces (1938), Thunder Rock (1942), The Rake’s Progress (1945), The Long Dark Hall (1951), Moll Flanders (1965) and Oedipus the King (1967). In the US Palmer appeared in films such as Cloak and Dagger (1946), Body and Soul (1947), My Girl Tisa (1947) and No Minor Vices (1948).
Despite this she still appeared in films in Europe such as Is Anna Anderson Anastasia? (1952) and Adorable Julia (1963) in Germany, and in La Vie a’ Deux (1958) and Rendezvous at Midnight (1960) in France. She also appeared in the Swedish film The Dance of Death (1968). Palmer also worked in television and appeared in the series Lilli Palmer Theatre (1954) and Zoo Gang (1973). Lilli Palmer was married twice, firstly (1943 – 1957) to British actor Rex Harrison (1908 – 1990), and secondly (1957 – 1986) to the Argentinian actor Carlos Thompson (1916 – 1990). She wrote her autobiography entitled Change Lobsters and Dance (1975).

Palmer, Nettie – (1885 – 1964)
Australian poet, literary critic, and journalist
Born Janet Gertrude Higgins in Bendigo, Victoria, she was the daughter of an accountant and the niece of suffragist Ina Higgins. She graduated from the University of Melbourne (1912).
Nettie was married (1914) to socialist and fellow writer Vance Palmer (1885 – 1959), and the couple travelled extensively. Palmer attended the Writers’ Congress held in Paris (1935), and with her husband was in Spain during the outbreak of the civil war there (1936) where they provided assistance for refugees and migrants, she becoming a member of the International Refugee Emergency Committee.
Apart from penning several articles for publications such as the Illustrated Tasmanian Mail and the Brisbane Courier which did much to gain recognition abroad for Australian literature, Palmer wrote her famous Modern Australian Literature 1900 to 1923 (1924) and was the first critic to recognize the value of the novelist Henry Handel Richardson the author of The Getting of Wisdom (1910). Nettie Palmer also wrote a collection of short stories entitled An Australian Story Book (1928), and the biography Henry Bourne Higgins (1931) as well as joint editing The Centenary Gift Book (1934). Perhaps her most important work was her own memoirs entitled Fourteen Years: Extracts from a Private Journal 1925 – 1939 (1948). Nettie Palmer died (Oct 19, 1964) aged seventy-nine.

Palmer, Rosina Martha Hosanah – (1844 – 1932)
Australian soprano
Rosina Carandini di Sarzano was born (Aug 27, 1844) in Hobart, Tasmania, the daughter of Jerome Carandini, Marquis di Sarzano, and his wife Marie Burgess, a noted singer as Madame Carandini. She was taught the piano and received vocal training in Hobart before appearing as Adalgisa in Bellini’s opera Norma (1858). She toured India and parts of the USA as the ‘Carandini Family Troupe.’ Rosina was married (1860) in Hobart to Edward Hodson Palmer, an accountant, and resided in Melbourne, Victoria from 1866. She bore several children but still appeared in oratorio concerts and appeared with the Melbourne Philharmonic Society. She toured the US and New Zealand in 1872 and appeared in public concert at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne. She later became asinging teacher in Melbourne. Widowed in 1928 Rosina Palmer died (June 16, 1932) aged eighty-seven, in South Yarra.

Palmerston, Emily Mary Lamb, Lady – (1787 – 1869)
British society figure
Emily Lamb was the daughter of Peniston Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, and his wife Elizabeth Milbanke, and was married firstly (1805) to Peter Leopold Clavering-Cowper, fifth Earl Cowper.
Beautiful and engaging, opinions of her character were much divided, and gossip attached her name with Henry Temple, Viscount Palmerston (1784 – 1865) during the Regency period (1810 – 1820), and she was reputed to be his mistress before the death of her first husband (1837). Rumour also had it that Palmerston was the father of her younger children. She finally married Palmerston (1839), but opinion at the court of the youthful Queen Victoria, was much stunned by their marriage. Despite conflicting opinions, Lady Palmerston always enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most interesting and charming of Victorian great ladies. Lady Palmerston died (Sept 11, 1869) aged eighty-two, at Brocket Hall, Herefordshire, and was interred with Palmerston in Westminster Abbey, London.

Palou, Ines – (1923 – 1975)
Spanish crime novelist
Ines Palou was born in Agramunt into a wealthy family and received a good education. She was later accused of manipulating the account books for the company she worked for and spent some time in prison. Palou used the world of criminality for the background in her novels which described social conditions during the period of General Franco’s control of the government. Her published works included Carne apaleada (Beaten Flesh) (1975) which dealt with prison experiences of women, and Operacion dulce (Sweet Operation) (1975). Ines Palou committed suicide the year these works were published.

Pampanini, Rosetta – (1900 – 1973)
Italian soprano
Rosetta Pampanini was born in Milan, Lombardy, and made her stage debut in the role of Micaela in Rome (1920). Four years of study ensued before she appeared in the role of Mimi at Biella, where she attracted the attention of Toscanini, who caused Pampanini to take on what would become her most famous role, the title role of Madama Butterfly, which she performed for the first time at La Scala Opera House in Milan (1925). Pampanini performed the same role at Covent Garden (1928) and appeared in the role of Liu opposite Dame Eva Turner in Turandot in the same season. Other favoured roles included Manon Lescaut and Desdemona, and she appeared regularly at La Scala until 1937. She retired from the stage in 1942 and devoted her time to teaching singing at her school in Milan, one of her best known pupils being Amy Shuard. Rosetta Pampanini died (Aug 2, 1973) aged seventy-two, at Corbola.

Pamphila – (fl. c54 – c70 AD)
Graeco-Roman historian and writer
Pamphila was the daughter of the scholar Soteridas, a native of Egypt, probably of Alexandria. She married Socratides, another scholar, and retired to live in Epidaurus in Greece. Pamphila composed the, Hypomnemata Historika, thirty-three volumes of historical memoirs. Dionysius in his History of Learning mistakenly ascribes authorship to her father or husband. She was also the author of an epitome of the history of Ctesias in three volumes, and of two treatises On Disputation and On Sexual Desire. The Byzantine anthologist Photius in the Suda rather condescendingly thought her style simple, but Pamphila recorded her miscellaneous collection randomly, as she believed style would be more interesting to the reader, and her work was quoted respectfully by scholars long after her death.

Pan – (c410 – 453 AD)
Chinese concubine and Imperial consort
Pan served as consort of the fourth rank (shufei) to the Emperor Wendi (424 – 453 AD) of the Liu Song dynasty, and was said to have been his favourite. She was the mother of his son Liu Jun, Prince of Shixing (429 AD). Wen granted enormous privileges to Pan’s relatives, so much so that the Empress Yuan is said to have died of mortification (440 AD). Pan was then placed in charge of the imperial household but was never created empress. Despite this the emperor’s son Liu Shao despised her and her son because of the death of his mother the empress. In order to placate his half-brother Liu Jun pretended friendship with Liu Shao and they became involved in a conspiracy agains their father with a sorceress named Yan Daoyu. This led to the emperor’s assassination (453 AD) and his son Liu Shao became emperor. He caused Pan to be killed within the palace and blamed the crime on his soldiers. With the accession of Emperor Xiao Wudi (454 – 464 AD) she was awarded the posthumous honorary title of Furen and was interred with suitable honours.

Panacea – (c1367 – 1383)
Italian virgin saint
Panacea was the daughter of Lorenzo, a peasant of Agamio, near Novara. Cruelly treated by her stepmother, who forced her to tend the sheep and cattle, the girl took refuge in daily prayer. At the end of one of these prayer vigils, she stayed longer than normal and the animals returned to the farm on their own. Angered, her stepmother came upon her still at her prayers, and struck Panacea so violently with her distaff that she killed her. Panacea was interred at Agamio, and an oratory was founded on the place where she was murdered. She was regarded locally as a saint (May 1).

Panaeva, Avdotia Iakovlevna – (1819 – 1893)
Russian writer, memoirist, and literary salonniere
Avdotia Iakovlevna was born into a noted theatrical family and received little formal education. She was married to the noted author, Ivan Panaev (1812 – 1862) and was a close friend of the poet Nikolai Nekrasov (1821 – 1878).  Avdotia later became Nekrasov’s mistress, and received such famous literary figures as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Chernyshevsky at her salon in St Petersburg. When husband and lover took over the famous literary journal Sovremennik (The Contemporary) Avdotia contributed articles to the literary and fashion sections. Avdotia co-wrote two novels with Nekrasov Tri strany svetam (Three Parts of the World) (1848 – 1849) and Mertvoe ozero (The Dead Lake) (1851), using the pseudonym ‘N. Stanitsky.’ With Panaev’s death she remarried to Apollon Golovachev, and became the mother to the writer Evdokia Nagrodskaia (1866 – 1930). Her personal reminiscences entitled Vospominaniia (1890) were published in St Petersburg. Avdotia Panaeva died (March 30, 1893) in St Petersburg.

Panajiotatou, Angeliki – (1875 – 1954)  
Greek scientist and researcher
Angeliki Panajiotatou and her sister were the first women to be admitted as medical students at Athens University. She went abroad to study medicine in Germany for several years, but returned to her alma mater in Athens where she had been appointed a lecturer. However, such was the hostility that greeted a female lecturer she was forced to resign the post, despite her obvious and excellent qualaifications. Panajiotatou went to Egypt where she had been offerred a professorship at the Cairo University. She worked devotedly there for three decades as the director of the general hospital in Alexandria. A trained microbiologist with a particular interest in the eradication of epidemic disease, she experimented with strains of typhus and cholera. Angeliki Panajiotatou was later offerred a professorship at Athens University (1938), a belated recognition of her work from her fellow countrymen, and finally returned to Greece.

Panatieri, Maddalena – (c1461 – 1505)
Italian nun and saint
Maddalena Panatieri was born at Tridino in Montferrato, and was related to the important Fondazucchi family. She was well educated and attractive, and later became inspired by St Catherine of Siena, and was veiled as a Franciscan nun. Maddalena became famous for her extreme ascetism, mystical experiences, and visions. She was later canonized by (1827) by Pope Leo XII (1823 – 1829). Her feast (Oct 14) was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum.

Panbehzan, Esmat Bagherpar   see   Delkash

Pancera, Ellen – (1875 – 1932)
Austrian-Italian pianist and musician
Ellen Pancera was born (Aug 15, 1875) in Vienna of Italian parentage. She was placed under the tutelage of the pianist Julius Epstein and the organist Josef Vockner at the Vienna Conservatory, and studied under Stavenhagen at Weimar. She made her public debut at the age of thirteen (1888) and toured widely throughout Europe, being especially successful in England.
Ellen Pancera died (May 10, 1932) aged fifty-six, at Bad Ischl.

Pan Chao     see    Ban Zhao

Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi – (1900 – 1990)
Indian politician and diplomat
Born Swarup Kumari Nehru in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, she was the sister of Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru who served as Prime Minister (1947 – 1964) and was educated privately. She was married to Ranjit Pandit (1921) at which time she received her name Vijaya Lakshmi. A follower of Gandhi she was a member of the Non-co-operation Movement and suffered imprisonment (1931). Becoming involved in local government in Uttar Pradesh (1935), she was appointed as local government and health minister (1937 – 1939), but served three terms of imprisonment because of her membership with the Congress Party.
Vijaya Pandit was finally appointed to the government as the first ever female minister (1946). She served as leader of the Indian delegation to the United Nations (1946 – 1948) and (1952 – 1953), and then served as the first ever appointed president of the United Nations General Assembly (1953 – 1954). Pandit served as Indian ambassador to both the USSR (1947 – 1949) and the USA (1949 – 1951), and also to the Irish Republic (1955 – 1961). During the latter part of the political regime of her niece Indira Gandhi, Pandit left her lifelong affiliation with the Congress Party to join the Congress for Democracy Party (1977), which later evolved into the Janata Party, though she refused offers of political office. Vijaya Pandit was the author of The Evolution of India (1958) and left personal memoirs The Scope of Happiness (1979).

Pandonia – (c850 – c904)
Scottish recluse and saint
Pandonia was the daughter of a Scottish king, who travelled to England in order to evade the attentions of an unwanted suitor. Pandonia went to the priory of Ellesley, in Cambridgeshire, four miles from St Neots, where the prioress was a kinwoman. She remained there as a nun for the rest of her life, and was buried in Ellesley beside a well which was traditionally known as ‘St Pandonia’s.’ Her remains were later translated into Ellesley church by a parish priest (1344). The church venerated her as a saint (Aug 26).

Panigrahi, Sanjukta – (1932 – 1997) 
Indian classical dancer
Sanjukta was the wife of Ragunath Panigrahi. Her professional dancing career began in 1937, and she became famous for her presentation of the Orissi style of dance. The Asia Society later brought Sanjukta to New York for performances, and she made several successful tours. She was considered to be the foremost exponent of this style of dance. Sanjukta Panigrahi died (June 24, 1997) aged sixty-five, at Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. She was given a state funeral.

Panina, Agrafena Vasilievna Everlakova, Countess – (1688 – 1753)
Russian courtier
Agrafena Everlakova was the daughter of Vassily Everlakov, and became the wife of Count Ivan Panin (1673 – 1736). She was the maternal grand aunt of the famous Princess Dashkova, the friend of Catherine the Great. Countess Panina survived her husband nearly two decades, and left several important children, including,

• Countess Alexandra Ivanovna Panina (1711 – 1786). She was married to Prince Alexander Kurakin (1697 – 1749) by whom she left descendants.
• Countess Anna Ivanovna Panina (1717 – 1745). She was married to Ian Neplyuyev (1693 – 1773).
• Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718 – 1783). The famous statesman.
• Count Peter Ivanovich Panin (1721 – 1789). The famous general.

Panina, Countess Sophia Vladimirovna – (1871 – 1957)
Russian politician
Countess Sophia Panina was the last direct descendant of General Count Peter Ivanovich Panin (1721 – 1789). Sophia was attracted to political life and thought from an early age, and became a member of the Cadet Party. She had the distinction of being one of the few Russian women to be actively involved in politics, and was the wife of Major General Peter Alexandrovitch Polovtsev, who was attached to the ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Provisional government. Sophia Panina was appointed Deputy Minister of Social Security under the Provisonal government (Aug, 1917), becoming the first woman in Europe ever to be appointed a minister. However, three months later she was arrested on Lenin’s orders with other Cadet leaders (Nov, 1917). Initially imprisoned in the Fortress of Peter and Paul, the countess was eventually released and immigrated abroad after the Bolshevik takeover, settling in Paris. Sophia Vladimirovna Panina died in the USA as a refugee.

Pankaspe – (fl. c330 – c323 BC)
Greek concubine
Pankaspe was the mistress of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. Pliny the elder in his Historia Naturalis (Natural History) states that she was said to have been the original model for Apelles’ work Aphrodite Anadyomene (Rising from the Sea).

Pankhurst, Adela Constantia Mary – (1885 – 1961)
British suffagette, pacifist, feminist, and international political figure
Adela Pankhurst was born at Chorlton upon Medlock in Manchester, Lancashire (June 19, 1885), the youngest daughter of Richard Marsden Pankhurst and his wife Emmeline Goulden, and the younger sister to Dame Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst. She was educated in Manchester and trained as a teacher. After a rift with her mother Adela emigrated to Australia where she joined the Women’s Peace Army founded by the noted feminist Vida Goldstein in Melbourne, Victoria (1914), where she helped to organize opposition to WW I, and published the pacifist work Put up the Sword (1915). Pankhurst joined the Victoria Socialist Party (1917), and suffered periods of imprisonment for repeatedly ignoring the ban on public meetings and speaking against conscription. She then married the trade unionist, Tom Walsh (1871 – 1943) as his second wife. With her husband she co-founded the Australian Communist Party, but the couple soon resigned from this association, and Adela became one of the founding members of the Australian Women’s Guild of Empire (1928), editing their newspaper, the Empire Gazette (1929 – 1939). Interned for subversive activities after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour (1942) because she had advocated a political alliance with that country, after her husband’s death, Adela was employed as nurse for retarded childen. Adela Pankhurst died (May 23, 1961) aged seventy-five, at Wahroonga in Sydney, New South Wales.

Pankhurst, Dame Christabel Harriette – (1880 – 1958)
British militant suffragette and co-founder of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)
Christabel Pankhurst was born in Manchester, Lancashire, the eldest daughter of Richard Marsden Pankhurst, and his wife Emmeline Goulden, and elder sister to Sylvia and Adela Pankhurst. Christabel was educated at home in Manchester, and abroad in Switzerland. With her mother she formed the WSPU with the slogan ‘Votes for Women’ and received enormous media coverage, when she was arrested with Annie Kenney at a Liberal election meeting in Manchester (1905). Christabel later moved to London (1907) where she became famous for her public speaking. She fled to Paris to escape a conspiracy charge (1912) and was narrowly defeated when she stood for the political seat of Smethwick (1918). Christabel was later closely involved with Christian evangelism, and wrote several religious tracts. She was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) (1936) by King George V and from 1940 she resided in the USA. Dame Christabel Pankhurst was the author of memoirs entitled Unshackled: the Story of how we won the Vote (1959) which was published posthumously.

Pankhurst, Emmeline – (1858 – 1928)
British militant suffragette
Born Emmeline Goulden in Manchester, Lancashire, she was the daughter of a calico printer, and was educated at home in Manchester, and abroad in Paris. She was married (1879) to the radical leader and barrister, Richard Marsden Pankhurst (1839 – 1898). The couple had three daughters, all famous in the suffrage movement, Dame Christabel, Sylvia, and Adela Pankhurst.
During her married life, Emmeline supported her husband in various radical causes, and founded the Women’s Franchise League (1889), but with his death, she began to concentrate more exclusively upon the political enfranchisement of women and the suffrage movement in particular.
With her daughter Christabel she founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (1903), and, with the full assistance of her daughters, Pankhurst resorted to dangerous and dramatic methods to gain media attention and focus public interest on the subject. The assault of police, chaining themselves to lamposts and gates, slashing works of art, and hunger strikes in prison, were all part of their determined campaign to win the vote. These measures alientated some moderate supporters, but the World War I (1914 – 1918) which proved the mettle of women in general, was the the final breaker of entrenched opposition. Due to her efforts women over the age of thirty were granted the vote (1918) and a decade later they were granted equality of franchise with men (1928). Pankhurst later became a member of the Conservative Party, and adopted several orphans. She visited Canada where she lectured on social matters and child welfare. She returned to England in 1926 and joined the Conservative Party. Mrs Pankhurst wrote her autobiography My Own Story (1914). Emmeline Pankhurst died (June 14, 1928).

Pankhurst, Sylvia – (1882 – 1960)
British suffragette and author
Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was born in Manchester, Lancashire, the daughter of Richard Marsden Pankhurst, the radical reformer, and his wife Emmeline Goulden, the militant suffrage leader. She was sister to Adela and Christabel Pankhurst. She was educated at the Manchester Municipal School of Art and the Royal College of art in London, and then joined the militant Women’s Social and Political Union founded by her mother (1903), supporting her with her radical public campaign, suffering imprisonment and participating in hunger strikes.
After World War I, which she vehemently opposed, and which led to a rift with her mother, Sylvia Pankhurst became more and more drawn to the cause of socialism, and founded the pacifist journal Worker’s Dreadnought (1914 – 1924), being fined for spreading anti-war propaganda. She then visited Soviet Russia after stowing away on a Finnish ship and was introduced to Lenin, after which she published Soviet Russia as I saw it (1921). Sylvia Pankhurst later became particularly identified with the cause of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) after it was invaded by the Italians. She resided there in Addis Ababa during the last years of her life. She wrote her mother’s biography The Life of Emmeline Pankhurst (1935) and was the author of The Suffragette Movement (1931) and Ethiopia: A Cultural History (1955).

Panmure, Mary Erskine, Countess of – (c1595 – after 1667)
Scottish peeress and letter writer
Lady Mary Stuart was the daughter of John Erskine, nineteenth Earl of Mar and his wife Lady Mary Stuart, the daughter of Esme Stuart, first Duke of Lennox. Lady Mary was married firstly (1609) to William Keith (c1585 – 1635), the fifth Earl Marischal, to whom she bore eleven children including William Keith (1614 – 1671) who succeeded his father as sixth Earl Marischal and later served as Lord Privy Seal to King Charles II, his brother George Keith (died 1694), the seventh Earl Marischal (1671 – 1694), and Sir John Keith (died 1714) who was created the first Earl of Kintore (1677 – 1714) and left descendants. Her daughter Lady Jean Stuart became the wife of Alexander, the first Lord Pitsligo.
The countess later attempted to deflect some of the glory from Ogilvy of Barres to herself, after his gallant defense of Dunottar Castle and the affair does not portray the countess in an ideal light. Even her son Lord William referred to it as ‘one ogly and onhandsome carried business.’ Lord Marischal died (Oct 28, 1635) at Dunottar Castle, and was interred within the Church of St Brides at Dunottar. As the Dowager Countess Marischal she was remarried (1639) to Patrick Maule, first Earl of Panmure, as his third wife. She survived her last husband as the Dowager Countess of Panmure (1661) and was living (Jan 25, 1667). Many of her letters have survived.

Pannell, Nita Veronica – (1904 – 1994)
Australian stage and theatre actress
Born Nita Hanrahan (July 1, 1904) at Wellington Mill in Western Australia, she was educated in Perth and originally trained as a school teacher. After her marriage Pannell established the professional theatre troupe, the Company of Four. She made several notable stage appearances most notably in, The Shifting Heart (1955), written by Richard Beynon and in The One Day of the Year (1961) by Alan Seymour. Nita Pannell also appeared in several works by Patrick White (1912 – 1990) and appeared as Emma in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1988) by Ray Lawler.

Pannett, Juliet Kathleen – (1911 – 2005)
British painter
Juliet Somers was born at Hove, the daughter of Charles Somers, and was educated in Brighton and later attended the Brighton College of Art. She was married (1938) to Major M.R. Pannett, of the Devonshire Regiment. Pannett was especially admired for her accurate drawings and portraits of prominent public figures, including nine prime ministers and several members of the royal family. Her work was often exhibited and featured in magazines and newspapers. She served as freelance artist to several London newspapers such as The Times and the Daily Telegraph, and was special artist to the Illustrated London News (1958- 1965). As well as various exhibitions throughout Britain, notably sponsored by the Royal Academy and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, her work has featured in exhibitions overseas in the USA and Hong Kong. Examples of her work are preserved in the National Portrait Gallery, Cambridge and Oxford Colleges and the Bodleian Library. Juliet Pannett died (Aug 22, 2005).

Panova, Vera Feodorovna – (1905 – 1973)
Russian dramatist, writer, and memoirist
Vera Panova was born (March 20, 1905) at Rostov, on the Don River, and began writing at an early age and having work published in newspapers and periodicals. She was married and later moved to Leoningrad (1935). Her first published play Il’ia Kosogor (1939), was followed by the factory novel Kruzhilikha (1947), and her later work, the popular short story Evdokiia (1959). Compelled by the government to produce a brochure concerning the military hospital train provided by the state, she was inspired to write her first full-length novel, The Train (1946) for which she received the Stalin Prize. Her second was for Kruzhilikha, and her third was for the novel The Bright Shore (1949). Her work The Seasons (1953) celebrated the gradual release for contemporary Russian literature from the control imposed by Stalinism. Panova was author of the play It’s Been Ages (1966). Vera Panova died (March 3, 1973) aged sixty-seven, in Leningrad.

Pansophia – (fl. c393 – 406 AD)
Roman Christian matron
Pansophia was the wife of the Christian patrician Decens. The Christian writer Paulinus of Milan recorded the couple residing in Firenze (Florence) during the reign of the usurper emperor Eugenius (393 – 394 AD), during which period her son Pansophius was miraculously cured by St Ambrose of Milan. Pansophia was still resident in Firenze over a decade later when she was the source for Paulinus’ description of the events surrounding the celebrated miracle which occurred there during the siege by the Gothic invader Radagaisus.

Panter-Downes, Mollie – (1906 – 1997)
British newspaper correspondent and novelist
Mollie was born (Aug 25, 1906) in London, the daughter of an Irish army officer, and was raised in Essex. She wrote her novel The Shoreless Sea at the aged of sixteen (1923). Panter-Downes married and had several children, residing with her family on a property south of London. Mollie made weekly London visits, and was famous for her letters penned at the beginning of World War II, her Letters from England (1940) which stories were published in The New Yorker, to keep American readers updated with the effects the war was having on ordinary British people. She kept up thecolumn Letters from London for forty-five years (1939 – 1984), but did not completely retire from The New Yorker for another two years (1986). Her other works included the novel One Fine Day (1947), Ooty Preserved: A Victorian Hill Station in India (1967) and At the Pines (1971). Mollie Panter-Downes died (Jan 22, 1997) aged ninety, in Surrey.

Panthea – (c590 – cc550 BC)
Persian queen
Panthea was the wife of Abradatas, king of Susa. The details known of her life are recorded by the Greek writer Xenophon in his Cyropedia. Abradatas was an ally in the campaign of the Assyrians against Cyrus the Great. With Cyrus’ victory over the Assyrians, Panthea was captured, but the king treated her honourably, and, because of this, Abradatas joined forces with Cyprus. Later on her husband was killed in battle waged against the Egyptians, and Queen Panthea was stricken with grief. Remaining inconsolable, she committed suicide and Cyrus had a burial mound raised over them. This story is considered to be the first contemporary historical example of a sentimental romance.

Panthia – (fl. c50 – c100 AD)
Graeco-Roman physician
Panthia was from Pergamum in Asia Minor, and was the wife of Glycon, also a practising physician. Panthia is attested by a surviving inscription dedicated to her memory by her husband, which revealed that she was of free born status.

Panton, Alice – (c1881 – 1960)  
Australian painter
Her work is preserved in the National Gallery of Victoria. Alice Panton served as the first president of the Victorian Artist’s Society. Her private papers and correspondence were preserved with the Panton family papers at the La Trobe Library, within the Victorian State Library.

Pantulf, Amicia – (c1125 – after 1192)
Anglo-Norman courtier
Amicia Pantulf was of the noble Leicestershire family of Pantulf and became lady-in-waiting to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of Henry II (1154 – 1189). Amicia accompanied her mistress during her various travels, and later attended her during her period of imprisonment in Salisbury Tower, Wiltshire (1173 – 1189). With the release of Queen Eleanor, Amicia made a grant of land to the convent of Amesbury in Wiltshire and retired there to become a nun.

Pantulf, Iseult – (c1180 – after 1267)
Anglo-Norman heiress
Iseult Pantulf was the daughter of William Pantulf, of Breedon, Leicestershire, and his Joan, the daughter of Piers de Coldington. With the death of her father (1194), quickly followed by that of her only brother, Iseult became the sole heiress of her father, and inherited the estate of Breedon. Iseult was married to five successive husbands, William de Munpincum, Walter de Tateshall, who held Breedon in her right, and  through whom she was ancestress of the barons Tateshall, Henry Biset, Walter de Baskerville, and Sir Amaury de St Amand. Her son and heir Robert de Tateshall undertook the payment of Iseult’s debts, but as late as 1267 she was till vigorously prosecuting her rights of dower, and prosecuted her own grandson, Robert, in order to obtain legal redress.

Paoli, Betty – (1814 – 1894)
Austrian poet, novelist, essayist, translator and epic writer
Born Babette (Barbara) Elisabeth Gluck (Dec 30, 1815) in Vienna, she was the illegitimate daughter of a Hungarian nobleman. She worked as a governess to a Russian family (1833 – 1835) and was then the lady companion to the Princess von Schwarzenberg (1843 – 1848). Madamoiselle Gluck became part of the literary society established in Vienna where she adopted the name of ‘Betty Paoli.’ Her written work was influenced by that of Lord Byron and she was a friend to the Baroness von Ebner-Eschenbach. Her works included Gedichte (Poems) (1841), Lyrisches und Episches (Lyric and Epic Pieces) (1856) and Neueste Gedichte (Very New Poems) (1869). Paoli was also the author of Wiens Gemaldegalerian in ihrer Kunsthistorischen Bedeutung (Vienna’s Art Galeries and their Importance for Art History) (1865). Betty Paoli died aged seventy-nine.

Papa, Katina – (1903 – 1959) 
Greek poet and writer
Katina Papa was born at Giannitsates, Epeiros, and studied literature at the University of Athens. She taught secondary education in Corfu and Athens, and her first work Ste sykamia apokoto (Under the Mulberry Tree) (1935) a collection of stories concerning youthful female innocence, received the Athens Academy Award. Her work has been translated into German, Dutch and Romanian. Her last collection S’ena gymnasio theleon (At a Girl’s High School) was partly inspired by her own experiences in her teaching career. This work and her Poiemata (Poems) were published posthumously (1963).

Papadat-Bengescu, Hortensia – (1876 – 1955)
Romanian writer
Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu was born at Ivesti. She became particularly known for her in depth concentration upon the minutiae of urban life. Her sharp portrayals of mental aberrations evident within vulgar society are considered usually powerful. Her best known work was probably Drumul ascuns (Hidden Road) (1933). Other works included Ape adinci (Deep Water) (1919), Sfinxul (The Sphinx) (1920), Balaurul (The Dragon) (1923), Desenuri tragice (Tragic Drawings) (1927), Logodnicul (The Fiance) (1935) and Radacini (Roots) (1938). Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu died in Bucharest.

Paparigopoulos, Hypatia – (1876 – 1939)
Greek-Anglo courtier
Hypatia Calvocaressi was born (Sept 15, 1876) in England, the daughter of John Matthew Calvocoressi (1846 – 1919) of London, whose ancestors hailed from the ancient Greek island of Kos. Her mother was Arghyro Sechiari, the daughter of Pandia Sechiari and his wife Hypatia Schilizzi. Her brother Matthew John Calvocoressi (1873 – 1939) served with the family business, the banking firm of Ralli Brothers in Calcutta, India.
Hypatia was married (1903) to the Greek admiral Stephen Paparigopoulos (died 1940) of the Royal Hellenic Navy who served as ADC (aide-de-camp) to King Giorgis I of Greece (1863 – 1913), and bore him three daughters. Madame Paparigopoulos was a prominent figure at the court of Queen Olga, the wife of Giorgis I and attended the court of her daughter-in-law Sophia of Prussia, the wife of Konstantinos I. Madame Paparigopoulos died (June 18, 1939) aged sixty-two.

Papazurri, Mabilia – (fl. 1440 – 1454)
Italian nun
Mabilia Papazurri was the wife of Giovanni Battista Ponziani (1400 – 1444), and the daughter-in-law of St Francesca Ponziani. Though she was initially at odds with her mother-in-law over her household management, when Giovanni died, Mabilia joined her mother-in-law’s Benedictine order, the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi in Rome, and assisted in the canonization process of the older woman (1453). Mabilia had become the spiritual head of this congregation by 1454.

Pape, Helen Lilian     see    Harvey, Lilian

Papia of Bayeux (Papie, Poppa) – (c885 – after 920)
Norman heiress
Papia was the daughter and heiress of Berenger of Bayeux, Count of Senlis, himself a descendant of the emperor Charlemagne, through his grandson King Bernard of Italy. Her mother was a member of the family of the counts of Rennes in Brittany. When the Viking leader Rollo and his followers besieged the city of Evreux, which was forced to capitulate to him, Count Berengar was slain (892). King Eudes of France then gave Papia to Rollo as his concubine, together with much booty taken from Senlis. Rollo then took over the rule of the territories of Rouen and Evreux, together with lands around the Bessin, near Bayeux, which would have originally constituted Papia’s inheritance. Despite the fact that Papia was a Christian, her union with Rollo was a ‘Danish marriage’ (more danico), and was unsanctified by the church. Thus her children by Rollo were technically illegitimate. When Rollo made a political marriage with the Frankish princess Gisela (912) his relationship with Papia continued and she remained his concubine. She was later married off to an important vassal. Through her younger daughter Papia was the ancestress of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 – 1204), queen of France and then England. Her children by Rollo were,

• Gerletta of Normandy (died after 933). She became the wife of William III (c895 – 926), Count of Auvergne, and left descendants.
• William I (c910 – 942). He succeeded his father (927) as Duke of Normandy, when Rollo abdicated and became a monk. He was married and left descendants.
• Robert of Normandy (died after 932). He became Count of Corbeuil.
• Gerloc of Normandy (917 – after 970). She became the wife of William III of Poitiers, Duke of Aquitaine (915 – 963) and took the name of Adela, by which she is known to history.

Papia of Envermeu (Papie) – (c1003 – c1048)
Duchess consort of Normandy (c1019 – 1026)
Papia of Envermeu was a rich heiress from north-eastern Normandy. She became the second wife (c1019) of Richard II (c974 – 1026), Duke of Normandy (996 – 1026). Papia and her mother held estates at Envermeu, and her brothers later granted their own estates of Monterolier, Carouit and the Church of Gonneville, to the Abbey of St Wandrille (Wandregiselus), when they entered that establishment as monks about the time of their sister’s marriage. Thus Papia brought the remainder of the family’s estates situated from Envermeu, near the coast, to Les Andelys on the Seine River to the ducal family.
Her two sons by Richard became the heirs of their mother’s family. Papia survived her husband for over two decades as Dowager Duchess (1026 – c1048). With her death her two sons granted the estate of Perniers-sur-Andelle to the abbey of St Ouen, Rouen, in memory of their mother. The suggestion that Papia had been involved in an earlier liasion with Duke Richard prior to their marriage would appear to be a confusion with Papia, the wife of Duke Rollo, in the preceeding century. Duchess Papia’s sons later rebelled against the ducal house. Her children were,

• William of Normandy (c1021 – after 1053), Count of Arques. He was married and left issue.
• Mauger of Normandy (c1023 – 1055). He took holy orders and was created Archbishop of Rouen (1037). His illegitimate son Michael (c1045 – after 1100) later served Henry I of England (1100 – 1135).

Papianilla – (c485 AD – c520)
Roman patrician
Papianilla was probably a connection of the emperor Eparchius Avitus (455 – 456 AD), and thus a relative of Avita Papianilla, the wife of Sidonius Apollinarius. She became the wife of Parthenius (c470 AD – 548) who held several high ranking military positions. Ruricius, Bishop of Limoges wrote a letter jointly to Papianilla and Parthenius recorded in his Epistulae, which reveals their marriage took place prior to 507. She bore her husband at least one child, unnamed in the sources. However, her husband later caused Papianilla to be put to death on the grounds of suspicion of adultery with his friend Ausonius. Her death was recorded by Gregory of Tours in his Historia Francorum.

Papianilla, Avita – (c433 – after 474 AD)
Roman Imperial princess
Avita Papianilla was the daughter of the Emperor Eparchius Avitus (455 – 456 AD). She was married (c453 AD) to Sidonius Apollinaris (430 – 488 AD), the famous Roman rhetorician, whom her father raised to the rank of senator when he became emperor. Her husband recorded in his Epistulae that Papianilla brought him a large estate in the Auvergne, in Gaul as her dowry. Gregory of Tours recorded in his Historia Francorum that when Sidonius secretly gave away the family silver to support the poor, Papianilla bought it all back. Her husband was elected as Bishop of Clermont (472 AD) married bishops being the norm at this time. She was living two years later. Papianilla left three daughters and an only son, Apollinaris (c455 AD – 515), who obtained political preferment under the Visigothic king Alaric II. He married and left issue but died four months after his appointment as Bishop of Clermont.

Papie   see   Papia

Papier, Rosa – (1858 – 1932)
Austrian mezzo-soprano
Papier was born (Sept 18, 1858) at Baden and studied under Mathilde Marchesi. She was a member of the Imperial Opera in Vienna and became the wife (1881) of the noted pianist, conductor, and composer, Dr Hans Paumgartner (1844 – 1893), whom she survived four decades. Rosa was particularly admired for her Wagnerian roles. Rosa Papier died (Feb 9, 1932) aged seventy-three, in Vienna.

Papin, Christine – (1905 – 1937)
French murderess
Christine Papin was born (March 8, 1905) and with her younger sister Leah (1911 – 2001) was employed in Paris as domestic servants to the Lancelin family. They were tried and found guilty of the vicious and brutal murder of their mistress, Madame Lancelin, and her daughter Genevieve (1933). They made no attempt to escape and were found huddled naked togther in bed. Christine held a strong pathological hold over her younger sister. The case received sensational media attention and Christine was originally sentenced to death. This was commuted to life imprisonment and she was confined in a mental asylum at Rennes in Brittany, where she died.
Her sister Leah was later released (1941) and retired to live in obscurity for the remainder of her long life. The crimes of Christine and her sister became the subject of many written work and several films such as Sister My Sister diected by Nancy Meckler, La Ceremonie directed by Claude Chabrol, and Les Blessures Assassines which was directed by Jean Pierre Denis. They were also the subject of the documentary En Quete des Soeurs Papin (In Search of the Papain Sisters) by Claude Ventura (2000).

Papiria – (c210 – 160 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Papiria was the daughter of C. Papirius Carbo, consul (231 BC), and became the first wife of Lucius Aemilius Paullus the younger, consul (182) and (168 BC). Papiria was the mother of two daughter and two sons, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, consul (147 BC), who was adopted by P. Scipio, and Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, consul (145 BC), adopted by Quintus Fabius Maximus, praetor 181 BC. Though beautiful and untouched by scandal, her husband divorced her and she was forced for many years to survive on a scant allowance.
With the death of her sister-in-law Aemilia, the widow of Scipio Africanus, her son inherited her wealth. Scipio immediately handed over to Papiria all the former possessions of Aemilia, and she took a prominent place during the ceremonial processions attended by the women of Rome. With her death Scipio divided the wealth between his two sisters, Aemilia Paulla, the wife of Quintus Aelius Tubero, and Aemilia Tertia, the wife of Marcus Cato.

Pappenheim, Bertha – (1859 – 1936)
German social reformer and women’s suffrage campaigner
Pappenheim was born (Feb 27, 1859) in Vienna. She published the volume of novellas In der Trodlerbude (1899) under the pseudonym ‘Paul Berthold.’ She also wrote the play Frauenrechte (1899). Bertha Pappenheim died (May 28, 1936) aged eighty-seven, at Isenburg.

Pappenheim, Eugenie – (1849 – 1925)
Austrian popular vocalist and singing teacher
Pappenheim was born in Vienna. She performed the role of Senta at the premiere of Strauss’ Die fliegende Hollander at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, USA (1876). Eugenie later sang at the Berlin Court Opera and at La Scala in Milan. From 1923 she taught singing in Los Angeles, California. Eugenie Pappenheim died (June, 1924) in Los Angeles.

Pappritz, Anna – (1861 – 1939)
German women’s suffrage campaigner and author
Pappritz was born (May 9, 1851) at Radach, Brandenburg, the daughter of a landowner. She remained unmarried. Anna served as secretary of the German Women’s Association (1907 – 1914) and worked with Frieda Duensing. Anna Pappritz died (July 8, 1939) aged seventy-eight, at Radach.

Parabere, Marie Madeleine de la Vieuville, Comtesse de – (1693 – 1750)
French courtier
Madame de Parabere was the mistress of Philippe II, Duc d’Orleans, Regent of France for Louis XV (1715 – 1723), and was the granddaughter of her lover’s former governor. Marie Madeline de la Vieuville was married to Cesar Alexandre de Beaudean (1671 – 1716), Comte de Parabere. A kindly and charming woman, of pleasant disposition, her position with the regent lasted five years, and she received modest gifts of jewels, but she indulged herself in other amours. The Duc d’ Orleans is said to have ended their affair after whispering in her ear ‘ What a beautiful head, I could have it cut off whenever I wished.’

Paradis, Maria Theresia von – (1759 – 1824)
Austrian composer, pianist, organist, and vocalist
Maria Theresia von Paradis was born (May 15, 1759) in Vienna, the daughter of an Imperial court official. She became blind during her early youth. She received musical training from the Italian composer and organist Antonio Salieri (1750 – 1825), whose brother Francesco was a rival of Ludwig Amadeus Mozart. Maria Theresia became a popular concert pianist, and made a successful tour of France (1783 – 1784) and performed in London. A specially designed hand-printing nachine enabled her to write and she composed such works as Der Schulkandidat (1792) and a cantata in honour of the executed Louis XVI (1793) as well as songs and piano sonatas. She later worked as a teacher in Vienna and founded an institute to teach music. Maria Theresia von Paradis died (Feb 1, 1824) aged sixty-four, in Vienna.

Paramesvari Tribhuvana – (fl. c1300 – 1319)
Indonesian queen
Paramesvari Tribhuvana was the daughter of Kritanagara, King of Majapahit. She became the wife of her cousin, Kritarajasa Jayavardhana, King of Java (ruled 293 – 1309), the marriage being an important dynastic move. Paramesvari was the mother of King Jayanagara (ruled 1309 – 1328).

Parantsem      see    Pharandzem

Parasceva – (c1120 – 1175)
Serbian virgin saint
Parasceva was a native of Epivatum, near Kallicratia, in Serbia. She was the sister of Euthimius, Bishop of Madytum. Refusing to marry because of her religious vocation, Parasceva became famous as an ascetic, and eventually made a pilgrimage to Constantinople, to visit the holy places there. Upon her return she died, and was interred at Tarnof in Bulgaria, and she was venerated as a saint (Oct 14). Her remains were removed to Wallachia during the later Turkish incursions. Tsemblak, Metropolitan of Kiev wrote her life in the fifteenth century.

Parasceva Rognvaldovna – (c1180 – 1239)
Russian nun and saint
Princess Parasceva was the daughter of Rognvald, Prince of Polotsk. She never married and became a nun, being appointed as abbess of the monastery of the Transfigured Saviour near Polotsk, which had been founded by her kinswoman, St Euphrosyne of Polotsk. Parasceva was later canonized by Pope Gregory X (1273).

Paraske, Larin – (1833 – 1904)
Finnish poet and composer of rune songs
Larin Paraske was born at Lempaala, the daughter of serf from the Karelian region near the Finnish-Russian border. Her parents died during her youth and she was married (1853) to Kaurila Tappananpoika, a poor famer, to whom she bore nine children, of whom only three survived. Her surname of Paraske was taken from her husband’s farm. Paraske was herself illiterate, and she took a variety of jobs to supplement the family income as her husband suffered constant ill-health. With his death (1888) her talent as a rune singer was discovered by a local clergyman, Adolf Neovius, who paid her money in order to write down the songs she had committed to memory. This collection of some fifteen hundred songs survives as the most voluminous compilations of folksongs known from Scandinavia. Neovius later took her to Helsinki, where her portrait was painted by Albert Edelfelt and Aksel Jarnefelt, and she was later introduced to the famous musician and composer Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957). Larin Paraske died at Metsapirtti aged seventy.

Paraskeva – (c270 – c304 AD)
Greek Christian martyr
Paraskeva was born at Iconia, in Asia Minor. She refused to abjure her faith during the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian, and insisted on arguing before her judges that the spiritual existence would always be more important than the temporal one. She was condemned and executed. Because of her association with the traditional medieval market day on Fridays (her name means Friday in Greek and Russian), Paraskeva was regarded as the patron saint of working women and trade.

Pardo Bazan, Condesa de      see     Bazan, Emilia Pardo, Condesa de

Pardoe, Julia – (1806 – 1862)
British author, traveller and historical writer
Julia Pardoe was born at Beverley in Yorkshire, the daughter of an army officer. A volume of her poems, published when she was only fourteen, went into a second edition. Julia resided in Portugal for several years, and then travelled to Constantinople with her father. This resulted in her writing The City of the Sultan and Domestic Manners of the Turks (1837). Julia Pardoe wrote several novels as well as several works on French history such as Louis XIV and the Court of France in the Seventeenth Century (1847), The Court and Reign of Francis the First, King of France (1849) and The Life and Memoirs of Marie de Medicis, Queen and Regent of France (1852).

Paredes y Flores, Marianna – (1618 – 1645)
Ecuadorean saint
Marianna Paredes was born at Quito, and practised extreme religious ascetism from an early age. When it was decided to sent her to the convent of St Catherine of Siena to be educated, she claimed to have experienced a vision which insisted that she remain at home, where she continued to practice her austerities. During 1645 the city was besieged by terrible epidemics and earthquakes, and Marianna offered herself as a sacrificial victim to save the city. She died aged only twenty seven (May 26, 1645), and with that the earthquakes ceased and the epidemic began to decrease almost immediately. Miracles were reported at her tomb, and Mariana was beatified by Pope Pius IX (1850).

Parent, Charlotte Francoise Hortense – (1837 – 1929)
French pianist
Parent was born in London, England, and received vocal training under Madame Farrenc at the Paris Conservatoire. She founded the music institution the ‘Ecole preparatoire au prefoessorat’ in Paris. She wrote a method for pianoforte. Charlotte Parent died (Jan 12, 1929) in Paris.

Parente, Victoria Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck, Princess di – (1918 – 1955)
Anglo-Italian aristocrat and society figure
Lady Victoria Cavendish-Bentinck was born (Oct 9, 1918), the younger daughter of William Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck (1893 – 1977), the seventh Duke of Portland, and his wife Ivy Gordon-Lennox, the daughter of Colonel Lord Algernon Charles Gordon-Lennox (1847 – 1921). Lady Victoria was granted by royal warrant the precedence of the daughter of a duke (1937) and then served as a trainbearer to Queen Elizabeth, the wife of George VI, at their coronation soon afterwards. She was later married (1950) to the Italian peer, Prince Gaetano di Parente, to whom she bore children. The Princess di Parente died (Aug 29, 1955) aged thirty-six. Her son William Henry Marcello Parente (born 1951) of Welbeck Abbey was later appointed as the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire (2003).

Parenti, Rose – (1911 – 1996)
American actress and pianist
Parenti was born in Missouri (Jan 19, 1911). Her film appearances were few though she made an appearance in an episode of the popular Jack Benny Program (1959). Parenti made no more appearances until old age when she appeared in the film Wicked Stepmother (1989) and then as Sister Alma, the pianist nun in Sister Act (1992) with Whoopi Goldberg and Dame Maggie Smith and again in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). Rose Parenti died (Sept 17, 1996) aged eighty-five, in California.

Parepa-Rosa, Euphrosyne – (1836 – 1874)
French soprano
Euphrosyne was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of operatic singer Elizabeth Seguin, and maternal niece of the musician Albert Edward Seguin. Born nee Parepa-Boyescu, after her marriage with the violinist Carl Rosa (1842 – 1889), she adopted the surname name Parepa-Rosa. Euphrosyne received vocal instruction from her mother, and made her stage debut in Malta (1852). She toured widely in Europe and the United States, gaining a prominent reputation in opera and oratorio with her strong and sympathetic voice. With her husband she organized an English opera company, and the couple toured frequently. Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa died (Jan 21, 1874) in London.

Pargeter, Edith – (1913 – 1995)   
British mystery novelist and historical fiction writer
Edith Pargeter was born at Horsehay in Shropshire. During WW II she volunteered to help with the war effort and became a member of the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service) and received the British Empire Medal (B.E.M.) for distinguished service (1944). Edith never married, and originally worked as a chemist shop assistant. She wrote over ninety novels, including twenty concerning the adventures of a medieval twelfth century Benedictine monk named Brother Cadfael, a herbalist at the abbey of Shrewsbury, with a penchant for crime-solving. She published the novel A Morbid Taste for Bones: A Mediaeval Whodunnit (1977) under the pseudonym of ‘Ellis Peters.’ The series was later dramatized for television (1995). She also invented the character of Inspector Felse, who first appeared in Fallen into the Pit (1951). Her works included The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1988), The Confession of Brother Haluin (1989) and The Potter’s Field (1990). Pargeter was awarded the Diamond Dagger Award by the Crime Writers’ Association (1993). Edith Pargeter died at Madeley, in Shropshire.

Pari Khanum I – (c1508 – c1551)
Safavid queen
Pari Khanum I was the daughter of Shah Ismail I. She was married firstly to Sultan Kalil, ruler of Shirvan (1524 – 1535). Her second marriage was (1539) to Darvish Muhammad Khan (died 1551), the ruler of Shakki.

Pari Khanum II – (c1540 – 1578)
Safavid queen and ruler
Pari Khanum II was the daughter of Shah Tahmasp I (1513 – 1576), and granddaughter of Shah Ismail I. Her mother was the sister of Shamkyl, one of her father’s concubines. The princess, who remained unmarried, was sole ruler of the Safavid kingdom for several months (Nov, 1577 – Feb, 1578). Pari Khanum II was assassinated (Feb 17, 1578) and buried at Qazvin.

Paris, Dawn    see    Shirley, Anne

Paris, Isabelle d’Orleans-Braganza, Comtesse de – (1911 – 2003)
French Bourbon princess and author
Born Princesse Isabelle Marie Amelie Louise Victoire Therese Jeanne d’Orleans-Braganza at the Chateau d’Eu, near Paris (Aug 13, 1911), she was the eldest daughter of Prince Pedro d’Orleans-Braganza, Prince of Grao-Para. Isabelle was married at Palermo, in Sicily (1931) to Henri de Bourbon, Comte de Paris (1908 – 1999), who succeeded his father, the Duc de Guise (1940), as the head of the House of Orleans, and was thus recognized by the majority of French monarchists as the Head of the Royal House of France, and legitimate claimant to the throne. The couple took up residence at the chateau d’Agimont, near Belgium’s French border. They had a total of eleven children.
During World War II the Comte served with the Foreign Legion, whilst the Comtesse removed with her children to the relative safety of Pamplona, in Navarre, Spain. With the end of the war the family resided at Cintra, in Portugal until the Law f Exile was nullified (1950), whereupon the family returned to France, and the Comte de Paris became involved in French politics.The comtesse was an imposing and distinguished personality, and assisted her husband with the enormous task of arranging and cataloguing for presentation to the nation, more than four million Bourbon-Orleans family documents. She worked closely with her husband in establishing La Fondation Cande, which provided care for the elderly in Chantilly, and La Fondation de St Louis (1974), established to perserve and maintain several historic buildings belonging to the family, including the Chateau d’ Amboise, which was made famous during the Renaissance by King Francois I (1515 – 1547).
The comtesse wrote her autobiography Tout M’est Bonheur. During later years the family was beset by financial problems which caused some embarrassment, and the enforced sale of family jewellery and paintings. From 1981 the Comte and Comtesse resided apart, he at Chantilly with a mistress, Madame Friessz, his former secretary, whilst the comtesse remained in Paris. Refused entry to the family villa at Estoril in Portugal, the Comtesse began legal proceedings to prevent the Comte alienating family property without her consent (1986). Despite these irregularities, the couple remained married and the Comte left her all his estate at his death (1999). The Comtesse de Paris died (July 5, 2003) aged ninety-one, died in Paris.

Park, Maud May Wood – (1871 – 1955)
American suffrage leader and campaigner for women’s rights
Maud Wood was born (Jan 25, 1871) in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of John Rodney Wood, a policeman, and attended Radcliffe College, where she was first associated with the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. Maud was married firstly (1897) to the architect, Charles Edward Park (died 1904), and secondly (1908) to Robert Hunter, a theatrical agent. Maud Park was the co-founder of the College Equal Suffrage League with her friend Inez Haynes Gillmore (1901), as part of a plan of involving the younger generation of women in the fight for universal suffrage. She served as the executive secretary of BESAGG (Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government), was later elected as the first president of the League of Women Voters (LWV) (1919 – 1924), and was the leader of the Women’s Joint Congressional Committee. Her memoirs were published posthumously as Front Door Lobby (1960). Maud Park (May 8, 1955) aged eighty-four, died in Reading, Massachusetts.

Parke, Maria – (1775 – 1829)
British pianist, vocalist, and composer
Maria Parke was born in London, the daughter of musician and oboist John Parke. Her first public appearance took place in 1784, when she was nine, and sang at the Handel Memorial Concert held that year. A popular singer and musician throughout the 1780’s and early 1790’s, she performed at Gloucester Cathedral, the Oxford Music Rooms, and at Ranelagh Gardens amongst other popular venues. The composer Salomon Haydn was much impressed by her passionate vocal style when she stood in for German singer Gertrude Mara (1794), and the couple performed together in a benefit concert at the Hanover Square Rooms in May, 1794. Maria Parke continued with her career until she married (1815) John Beardmore of Mayfair, and retired. She died after giving birth to a son at the age of forty-seven. Her work included Three Grand Sonatas for the pianoforte, op. 1, and Two Grand Sonatas for pianoforte with an optional violin accompaniment op. 2. She also composed the piano sonata A Divertimento and Military Rondo.

Parke, Mary Winifred – (1908 – 1989)
British botanist, physcologist, and algologist
Mary Parke was born in Liverpool, Lancashire. After completing her studies she joined the marine station at Port Erin on the Isle of Man which was run by Liverpool University. Parke used her time at Port Errin to compile accounts of the history and ecology of many varied forms of water algae, plankton, and seaweed. During WW II she removed to the laboratory of the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth, where she remained for three decades. Mary Parke retired in 1972 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society (1972).

Parker, Agnes Miller – (1895 – 1980) 
Scottish painter and printmaker
Agnes Parker was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, and studied at the Glasgow School of Art. Agnes trained as an art teacher and was married to fellow painter, William McCance. Agnes and McCance worked at the Greggnog Press, and she was particularly admired for her bold use of light. She retired to Glasgow in Scotland before eventually removing to the Island of Arran.

Parker, Alice Lovel, Lady    see    Lovel, Alice

Parker, Lady Avice     see    Erisa, Avice

Parker, Barbara – (1946 – 2009)
American mystery writer
Parker was famous for her eight volume Suspicion series which included such titles as Suspicion of Innocence (1994), Suspicion of Betrayal (1999), Suspicion of Madness (2003) and Suspicion of Rage (2005). She was a member of the national board of the Mystery Writers of America. Her other novels included Blood Relations (1994), Criminal Justice (1997) and The Dark of Day (2008). Barbara Parker died (Masrch 7, 2009).

Parker, Bonnie – (1911 – 1934) 
American thief and bandit
Bonnie Parker was originally working as a waitress when she became the girlfriend of Clyde Barrow. When he was arrested and imprisoned, Bonnie smuggled in a gun and assisted with his escape, thus becoming the notorious female counterpart of the ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ duo. Despite their murderous rampage, their violent deaths at a police roadblock in Louisiana (May 23, 1934) ensured that the couple became folk-heroes in America. Parker herself left a poem which predicted their ultimate end entitled The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie was portrayed by actress Faye Dunaway in the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967), for which performance she received an Academy Award nomination.

Parker, Cecilia – (1905 – 1993) 
Canadian-American actress
Cecilia Parker was born at Fort William, in Ontario, and began her career in 1929 as a contract player for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her early film credits included Young as You Feel (1931), The Painted Veil (1934) with Greta Garbo and Naughty Marietta (1935) with Jeanette MacDonald. Cecilia is famous for her performance in the role of Marion, the elder sister of actor Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy series of films (1937 – 1944). She appeared in eleven of these films, the last being Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958). Her lesser roles included many appearances in action and western films produced before 1950. Cecilia Parker died (July 25, 1993) aged eighty-seven, in Ventura, California.

Parker, Dorothy – (1893 – 1967)
American poet, writer and wit
Born Dorothy Rothschild (Aug 22, 1893), in West End, New Jersey, she was the daughter of a clothes salesman, and attended a convent school in New York. The death of her mother and her father’s remarriage left her unsettled, and her formal education ended at the age of fourteen (1908). She married firstly (1917) Edmond Pond Parker, whom she later divorced, but whose surname she retained. Inspired by the classics of William Thackeray she determined to have a career in literature. She managed to sell some of her poetry to Vogue (1916), and was soon appointed as drama critic for Vanity Fair (1917 – 1920). There she met Robert Benchley, the magazine humourist, and the dramatist, Robert Sherwood, and together they established, and formed the central nucleus of, the legendary Algonquin Hotel Round Table Club.
Famous for her spontaneous wit and acerbic observations, Parker did much to form the character of The New Yorker, through her own stories and book reviews (1927 – 1933). Her work continued to be published by the magazine until 1955, and her reviews were collected and republished posthumously in A Month of Saturdays (1971). Her story ‘Big Blonde’ won the O. Henry Memorial Award (1929). Parker’s verses were included in,Enough Rope (1926) which became a best-seller, and Not So Deep as a Well (1930). Her second husband was the actor and screenwriter Alan Campbell (1933 – 1947) and she worked on the film scripts of The Little Foxes (1941) written by her friend Lillian Hellman, and A Star Is Born (1937).  Parker’s personal life was a list of failed marriages, debt, several suicide attempts and alcoholism. Dorothy Parker died (June 7, 1967) in Manhattan, New York.

Parker, Elizabeth Calthorpe, Lady – (c1522 – 1578)
English Tudor courtier
Elizabeth Calthorpe was the daughter of Sir Philip Calthorpe of Erwarton, Suffolk, and his wife Amata Boleyn, the paternal aunt of Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII (1509 – 1547). Thus Elizabeth Calthorpe was the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603). Elizabeth was married firstly (c1540) to Sir Henry Parker (1506 – Dec, 1553), the son of Henry, eighth Baron Morley, as his second wife. With his death she remarried to Sir William Woodhouse (c1507 – 1563). Lady Parker inherited the family manor of Erwarton in Suffolk, which passed to her son Sir Philip Parker, was the ancestor of the the family of Parkers, baronets, which became extinct at the death of Sir Philip a-Morley-Long, third baronet (1741). Her bust portrait, which survives, was drawn by the Flemish artist Hans Holbein (1496 – 1543) and was reproduced in the work Heads by the antiquarian John Chamberlaine (1553 – 1628). Lady Parker died at Ewarton.

Parker, Ellen Grace – (fl. 1875 – 1893)
British flower painter
Ellen Parker exhibited her work at the Royal Academy, and in Suffolk Street, in London over a twenty year period. During this time her work was displayed at over thirty-five separate exhibitions.

Parker, Florence Mary – (1872 – 1966)
Australian welfare worker
Florence Davies was born at Roseville, New Town, in Tasmania, the daughter of Sir John George Davies, the lord mayor of Hobart, and was educated at the Ladies’ Grammar School run by the Garrett sisters in Hobart. With the death of Lady Davies, Florence assumed those duties which the Lady Mayoress had held. After her marriage, Florence devoted her life to community services, including the Red Cross, which she served for over forty years as honorary secretary, and the Tasmanian Society for the Blind and Deaf. Parker assisted with the establishment of the Queen Alexandra Hospital for Women in Hobart (1905), and was later chairman of the board. Florence Parker died (June 5, 1966) aged ninety-six, at New Town.

Parker, Grace Newport, Lady – (1515 – c1547)
English Tudor courtier
Grace Newport was the daughter and heiress of John Newport, of Furneux Pelham and Stapleford, Essex, and was married at the early age of eight years (1523) to Sir Henry Parker (1506 – 1553), the son and heir of Henry Parker, eighth Baron Morley. Her father died a week after the wedding and Grace inherited his estates in Essex and Hertfordshire. Lady Grace resided at Great Hallingbury, Essex, and bore her husband three children including Sir Henry Parker (1532 – 1577), who succeeded his grandfather as ninth Baron Morley (1556). A surviving chalk half-length drawing of Lady Parker by Hans Holbein (c1541), wearing a French hood, remains in the Royal Collection.

Parker, Jane Marsh – (1836 – 1913)
American essayist and author
Parker was born in Milan, New York (June 16, 1836). Her published work included Barley Wood (1860), Dick Wortley (1862) and The Midnight Cry (1886). Jane Marsh Parker died (March 13, 1913) aged seventy-six.

Parker, Julia Sarsfield O’Connor – (1890 – 1972)
American Labour leader and political organizer
Born Julia Sarsfield O’Connor (Sept 9, 1890), at Woburn in Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Irish immigrants. She was educated in Medford, Massachusetts and was originally employed as a telephone operator in Boston. She became actively involved with the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) from 1912, and was best remembered for her leadership of the telephone workers in New England. Julia Parker was appointed as delegate to the First International Congress of Working Women (1919) and then served as president of the telephone operators department of the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) for two decades (1918 – 1938). She wrote articles for the IBEW magazine The Union Telephone Operator and was married (1925) to Charles Austin Parker, a reporter attached to the Boston Herald. Julia Parker served as organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL) from 1939 until her retirement (1957). Julia O’Connor Parker died (Aug 27, 1972) aged eighty-one, in Wayland, Massachusetts.

Parker, Katie Eliza Somerville Langloh – (1856 – 1940)
Australian colonial settler and compiler and preserver of aboriginal folk-lore, she was born Catherine Field at Encounter Bay in South Australia (May 1, 1856), she was the daughter of a pastoralist, and was educated at home. She was married (1875) to Langloh Parker. With his death (1903) she travelled to England, where she remarried to Percy Stow, a British lawyer, and the couple returned to Australia to reside in Adelaide. Mrs Langloh Parker had known local aboriginals from her earliest years, and learned the language of the Bangate tribe, and recorded their myths. She was the author of Australian Legendary Tales: Folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs (1896), More Australian Legendary (1898) and The Euahlayi Tribe: A Study of Aboriginal Life of Australia (1905) as well as several volumes of Aboriginal legends under her married name of Catherine Stow. She was widowed in 1937. Kate Langloh Parker died (March 27, 1940) aged eighty-three, in Adelaide.

Parker, Dame Marjorie Alice Collett – (1899 – 1991)
Australian civic leader and campaigner for women’s rights
Born Marjorie Shoppee (June 30, 1899) in Ballarat, Victoria, she was educated there. She was married to Max Parker, to whom she bore a son. Marjorie Parker was employed as the announcer and director of the Women’s Interests at Radio Launceston in Tasmania (1941 – 1969) and was the deputy chairman of the Australian National Council of Women (1960 – 1964). Parker worked for a decade (1961 – 1971) as the president and organizer of the Red Cross Meals on Wheels in Launceston, and served as president of the United Nations Association in Launceston (1964 – 1968). Marjorie Parker was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1977) in recognition of her valuable public service. Dame Marjorie Parker died (March 18, 1991) aged ninety-two, in Launceston.

Parker, Mary Ann – (fl. 1791 – 1795)
Anglo-Australian traveller and diarist
The wife of John Parker, an English naval captain, Mary Ann accompanied her husband to the colony of New South Wales in Australia, aboard the HMS Gorgon (1791), which also carried Philip Gidley King and his wife Anna. Mrs Parker left a written account of her trip, which included stopovers in Tenerife and Cape Town which was entitled A voyage round the world in the Gorgon man of war … (1795) which was printed in London. Mrs Parker returned to England with her husband, who died soon afterwards.

Parker Smith, Marjorie – (1916 – 2009)
American dancer, skating champion and sportswoman
Parker Smith achieved fame prior to WW II as a professional dance skater, and became a member of the first official United States Ice Dancing Championship team. She won two gold medals, for first place in the US National Dance competition (1936) and for paired dancing with the Skating Club of New York (1939) and also won two bronze. When aged almost sixty, Parker Smith attained a world record in Master Track & Field when she won the three hundred and six hundred yard dashes (1984). Marjorie Parker Smith died (Jan 17, 2009) aged ninety-two, in Brooklyn, New York and was shortly afterwards inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Parkes, Bessie Rayner – (1829 – 1925)
British feminist and periodical editor
Bessie Parkes was the daughter of the radical lawyer Joseph Parkes. She taught herself to read prior to attending school in Warwickshire. She was a close friend of the feminist Barbara Bodichon, the two women travelling together to Europe (1850), where they caused something of a scandal by refusing to be constricted by corsets, as was the prevailing fashion. Together with Bodichon she fought unsuccessfully for a Married Woman’s Property Bill, and then bought the periodical The Englishwoman’s Journal (1858) which they ran in partnership, Parkes being general editor.
Her work Remarks on the Education of Girls was published anonymously (1854), and she formed friendships with other prominent feminists such as Emily Faithfull and Jessie Boucherett. Parkes was married (1867) to Louis Belloc, and resided with him in France until his death (1872). Their two children were the noted writer Hilaire Belloc (1870 – 1953) and the detective novelist Marie Belloc-Lowndes (1868 – 1947). As a widow she returned to England and resided in Sussex, surviving her husband over fifty years. She was the author of A Passing World (1897). Bessie Rayner Parkes died aged ninety-five.

Parkes, Fanny – (1794 – 1875)
British traveller and author
Frances Archer was the daughter of Captain William Archer, and was married to Charles Crawford Parkes, a civil servant, whom she accompanied to India (1822) and spent the next twenty-four years. During her husband’s period of service in India, Mrs Parkes and her Arab mare travelled the country extensively, visiting the cities of Calcutta, Allahabad, Kanpur, Delhi, Mussorrie, Meerut, Agra, and most of the hill-stations. The couple visited England (1839) and the Cape of Good Hope (1843), before finally returning to England permanently (Aug, 1845). She was the author of one of the most interesting, and best known accounts of Indian life and customs Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque (1850, 2 vols), her positive manner exposing her own deep love of India. Her friendship with the family of the notorious Colonel Gardner, at his estate of Khasgunje, near Agra, enabled Fanny to witness, first hand, the life of Indian women in the zenana (women’s quarters). She also recorded details of the romance between the Gardner’s son James and the Indian princess Mulka Humanee Begum, the niece of the Emperor Akbar Shah.

Parkhurst, Charlie (Charlotte) – (1812 – 1879)
American stage coach driver
‘Charlie’Parkhurst concealed her real sex in order to gain employment as a stagecoach driver in California. She later lost an eye, but her sex remained undiscovered until her death.

Parkhurst, Helen – (1887 – 1973)
American educator
Helen Parkhurst was born (Jan 3, 1887) in Durand, Wisconsin, the daughter of a hotelier. She attended local schools and Wisconsin State College, and trained as a rural schoolteacher and became the founder of the Dalton Plan of Education. Her personal idea was that children learnt best with freedom of choice, which permitted them to learn at their own particular speed. She later was appointed to head (1913 – 1915) the primary training department of the Central State Teachers College in Stevens Point, Wisconsin and then headed the same department at the Montessori training college in New York (1917 – 1918).
Helen Parkhurst established the Dalton School in New York (1920) and published her Education on the Dalton Plan (1922), which was translated into over fifty languages. From 1942 she taught sociology at Yale University, and then taught at the College of the City of New York (1952 – 1954). Her other published works included Exploring the Child’s World (1951) and the novel And They Found Jimmy (1947). Helen Parkhurst died (June 1, 1973) aged eighty-six, at Milford, Connecticut.

Parkhurst, Susan McFarland – (1836 – 1918)
American vocalist and composer
Susanna McFarland was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, and is first recorded as a soloist and accompanist at a concert held by the Methodist church in New York (1860). With the death of her husband Mrs Parkhurst sang professionally for some time to support herself and her daughter, until she remarried (1868) to John Duer, though few other actual details of her private life have been recorded. A friend of lyricist and composer Stephen Collins Foster (1826 – 1864), she produced a wide variety of works, from comic, patriotic and gospel songs to religious works, and many of these became extremely popular. Parkhurst was the author of two notable temperance ballads Father’s a Drunkard and Mother is Dead and I’ll Marry No Man if he Drinks, and A Funeral March to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln. Susan McFarland Parkhurst died in New York.

Parks, Lillian Rogers – (1897 – 1997)
American author and memoirist
Lillian Rogers was the daughter of Maggie Rogers, a society hairdresser who later became the chief maid at the White House in Washington, D.C. She suffered from polio during early childhood and was partially crippled for the remainder of her life. She was married and divorced but left no children. Lillian Parks was employed at the White House herself for three decades (1929 – 1961) as a seamstress and then a maid, and left two volumes of memoirs entitled My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House (1961) and The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (1973), which she co-wrote with Frances Spatz Leighton, and which remained on the best seller list for twenty-six weeks. She retired from service in 1962. Lillian Rogers Park died (Nov 6, 1997) aged one hundred, in Washington.

Parks, Rosa Lee – (1913 – 2005)
Black American civil rights activist
Born Rosa McCauley in Tuskagee, Alabama, she was the daughter of a carpenter. She suffered from ill-health in childhood, and was educated at home by her mother until the age of eleven. She then attended the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery. She worked as a seamstress, and was employed at the Maxwell Air Force Base, and married a barber, Raymond Parks (1932). Parks achieved fame by becoming the first black woman to refuse to give up her bus seat, in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white male passenger (Dec 1, 1955). Arrested and charged, her detention triggered mass demonstrations and Martin Luther King organized the controversial and successful 381 day bus boycott by black people in Montgomery, which was to act as a test case against racial segregation. The boycott led to the Supreme Court ruling that declared that bus segregation was unconstitutional. Together with Martin Luther, Parks joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This movement resulted in the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership, which was led by Martin Luther King. Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1957, and continued to be involved with the civil rights movement, remaining the symbolic figurehead of the struggle for racial equality in the USA. She was later diagnosed as a dementia sufferer (2002). Rosa Parks died (Oct 24, 2005) in Detroit.

Parmys – (fl. 522 – after 519 BC)
Persian Achaemenid princess
Parmys was the daughter of King Bardiya (Smerdis). The two Greek historians Aeschylus and Herodotus both record her marriage to her uncle, Darius I (519 – 486 BC), as part of his political agenda to legitimize his rule. She was the mother of his son Prince Ariomardus, who served as a military commander during the campaign against Greece (480 BC).

Parr, Anne     see    Pembroke, Anne Parr, Countess of

Parr, Elizabeth Fitzhugh, Lady    see   Fitzhugh, Elizabeth

Parr, Helena – (1549 – 1635)
Swedish-Anglo courtier
Born Helena Snakenborg in Sweden, she was the daughter of a knight. She came to the court of Elizabeth I of England as an attendant of Princess Cecilia of Sweden, the Margravine of Baden (1565). Helena obtained the favour of Queen Elizabeth and remained at the English court, where she became the third wife of the queen’s step-uncle, Sir William Parr, Marquess of Northampton (1513 – 1571), though he died after only six months of marriage. The queen granted her considerable estates, though her second marriage with Sir Thomas Gorges was not well received. The breach was later healed and Helena attended the queen’s funeral as chief mourner (1603). Helena Parr was interred beside her second husband in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire.

Parr, Katharine      see     Catharine Parr

Parr, Louisa – (1844 – 1903)
British novelist
Louisa was born in London, the daughter of a sailor. She married a physician (1869) and the couple settled in London. An avid collector of engravings and antique fans, she was particularly known for her novels such as How it all Happened (1871), The Prescotts (1874), Adam and Eve (1880), The Squire (1892) and Can this be Love (1896). Louisa Parr died (Nov 2, 1903) aged fifty-nine, in Kensington, London.

Parr, Matilda Green Lady – (1495 – 1529)
English Tudor courtier
Matilda (Maud) Green was the daughter of Sir Thomas Green, of Green’s Norton, Northamptonshire. Matilda became the wife of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal Castle, to whom she bore three children, a son William Parr (1513 – 1570), later created Marquess of Northampton, and a daughter, Catharine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII (1509 – 1547). Lady Parr remained a close friend to Catharine of Aragon, and chose never to remarry after her husband’s early death (1517), choosing instead to devote herself to the humanist education of her children.
Lady Parr died in London during an outbreak of the sweating sickness.

Parra, Teresa de la – (1895 – 1936)
Venezuelan novelist
Born Anna Teresa Sanojo into a wealthy upper class family, she was sent to Paris for her education and only returned to Caracas as a teenager. Her works, written in a fictional autobiographical style achieved great popularity in Venezuela and included Diario de una senorita que se fastidia (1922). Her work Ifigenia (1924), revealed her won disappointment of the unbending rules of society which was maintained by her fellow countrywomen. Her later novel Memorias de mama Blanca (Mama Blanca’s Souvenirs) (1929), dealt with her happy childhood recollections, and was later translated into English (1959). Teresa de la Parra never married and suffered from tuberculosis which eventually caused her death.

Parra, Violeta – (1917 – 1967)
Chilean folk-lorist, lyricist, and vocalist
Her career proved varied and unusual, and she worked in Paris (1961 – 1965) becoming an international celebrity. Violeta Parra’s work inspired the New Chilean Song movement.

Parren, Kalliroe – (1861 – 1940)
Greek educator and feminist pioneer, essayist and journalist
Kalliroe Parren was born at Rethymno in Crete and trained as a schoolteacher, eventually becoming headmistress. Parren founded and edited her own newspaper Efimeris ton Kyrion (The Ladies’s Newspaper) (1887 – 1918), the first periodical to be organized by women, and for women. Kalliroe actively campaigned for equal rights for her countrywomen, which did much to bring women’s issues to the attention of the general public. She attended women’s conferences and forums abroad, and was the founder of two feminist associations, the Union for the Emancipation of Women (1894) and the Union of Greek Women (1896).
Parren organized reading and writing classes for women, as well as hospitals, and homes to care for widows and orphans. Her work was responsible for changes in government policies, which provided protection in law for working women and for children. It was due to her efforts that female physicians were appointed to women’s prisoners. She founded the Lyceum of Greek Women (1911) and was the author of several works such as Istoria tis Yinekos (Women’s History) (1889), and, To Maramenon Krinon (The Faded Lily) (1909), amongst others. Kalliroe Parren died in obscurity at Athens.

Parris, Elizabeth (Betty) – (1682 – 1760)
American colonial witchcraft ‘victim’
Betty Paris was born (Nov 28, 1682) in Salem, Massachusetts, the daughter of the local clergyman, Samuel Parris (1653 – 1720). Betty Parris was said to have been taught magical arts by the slave woman Tituba, who originated from Barbados. With her cousin Abigail Williams, Betty Parris fell into convulsive fits and accused many persons of witchcraft and satanic practices whilst suffering these strange spells. This was the catalyst behind the large number of deaths which resulted from these supposed ‘witchcraft’ trials (1692). Parris was then only nine years of age, and she played a major role in the accusation of neighbours in Salem. When the local magistrate sent Betty to resided with relatives these ‘fits’ ceased. Elizabeth Parris survived the notoriety of these events by well over six decades, and died (March 21, 1760) aged seventy-seven. The real reason behind this hysteria has never been satisfactorily explained.

Parry, Blanche – (c1507 – 1590) 
English Tudor courtier
Blanche Parry was the daughter of Henry Parry, of Newcourt, Bacton, and Herefordshire, and was connected to the important Herbert family, besides being cousin to Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Queen Elizabeth’s chief minister. Blanche was the maternal cousin and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, whom she was brought to court to act as gentlewoman when she was a small princess, remained in her service until her won death over four decades later. Parry never married, and later served Elizabeth faithfully when queen as chief gentlewoman of the privy chamber and keeper of the jewels after the death of Katherine Ashley (1565), when she was also appointed as keeper of the queen’s books.
Her position in the queen’s household was an inportant one, and she frequently used her influence on the behalf of various royal supplicants. She patronized Welsh writers such as David Powel, and Queen Elizabeth granted her several estates and properties for her own maintenance, in Herefordshire and Yorkshire. She is said to have acted as intermediary between Elizabeth and her astrologer, Sir John Dee. Blanche Parry died (Feb 12, 1590) aged about eighty-one. She was buried in the church of St Margaret in Westminster, though her empty tomb, complete with effigy, survives in the Church of St Faith, at Bacton.

Parry, Dorothy Brooke, Lady – (c1555 – 1624)
English Tudor courtier
Dorothy Brooke was born in Bristol, and became the wife of Sir Thomas Parry (c1542 – 1616) of Hampstead Marshall in Berkshire, who served as ambassador to the Valois court in Paris. Their daughter Muriel Parry (died 1616) became the wife of Sir Thomas Knyvet (c1550 – 1618) the de jure fourth Baron Berners and left issue. Prior to her marriage she served at court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. Dorothy survived her husband as the Dowager Lady Parry (1616 – 1624). Lady Parry was buried at Welford in Berkshire.

Parscau du Plessix, Anna Louise Buisson de Lavigne, Comtesse du – (1769 – 1846)
French memoirist
Anna Louisa Buisson de Lavigne was the daughter of Alexis Jacques Buisson de Lavigne, and his wife Celeste Rapion de la Placeliere. Her sister Celeste became the wife of the celebrated man of letters, Francois, Vicomte de Chateaubriand. Madame du Parscau du Plessix attended the court of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Versailles, and her family sufferred considerably from the excesses of the revolution. Madame du Parscau du Plessix left memoirs of this period of her life, a daily journal written whilst she was living in Finistere region of Brittany, which was later published under the title, ‘Extraits du ‘Journal’ fait par Anna-louise Du Parscau du Plessix, pendant les annees 1792 – 1797 et 1800’ by the Bulletin diocesain h’histoire et d’archeologie, Diocese de Quimper et de Leon 24 (1925).

Parsons, Betty Pierson – (1900 – 1982)
American art dealer
Betty Pierson was born in New York and studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. Betty was married to Schuyler Livingston Parsons, from whom she was later divorced. Betty Parsons later worked with the Wakefield Gallery on Madison Avenue in New York, and at the Mortimer Brandt Gallery, where she organized her first art shows. She later established the Betty Parsons Gallery on 57th Street (1946) and promoted the reputation of American art on an international scale, and was active with the development of the New York School of Painting. During her later years she herself produced intricate painted wood constructions. Betty Pierson Parsons died (July 23, 1982) aged eighty-two.

Parsons, Elizabeth – (1846 – 1934)
New Zealand soprano
Elizabeth Widdop was born in London the daughter of a coachman named Widdop, and immigrated with her family to Wellington aboard the William and Jane (1855). She married (1864) William Frederick Parsons, and bore him twelve children. Possessed of a magnificent voice, she long remained an amateur singer in Wellington, performing at all major local and charitable events over a period of thirty years. For thirty-seven years Mrs Parsons was a member of the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral in Wellington (1861 – 1898). With her husband, she travelled to England to organize the musical training of their daughters, but her poor health necessitated her return to New Zealand after undergoing a lung operation. Her last public performance was at the opening of the Wellington Town Hall (1904). Elizabeth Parsons died (March 1, 1924) aged seventy-eight, in Lower Hutt.

Parsons, Elsie – (1875 – 1941)
American sociologist and anthropologist
Her first controversial work The Old-Fashioned Woman (1913) was published using the pseudonym ‘John Main.’ This work dealt with the then rather shocking theme of sexual repression in women.

Parsons, Emily Elizabeth – (1824 – 1880) 
American nurse
Completely deaf, and with only partial sight, Emily Parsons began training for her nursing career in 1859. Emily became a military nurse, and was appointed nursing supervisor at the Benton Barracks hospital. The hospital she founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1886) was the forerunner of the modern Cambridge Hospital.

Parsons, Harriet – (1906 – 1983)
American film producer
Harriet Parsons was the daughter and only child of the famous movie columnist and journalist, Louella Oettinger Parsons, and her first husband, John Parsons, of Dixon, Illinois, a real estate agent. After her parents divorce she was raised in Chicago, New York and then Hollywood in California, and her relationship with her mother remained close all of their lives. Harriet produced several famous films including I Remember Mama (1947), Clash by Night (1951) and Susan Slept Here (1954).

Parsons, Letitia Margaret – (fl. 1877 – 1887)
British flower painter
Letitia Parsons was native to Frome, in Somerset, and is also referred to under her married name of Mrs Keith. Her work was exhibited nine times over a ten year period at the Royal Academy, as well as in Suffolk Street and the New Watercolour Society, and the Grosvenor Gallery. Apart from these viewings of her work, examples were exhibited on twenty-five other various exhibitions throughout London.

Parsons, Louella Oettinger – (1881 – 1972)
American journalist and gossip columnist
Louella Oettinger was born (Aug 6, 1881) in Freeport, Illinois, of German-Jewish background, the eldest daughter of a clothing manufacturer. She was married three times, her last husband (1930) being Henry Watson Martin (died 1951), a physician. Louella eventually became a reporter for the Chicago Tribune newspaper (1910). She wrote screenplays for silent films and was the author of How to Write for the Movies (1915) and became famous in Hollywood because of her syndicated gossip column which dealt with all the scandalous details of the lives of movie stars, and because of this, was greatly feared.
Parsons hosted several radio shows such as Hollywood Hotel (1934 – 1948) and appeared in several films playing herself such as Hollywood Hotel (1937) and Starlift (1951). Famous for her lenghty rivalry with fellow gossip merchant Hedda Hopper, Parsons retired in 1964. She left two volumes of autobiography entitled The Gay Illiterate (1944) and Tell It To Louella (1962). She was portrayed by actress Jennifer Tilly in The Cat’s Meow (2001) which film dealt with the mysterious death of the film director Thomas Ince (1924). By her first marriage she was the mother of producer Harriet Parsons. Louella Parsons died (Dec 9, 1972) aged ninety-one, in Santa Monica, California.

Parsons, Nancy (Anne) – (c1740 – 1814)
British courtesan
Born Anne Taylor, she was the daughter of a tailor from Bond Street, in London. She left home and formed a liasion with a slave-trader named Horton, with whom she lived in Jamaica. She returned to London and set herself up as a popular courtesan. Nancy Parsons became famous for her liasion with the Prime Minister, Augustus Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, who entertained her both publicly and privately. She was even present in his box at the opera when it was attended by Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, to the scandal of London society. The duke dismissed her when he married (1769).
Later becoming the mistress of the Duke of Dorset, Horace Walpole famously referred to her as ‘the Duke of Grafton’s Mrs Horton, the Duke of Dorset’s Mrs Horton, everybody’s Mrs Horton,’ and dismissed her as no longer fashionable. Nancy married Viscount Maynard in an attempt to legitimize her position in society, without success and resided with him at Naples, in Italy. She then resided with the young Duke of Bedford, residing with him at Woburn Abbey, in defiance of his grandmother, the Dowager Duchess. This liasion ended naturally and Parsons retired to France in her later years, where she eventually died, completely forgotten.

Partenay, Denise de – (fl. c1450 – 1467)
French lay healer
Denise de Partenay was an elderly woman skilled with medicinal herbs and treatments. Denise was arrested on the request of the medical faculty of the University of Paris, who maintained that her empiric treatments were illegal.

Parthenay, Anne de – (fl. c1530 – 1544)
French poet
Anne de Parthenay was sister to the Seigneur de Soubise and maternal aunt of the poet and dramatist, Catherine de Parthenay de Soubise. She excelled in the composition of songs and verse, and had a particular gift for singing. Anne was given an excellent education in classical languages and theology, and she was celebrated by the famous poet Clement Marot (1496 – 1544). Her worked was later praised by Theodore Breze.

Parthenay de Soubise, Catherine de – (1553 – 1631)
French poet, dramatist, and translator
Catherine de Parthenay de Soubise was the daughter of the seigneur de Soubise and niece to the poet Anne de Parthenay. Her first husband was killed during the massacre of the Protestants on St Bartholomew’s Day (1572), and she remarried (1575) to Vicomte Rene II de Rohan, Prince de Leon (c1550 – 1586), to whom she bore six children. Catherine wrote elegies on the deaths of prominent persons such as her husband, and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and wrote a play Judith e Holophernes (1573) which was followed by the brilliantly imaginative Discours d’Isocrate a’ Demonique. Catherine wrote a poem to commemorate Henry IV after his assassination (1610) and later showed great courage at the siege of La Rochelle (1628). Later imprisoned at the Chateau de Niort, her conditions were released somewhat and she was transferred to captivity in Poitou, where she remained till her death. Her children included,

• Henri II, Duc de Rohan (1579 – 1639). The famous general.
• Benjamin de Rohan, Duc de Frontenay (1583 – 1641). He died unmarried.
• Catherine de Rohan (1578 – 1607). She became the first wife of Johann II, Count Palatine of Bavaria-Zweibrucken.

Parturier, Francoise – (1919 – 1995)
French journalist and writer
Francoise Parturier was born in Paris, the daughter of a physician and studied at the University of Paris. Francoise taught contemporary literature in the USA before becoming a professional journalist, and was married (1947) to Jean Gatichon. Parturier contributed regularly to Figaro using the pseudonym ‘Nicole’ and became one of the more popular feminists of the period. Her published works included L’amant de cinq jours (1959), Lettre ouverte aux hommes (1968), La lettre d’Irlande (1979) and Les Hauts de Ramatuelle (1983).

Paruta, Margarita – (c1348 – 1413) 
Italian nun
Margarita was born into a patrician Venetian family. She became the wife of Marco Paruta. Being childless herself, she brought up her wards, Isabetta and Andreola Tommasini as her own children. Margarita and her husband were involved, together with the Dominican preacher Giovanni Dominici, with the founding of the convent of Corpus Domini in Venice, and Margarita was among the large group of patrician women that attended its official consecration (1394). With her husband’s death (1397) Margarita entered Corpus Domini and was appointed vicaress, and used her enormous wealth for the benefit of the convent. Even when she became frail and could not walk several years before her death, Margarita retained the government of the convent, as her talent for administration was much admired and valued by the other sisters.

Parysatis (1) – (c460 – after 395 BC)
Queen consort of Persia
Parysatis was the daughter of King Artaxerxes I and his concubine, Andria of Babylon. She became the wife (c445 BC) of her half-brother Darius II Nothus (c467 – 404 BC) to whom she bore a large family of thirteen children, of whom only a handful survived infancy, including Artaxerxes II Memnon (444 – 358 BC), Cyrus (c432 – 401 BC), her favourite, and Amestris, the wife of Terituchmes of Hyrcania. She retained a strong influence over her husband, and Darius was ever ruled by her. Her government precipitated a series of blind revolts, after Darius succeeded to the throne (423 BC) and the queen caused her own brother-in-law, Prince Arsites, to be executed for conspiracy. When her son-in-law, Terituchmes became involved in a plot to overthrow Darius, Parysatis nearly exterminated his entire family in her vengeance. Statira, the wife of her son Arsaces, and sister to Terituchmes, was saved from death only through the personal pleas of Arsaces to his mother. These actions made Tissaphernes, the former satrap of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappodocia, whom she had displaced from office in order to replace him with her own favourite son, Cyrus, her implacable enemy.
When Parysatis obtained for Cyrus the chief command of the troops in Asia Minor (405 BC), Cyrus counted upon his mother’s support to set aside the rights of his elder brother, Arsaces, so he could become king when Darius II died (April, 404 BC). However, when Cyrus returned to Persia, his brother was already enthroned as Artaxerxes II. Cyrus intended to assasinate his brother, but the conspiracy was detected and he was arrested. He would have been put to death if the queen mother had not personally intervened, shielding her son with her own body.
Despite her former activities, Queen Parysatis retained some influence over her eldest son, and when her enemy Tissaphernes denounced Cyrus for treason, the queen successfully intervened and managed to have him restored to his former position. She and her daughter-in-law, Queen Statira, became involved in a power struggle to gain control of Artaxerxes II, who, like his father before him, was a weak man. Tissaphernes caused the death of Prince Cyrus at the battle of Cunaxa (Sept, 401 BC), and soon afterwards, perhaps as an act of retaliation, Parysatis brought about the murder of Queen Statira. Artaxerxes II then caused Parysatis to be banished from the court for this crime, but it was not long before the queen mother was recalled to court, where she quickly managed to recover her former influence and power. She remained a much feared figure at her son’s court until her death.

Parysatis (2) – (c350 – 323 BC)
Persian princess
Princess Parysatis was the youngest daughter of King Artaxerexes III Ochus. Captured at the battle of Issus (333 BC) with other royal women, she became a secondary wife of Alexander the Great of Macedon. She bore no child and was later poisoned by Roxana after the king’s death.

Pascal, Gisele – (1921 – 2007)
French stage and screen actress
Born Gisele Marie Madeleine Tallone (Sept 17, 1921) at Cannes, she adopted her stage name and made her first film appearance in L’Arlesienne (1942) which was followed by roles in Madamoiselle S’Amuse (1947), La Femme Nue (The Naked Woman) (1949) and Bel Amour (1951). Considered one of France’s leading contemporary actresses, Pascal’s name was romantically linked to the actor Yves Montand (1921 – 1991), and then, more famously, with Prince Rainier III of Monaco, with whom she was involed for several years.
Her liasion with Prince Rainier ended after it was revealed that it was unlikely that Gisele would be able to provide an heir for the Grimaldi dynasty. This information was said to have been made public by the prince’s sister Princess Antoinette, who would have preferred her brother to remain unmarried so that the Monegasque throne would descend to her own son, Christian de Massy. Gisele was then married (1955) to the actor Raymond Pellegrin (born 1925) to whom she later bore a daughter. She continued with her film career and her credits included Madamoiselle de Paris (1955), Sylviane des Mes Nuits (1957) and Le Masque de Fer (The Iron Mask) (1962). Late in her career she still made occasional film appearances as in La Femme Publique (1984) and Juillet en Sptembre (1987). Gisele Pascal died (Feb 2, 2007) aged eighty-five.

Pascal, Jacqueline – (1625 – 1661) 
French poet
Jacqueline Pascal was born in Clermont-Ferrand, sister of the famous philosopher Blaise Pascal. Well educated and talented, Jacqueline and her brother attended literary salons in Paris during the reign of Louis XIII. In 1638 she sent a sonnet to the queen, Anne of Austria, to congratulate her on the announcement of her pregnancy (Louis XIV). The following year she performed a role in Scudery’s dramatic work l’Amour tyrannique. Her poems Stances contre l’amour (Stanzas Against Love) were written in 1641 at the age of fifteen. Influenced by the Jansenist movement, she eventually became a nun at the Abbey of Port Royal (1652).

Pasch, Ulrika Friederika – (1735 – 1796)
Swedish portrait painter and miniaturist
Ulrika Pasch was the daughter of Lorenz Pasch the elder and sister to Lorenz Pasch the younger. She later became housekeeper to her uncle and was able to establish herself as a professional painter (1756) being able to thus augment the family income. After the death of her father she and her sister resided to gether in Ulrike’s studio. She later shared her studio with her brother Lorenz and they produced many portraits of the Swedish royal family and members of the aristocracy. Ulrike was one of the first Sacandinavian female painters known prior to the nineteenth century and was the first woman artist to be made a member of the Stockholm Konstakademie (1773). Examples of her work, including several self-portraits are preserved in the museums of Stockholm, Norrkoping, Helsingfors and Gripsholm.

Pashley, Anne – (c1397 – 1444)
English Plantagenet noblewoman
Anne Pashley was the daughter of Sir Robert Pashley, and his wife Philippa, the second daughter of Sir Richard Cergeaux. Through her mother she was a descendant of King Edward II (1272 – 1307) and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, through their daughter, Joan of Acre, Countess of Gloucester. Her younger brother was Sir John Pashley, who was married to Elizabeth Wydeville, a kinswoman of Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Edward IV. Anne Pashley was married firstly to John Bassingbourne, and secondly to Edward Tyrell (c1378 – 1442) of Downham, Essex, Sheriff of Essex and Hertford, whom she survived. Tyrell left Anne with several estates in Cambridgeshire as her dower, after which they passed to her son Edward. Her husband also requested that property in Hatfield, Hertfordshire be sold so that masses could be said for both their souls, and those of other Tyrell relatives in Downham Church. Anne also recieved the use of the Tyrell’s London house for her widowhood, after which it was to be sold and the proceeds given to various charitable causes. Anne Pashley died (before May 26, 1444). The children of her second marriage included,

• Edward Tyrell, of Downham, Essex (died after 1442). He served as Sheriff of Essex and Hertforshire (1436 – 1437).
• Philippa Tyrell (died after 1442). She became the wife of Thomas Cornwallis (c1420 – 1484), of Brome, Suffolk, and left issue.
• Margaret Tyrell (died after 1442). She became the wife of Robert Mountenay.

Pashley, Elizabeth Wydeville, Lady – (c1412 – 1453)
English Plantagenet aristocrat
A Lancastrian courtier to Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Wydeville was the wife of Sir John Pashley (1407 – 1453), a descendant of King Edward III (1327 – 1377), and was the mother of John Pashley, esquire (1432 – 1468). He was married to Lowys Gower and left descendants. Lady Elizabeth Pashley was the younger sister to Sir Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers, and was the paternal aunt of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of Edward IV (1461 – 1483), though she died a decade before her niece lifted forever the fortunes of her family.

Pasionara, La    see    Ibarruri, Dolores

Passfield, Beatrice Potter, Lady       see      Webb, Beatrice

Pasta, Giuditta Maria Costanza – (1797 – 1865)
Italian soprano
Born Giuditta Negri, she studied singing under Giuseppe Scappa in Milan. She made her stage debut in Scappa’s production of Le tre Eleonore (1815). Pasta then performed in Paris and London, where she appeared in Cimarosa’s, Penelope (1817). However, she achieved real lasting fame after her appearacne in Paris as Desdemona in Rossini’s Othello (1821). Possesses of a brilliant voice, several operatic roles were written specifically for her including Amina in Bellini’s La sonnambula (1831) and the title roles of Norma (1831) and Donizetti’s Anna Bolena.

Paston, Agnes – (c1405 – 1479)
English Plantagenet gentlewoman
Born Agnes Berry she became the wife (1420) of William Paston I (1378 – 1444), to whom she bore five surviving children, and survived for thirty-five years. With the death of her father (1433) Agnes inherited extensive lands in Hertfordshire and Norfolk. She received the estate of Oxnead, near Paston, Norfolk, as her dower. During her long widowhood she resided variously in Norwich and Paston, and during her last years, with her son William and his wife, Lady Anne Beaufort, in London. Several letters to Agnes from her children and daughter-in-law, Margaret Paston, are preserved in the famous Paston Letters. Agnes Paston died (Aug 17, 1479) aged about seventy-four, in London. Her children were,

• John Paston I (1421 – 1466). He was married to Margaret Mautby and left descendants.
• Edmund Paston (1425 – 1449). He was trained as a lawyer, but died unmarried.
• Elizabeth Paston (1429 – 1488). She was married firstly to Sir Robert Poynings (died 1461), and secondly to Sir George Browne (died 1483), of Betchworth, Surrey.
• Sir William Paston II (1436 – 1496). He became a lawyer and a councillor to the Duke of Buckingham. He was married to Lady Anne Beaufort, a descendant of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and left issue.
• Clement Paston (1442 – 1466). He died unmarried.

Paston, Anne    see   Yelverton, Anne

Paston, Lady Anne    see   Beaufort, Lady Anne

Paston, Elizabeth – (1429 – 1488)
English Plantagenet gentlewoman
Elizabeth Paston was born (July 1, 1429), the only daughter of William Paston I (1378 – 1444), of Paston, Norfolk, and his wife Agnes Berry of Hertfordshire. Despite many possible marital arrangements, Elizabeth Paston remained unmarried until she was nearly thirty, when she made the first of her aristocratic marriages (Nov, 1458) with Sir Robert Poynings. He served as carver and sword bearer to the rebel leader Jack Cade and was killed at the Battle of St Albans (1461), leaving Elizabeth with an infant son the future Sir Edward Poynings (1459 – 1521) who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland (1494 – 1496) under Henry VII. The house in Southwark in London where Lady Elizabeth’s son was born later became famous as the Crosskey’s Tavern.
In spite of family opposition led by her brother-in-law Sir Edward Poynings, the master of Arundel College, Lady Poynings was permiited to retain her husband property in Kent for her maintenance and that of her child. Lady Poynings remarried secondly (1472) to Sir George Browne, of Betchworth, Surrey, who was later executed by order of Richard III (1483). There were two further children. Her will survives, and in it she made no mention of her Paston relatives at all. Some of her surviving letters were published in the famous Paston Letters. Elizabeth Paston died (Feb 11, 1488) aged fifty-eight.

Paston, Katherine Knyvet, Lady – (1578 – 1629)
English letter writer
Lady Katherine’s letters to her son Sir William Paston, and others concerning his affairs, have survived. They were compiled with added notes by Ruth Hughey and published in Norfolk, England by the Norfolk Record Society (1941).

Paston, Margaret – (1423 – 1484) 
English medieval estate manager and letter writer
Margaret Mautby was born at Reedham, Norfolk, the daughter of John Mautby, of Mautby, near Yarmouth, Essex. Through her mother she was related to Sir John Falstoff. Her stepfather was Ralph Garneys, of Geldeston, Norfolk. Margaret Mautby inherited her father’s estates (1433) and was married (c1436) to John Paston I (1421 – 1466), the wealthy merchant, whose father William had been the executor of her father’s will, and to whom she bore seven children. During her husband’s abscences on parliamentary business after 1460, Margaret Paston managed the family estate in Norfolk, on one occasion organizing the successful defence of the house when it was attacked by sixty armed men sent during the Wars of the Roses.
Her letters to her husband and others were written in a lively and entertaining style, and a large selection of the famous Paston Letters were addressed to Margaret, or written for her by a household scribe. With John Paston’s death (1466) and burial in Bromholm Abbey, Margaret removed to the town of Norwich until 1474, when she returned to reside at her old family home at Mautby. Margaret Paston died (Nov, 1484) aged sixty-one, and was buried at Mautby. Her children were,

• John Paston II (1442 – 1479). He was engaged to Anne Haute, but never married her. He left an illegitimate daughter.
• Sir John Paston (1444 – 1504). He was knighted at the Battle of Stoke (1487), was married twice, and left descendants.
• Margery Paston (c1448 – before 1482). She was married to her family’s farm manager, Richard Calle (died c1503) of Framlingham, Norfolk, and left issue.
• Edmund Paston (c1450 – 1503). He was married twice but left no surviving issue.
• Walter Paston (c1456 – 1479). He died at Oxford whilst studying for the clergy.
• Anne Paston (c1457 – 1495). She was married to William Yelverton (died 1500), and left issue.
• William Paston III (1459 – after 1503). He remained unmarried and died insane.

Paston, Margery    see    Calle, Margery

Paston, Dame Margery – (c1459 – 1495)
English Plantagenet noblewoman
Margery Brews was the daughter of Sir Thomas Brews and his second wife. Her marriage with Sir John Paston (1444 – 1504) was a love match, as revealed in the Paston Letters. The couple resided at Swainsthorpe until the death of her mother-in-law, Margaret Paston (1484) when they inherited various estates. Her husband was knighted at the Battle of Stoke (1487) and Margery became Lady Paston. She left three surviving children including William Paston IV (1479 – 1554), who attended Cambridge, and served at the court of Henry VII (1485 – 1509). He was the ancestor of the later Paston descendants. Lady Margery was interred at Whiefriars Priory, at Norwich, Norfolk.

Paston Brown, Dame Beryl – (1909 – 1997)
British educator
Beryl Paston Brown was born (March 7, 1909) and attended high school at Stretahm before going on to study at Newnham College at Cambridge. She worked as a lecturer at the London Day Training College and at the Portsmouth Training College. She was later an assistant lecturer at Newnham (1944 – 1946) before being appointed as principal of the Leicester Training College (1952 – 1961) and then of Homerton College at Cambridge (1961 – 1971). In recognition to her services to education she was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1967). Dame Beryl Paston Brown died (July 25, 1997) aged eighty-eight.

Pasztory, Ditta – (1902 – 1982)
Hungarian pianist
Ditta Pasztory was originally the student, and then the second wife (1923) of composer and pianist Bela Bartok (1881 – 1945), and he dedicated to her his Piano Sonata (1926). Husband and wife removed to New York in America (1940), where they performed in concerts together. With Bartok’s death, Pasztory returned to Budapest (1946) where she performed two piano recitals of her later husband’s work. Gradually she established for herself an international reputation as the foremost interpreter of Bartok’s music, though she kept a reclusive existence. Madame Bartok died (Nov 21, 1982) aged eighty, in Budapest.

Pateria – (fl. 591)
Gallo-Roman patrician
Pateria was the sister of Silvia, the wife of Gordianus, and was the maternal aunt of Pope Gregory I. A surviving letter from Pope Gregory (March, 591), preserved in his Epistolarum Registrum, orders that his official Anthemius in Campania, make a payment of corn to his aunt, as well as a gift of gold, apparently to buy shoes for her slaves.

Paterna – (c825 – 861)
Queen consort of the Asturias
Paterna was a member of the family of the ancient counts of Castile. She became the second wife (c842) of Ramiro I Vermudez (791 – 850), King of the Asturias, whom she survived a decade.
Queen Paterna appears to have held certain rights to the county of Castile which she passed to her son Infante Rodrigo Ramirez (c844 – 873) who left descendants.

Paterson, Betty – (1895 – 1964)
Australian painter and author
Betty was the younger sister of Esther Paterson, and studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, Victoria. She was married to Albion Wiltshire. Betty Paterson wrote articles for various British and Australian publications and during WW I she published and illustrated a book of nursery rhymes entitled Five Little Bush Girls (1918) the proceeds of which went into the Australian Comforts Fund. She especially known for her portraits of children and was later elected a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Paterson, Dame Betty Fraser Ross – (1916 – 2005)
British civil servant
Betty Paterson was born (March 14, 1916), the daughter of Robert Ross Paterson and was educated at the Harrogate College and the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland, where she trained as a physiotherapist. She was married (1940) to Ian Douglas Paterson, to whom she bore two children. Betty Paterson became involved in local government and was a prominent figure on the Hertfordshire County Council (1952 – 1974), serving as an alderman and then as chairman (1969 – 1973). She was then appointed as chairman of the North West Thames Regional Health Health Authority (1973 – 1984) and appointed CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1973) in recognition of her public service. She was later made DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) (1981). Dame Betty served on the boards of several prominent London hospitals including the Metropolitan Regional and the Royal Hospital of St Bartholomew (1960 – 1974), and was also a member of the board of Bishop’s Stortford College (1967 – 1981). Dame Betty Paterson died (March 15, 2005) aged eighty-nine.

Paterson, Emma Anne – (1848 – 1886)
British trade unionist
Emma was born in London, the daughter of a schoolmaster. She learnt the bookbinding trade and later became the secretary to the Working Men’s Club and Institute Union (1866 – 1872). Emma was married (1873) to Thomas Paterson (died 1882). She was elected president of the Women’s Suffrage Association (1872) and founded the Women’s Protective and Provident League to aid the establishment of trade unions for women workers in London. Emma Paterson was the first woman to be admitted as a delegate to the Trade Union Congress in Glasgow, Scotland (1875), where she represented bookbinders, and was the founder of the Women’s Printing Society, and co-founder and editor of the Women’s Union Journal (1876).

Paterson, Esther – (1892 – 1971)
Australian painter and illustrator
Esther Paterson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the elder sister of Betty Paterson. She studied painting at the National Gallery School and became a member of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Esther Paterson exhibited her work with the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors and examples are preserved at the National Gallery of Victoria.  With her younger sister Betty she illustrated the children’s book Five Little Bush Girls (1918) the sales of which went to help the war effort. She then provided the illustrations for two other works for children Rossiter’s Farm (1920) and Cousin From Town (1922) both written by M.G. Bruce.

Paterson, Jennifer Mary – (1928 – 1999)
British television presenter and culinary writer
Jennifer Paterson was born in London, the daughter of Robert Edward Paterson, a businessman and former army officer, and was educated at the Convent of the Assumption at Ramsgate.
Paterson had an interesting and varied career, beginning as assistant stage manager with the Windsor Repertory Company (1944) and resided variously in Portugal, Berlin, Sicily, and Benghazi. She was later the editor at Norman Kark Publications (1953), and appeared on Jonathon Routh’s Candid Camera (1960).
Developing her skills as a cook, she was later matron of the upper class Padworth School (1964) and cook and housekeeper at the Ugandan Legation (1968). From 1975 – 1990 she worked with The Spectator magazine, and cooked for such prominent people as author Graham Greene, the Prince of Wales, Enoch Powell, and American politician, Spiro Agnew. Paterson became world famous with her friend Clarissa Dixon-Wright in the hugely successful television series Two Fat Ladies (1996), Food & Drink (1997) and Wish You Were Here (1998). Popular and eccentric celebrities in Britain, both were invited to the fiftieth birthday celebration of Prince Charles (1998). She was the author of Feast Days (1990), Two Fat Ladies (1996), Jennifer’s Diary (1997), Two Fat Ladies Ride Again (1997) and Jennifer Paterson’s Seasonal Recipes (1998). Jennifer Paterson died of lung cancer (Aug 10, 1999) aged seventy-one, in London.

Paterson, Kathryn – (1962 – 1999)
Australian censor
Kathryn Paterson was born in Sydney, New South Wales and attended Lochinvar College, near Maitland and graduated from university, with honours in psychology, and later completing a law degree. Employed as regional literature inspector within the Attorney-General’s Department, Paterson was appointed to the film censorshio board (1988), the youngest person to have ever held that position. She later joined the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (1991). She was later appointed chief censor of film and literature in New Zealand, the first chief executive of the recently established Classification Office. Kathy Paterson died of cancer (Sept 20, 1999) aged thirty-six, in Sydney.

Paterson, Rose Isabella – (1844 – 1893)
Australian letter writer
Rose Barton was the daughter of Robert Johnson Barton of Boree Nyrang station, and his wife Emily Mary Darvall. She was married (1863) to the grazier, Andrew Bogle Paterson (1833 – 1889). Rose was the mother of seven children, including the famous poet and balladist Andrew ‘Banjo’ Paterson (1864 – 1941), whom she raised on the remote outback station at Illalong in western New South Wales. Many of her family letters, mainly addressed to her sister Nora over a fifteen year period (1873 – 1888) have survived. In them Rose left a detailed chronicle of life in the Australian bush, and they have been edited and published.

Patey, Janet Monach – (1842 – 1894) 
Scottish contralto vocalist
Born Janet Whytock in Holborn, London, she was the daughter of a businessman. She trained as a singer under John Wass and made her stage debut at Birmingham in Lancashire, where she appeared as ‘Ellen Andrews.’ After further musical training she embarked upon a successful concert tour (1865) and then married the opera singer John Patey (1866). Patey performed as the principal contralto at various English festivals, and then toured the USA (1871) and Paris (1875). The Italians loved her and referred to her as ‘the English Alboni’ (Marietta Alboni). She later toured Australia and New Zealand, as well as China and Japan. Janet Monach Patey died in Sheffield, Yorkshire, of apoplexy in the midst of a concert.

Patil, Smita – (1955 – 1986)
Indian actress and film star
Smita Patil began her career with a theatre group in Poona. As a young woman she became a television newsreader (1972) in Bombay, which led to her being given the lead role in the film Nishant (1975). Her success in this role made Patil an overnight movie success. Patil followed this with her highly commendable performance in Bhumika (1978) based on the life of a great Marathi actress, which was produced by director Shyam Benegal.  Other film credits include Mandi (1983) and Raowan (1984).

Paton, Mary Ann – (1802 – 1864)
British coloratura and lyric soprano
Mary Ann Paton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of a writing master, and settled with her family in London (1811). She appeared in public concerts from childhood and joined the company at the Haymarket Theatre (1822) and performed at Covent Garden. Paton was married firstly (1824 – 1831) to Lord William Pitt Lennox, from whom she was divorced, and secondly (1831) to the tenor, Joseph Wood. A brilliant coloratura performer she performed the role of Rezia in Weber’s Oberon in London (1826) and visited the USA with her second husband (1840).

Patricia – (c610 – c665)
Greek saint
Patricia was a connection of the Imperial family of Constantinople. She was said to have fled to Italy in order to escape an unwanted marriage and became a nun in Rome. Patricia later returned to Constantinople where she distributed her wealth amongst the poor. She then returned to Italy and died in Naples. Patricia was honoured as the patron saint of Naples (1625), and like St Januarius, a vial believed to be filled with her blood was reportedly liquified thirteen hundred years after her death. Surviving accounts of her life written in Naples and elsewhere remain full of extravagant and absurd claims, such as making her an empress and the daughter of Emperor Contantine the Great. Her feast was celebrated (Aug 25).

Patrick, Gail – (1911 – 1980)
American film actress
Born Margaret Fitzpatrick, Gail Patrick became a leading movie actress of the 1930’s and 1940’s, and appeared in films such as Cradle Song (1933), Artists and Models (1937), Reno (1940), Women in Bondage (1944) and many others. Gail Patrick later retired from the screen and worked as a successful producer of popular television programs most notably the Perry Mason series (1957 – 1966), which starred Raymond Burr as the detective hero.

Patrick, Lee – (1906 – 1982)
American actress
Lee Patrick was born in New York and began her stage career on Broadway at an early age. Her early film career included appearances in Strange Cargo (1929), and in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Vertigo (1958). Lee Patrick’s other film credits included appearances in The Seven Faces of Dr Lao (1964) with Barbara Eden, Mrs Parkinson (1944) with Greer Garson, Now Voyager (1942), with Bette Davis and Claude Rains, Mildred Pierce (1944) with Joan Crawford, Pillow Talk (1959) with Doris Day and Rock Hudson and The Snake Pit (1947) with Olivia de Havilland.
However she was best remembered in the role of Effie Perrine, the secretary to Humphrey Bogart, who played the private eye Sam Spade in the classic film The Maltese Falcon (1941). Patrick retired from movies in 1964, though she returned a decade later to re-create her former role opposite George Segal in the comic take-off of the original film The Black Bird (1975). She also appeared on television, most notably as Henrietta Topper, in the popular series Topper (1953 – 1956). Lee Patrick died (Nov 21, 1982) aged seventy-six, in Laguna Hills, California.

Patrikia – (fl. c566) 
Graeco-Roman musical muse
Patrikia was probably native to the village of Aphrodite, near the city of Antaiopolis, in the Thebaid region of Egypt. The papyrus archives of the poet and scholar Flavius Dioskoros were discovered at Aphrodite, across the Nile from Antaiopolis (1905 – 1907). Included was an epithalamion (wedding-song), composed for Patrikia by Discorus, to commemorate her marriage to one Paulus. The work was composed in dactylic hexameter (epic metre). Disocorus refers to Patrikia in the beginning of the poem as ‘Tritogeneia’ the traditional epithet of the Greek goddess Athena.

Patrizi, Cunegonda von der Lausitz, Marchesa – (1774 – 1828)
Saxon-Italian society figure, papal courtier, and memoirist
Born Countess Cunegonda Anna Helene Marie Josepha von der Lausitz at Chaumont (March 18, 1774), she was the fourth daughter of Prince Xavier of Saxony and his morganatic wife Contessa Chiara (Clara) Spinucci of Fermo, who was granted the title of countess von der Lausitz, the title being borne by all the children of the marriage. Cunigonda was married in Rome (1796) to an Italian nobleman, marchese Giovanni Patrizi Naro Montoro (1775 – 1818). The couple had three sons.
The marchesa and her family remained resident in Rome during the time that the French emperor Napoleon retained control of the city and its environs, though her husband was exiled and imprisoned  at Civita Vecchia because of his political affiliations and because he refused to permit their children to be educated in France. Despite desperate efforts on his behalf she was unable to retain his release and when it was discovered that the couple had been secretly corresponding together, the marchese was removed and placed under strict surveillance at Fenestrelle. The marchesa was later reunited with Giovanni after twenty years with the victory of the Allied forces (1814).
Cunegonda survived Giovanni as the Dowager Marchesa Patrizi (1818 – 1828). The marchesa left memoirs which covered the first two decades of her married life. One hundred copies of this work entitled The Patrizi Memoirs: a Roman family under Napoleon, 1796 – 1815, were later printed by her descendant, the Marchesa Maddalena Patrizi, and a copy presented to Pope Pius X (1903 – 1914). They were later translated into English, and published in London (1915) by the noted author Mrs Hugh (Mary) Fraser. Marchesa Cunegonda died (Oct 18, 1828) aged fifty-four, in Rome.

Patterson, Alicia – (1906 – 1963)
American newspaper editor and publisher
Alicia Patterson was born (Oct 15, 1906) in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Joseph Medill Patterson, editor of the Chicago Tribune and founder of the New York Daily News, and was the niece of Eleanor Medill Patterson. Alicia was raised on a farm and attended college in Chicago before goin on to finishing school at Lausanne, Switzerland. She was married (1927) to James Simpson from whom she was later divorced (1930). Alicia trained as a transport pilot and then remarried to fellow pilot Joseph Brooks (1931 – 1938), though this union ended in divorce as well. Her third marriage was (1939) the former ambassador and diplomat, Harry Guggenheim. Alicia Patterson established the Newsday publication (1940), which she managed until her death. Her husband managed the paper until 1970 when he sold his interest to the publishers of the Los Angeles Times. Alicia Patterson died (July 2, 1963) aged fifty-six, in New York.

Patterson, Eleanor Medill – (1881 – 1948)
American heiress and newspaper editor
Eleanor Patterson was the daughter of Robert W. Patterson, and was sister to Joseph Medill Patterson, the founder of the New York Daily News. Eleanor was the aunt of newspaper manager Alicia Patterson, and was popularly known as ‘Cissy.’ She became Countess Gizycka by marriage. Patterson owned and operated the Washington Times-Herald.

Patterson, Theodora    see   Eyton-Jones, Theodora

Patti, Adelina – (1843 – 1919)
Italian-Anglo soprano
Adela Juana Maria Patti was born (Feb 19, 1843) in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of the Sicilian tenor Salvatore Patti, and his wife, the opera singer Caterina Barili. Adelina was the younger sister of Carlotta Patti. Her family immigrated to America (1846) and Adelina first appeared on stage in New York at the age of seven (1851) under the tutelage of impressario Maurice Strakosch, who married her sister Amelia (1861). She made her debut there as Lucia in Gaetano Donizett’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1859). She then toured Europe and America, performing at Buckingham Palace before Queen Victoria, and made her Paris debut (1862) before Napoleon III and the empress Eugenie.
Adelina gained the reputation as one of the greatest operatic prima donnas of all time, and was also known for her regal manner and bearing. Her fame was such that by1882 she would not sing for less than thirty thousand pounds a performance. She made a highly financially profitable farewell tour of the USA (1903), and made her last public appearance in London at the Albert Hall at the age of seventy-one (1914). Adelina Patti was married firstly (1868) Henri, marquis de Caux, son and heir of Francois Christophe Edmond de Kellerman, Duc de Valmy, the union haing been arranged by the Empress Eugenie. The marriage remained childless, and the couple were later divorced (1885). She quickly remarried to the Breton tenor, Ernesto Nicolini (1834 – 1898), after whose death she married (1899) her third and final husband, the Swedish-born Englishman, Baron Rolf Cederstrom. Madame Patti died (Sept 27, 1919) aged seventy-six, at her country estate of Craig-y-nos Castle, near Swansea, in Breconshire, Wales.

Patti, Amelia – (1831 – 1915)
Italian soprano
Amelia was the daughter to the tenor Salvatore Patti, and his wife, the soprano Caterina Barili. She was the elder sister to Carlotta and Adelina Patti. Amelia became the wife (1861) of the famous impressario Maurice Strakosch.

Patti, Carlotta – (1840 – 1899)
Italian soprano
Carlotta Patti was born in Florence, the daughter of tenor Salvatore Patti, and his wife, the opera singer Caterina Barili. She was the elder sister of soprano Adelina Patti. She immigrated to the United States with her family (1846), being already trained by her father in the singing of arias, as well as receiving additional training from her half-brother Ettore Barili. She attained an eminent career as a concert coloratura soprano performer. Carlotta Patti died (June 27, 1889) in Paris.

Pattison, Dorothy Wyndlow – (1832 – 1878) 
Britsh nurse and philanthropist
Dorothy Pattison was born in Hauxwell, Yorkshire, the daughter of a clergyman, and was sister of the literary scholar Mark Pattison. She trained as a schoolteacher and was appointed as headmistress at Bletchley near Newport Paganell in Buckinghamshire. Dorothy Pattison never married and joined (1864) the Anglican Sisterhood of the Good Samaritan at Coatham, near Redcar. Popularly known as ‘Sister Dora,’ she refused to take final vows, though her religion remained ever important to her daily life. She broke off her own engagement with a physician as it would take her away from her nursing ovcation. Dorothy was later sent to oversee the public convalescent hospital at Walsall, near Birmingham, in Lancashire and became sister-in-charge.

Patton, Janelle Louise – (1972 – 2002)
Australian murder victim
Janelle Patton was the daughter of Ronald Patton, of Pennant Hills, Sydney, New South Wales, and was educated in Sydney. She later joined the hopsitality industry and trained in hotel management. Patton came to Norfolk Island in the Pacific where worked as the manager of a local restaurant (1999). Her body was found wrapped in black plastic (March 31, 2002) on a route she had used for her regular exercise walk. This murder created great media sensation in Australia and on Norfolk Island, which possessed a permanent population of less than two thousand, and where no murder had been recorded for one hundred and fifty years. Residents assisted police with DNA swabs and fingerprints. A New Zealand chef living on the island at the time was later jailed as her killer (2006).

Pauker, Ana – (1893 – 1956)
Jewish-Romanian politician
Born Ana Rabinsohn, she was the daughter of a Moravian rabbai. She was educated in Bucharest and then studied medicine in Zurich, Switzerland. Upon her return to Romania she became interested in politics and joined (1915) the Social Democrat Party. Ana was closely associated with the revolutionary movement, and was married (1920) to Marcel Pauker, with whom she joined the Communist Party (1922). Ana Pauker was arrested by the authorities (1925), but managed to escape to safety in Russia until 1934, when she attempted to return to Romania, but was immediately arrested. Later released she spent the duration of WW II in Russia, and was only able to return permanently after the overthrow of the dictator Ion Antonescu (1944).  Several months later she assisted with the establishment of new Romanian government, under the control of Josef Stalin. Pauker was later appointed to the Foreign Ministry (1947), the first woman in the world to ever hold such a post, but was later removed from office with Stalin’s permission (1952) on charges of deviation from party politics.

Paul, Alice – (1885 – 1977)
American feminist
Alice Paul was born in Mooretown, New Jersey, of Quaker parents. Educated at Swarthmore College and the New York School of Philanthropy, and travelled to England in 1907 to further her complete her studies. There Alice became involved with the suffrage movement led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, and was arrested nd imprisoned three times in one year (1909) for involvement in militant demonstrations. Alice returned to America and obtained a degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania (1912). She organized enormous suffrage parades in New York, and even led pickets to the White House.
In 1913 she founded the National American Suffrage Alliance, but then formed her own more militant National Women’s Party in 1916. A brilliant public orator, Alice Paul organized her party to fight for the Equal rights Amendment (ERA) (1923) after women won the franchise (1918). She campaigned continually throughout the 1920’s and in 1928 founded the World Party for Equal Rights for Women. Alice continued to fight for social reform for women for decades, until ill-health forced her to retire from Washington to Connecticut. Paul was the author of The Legal Position of Women in Pennsylvania. Alice Paul suffered a stroke and died in Moorestown.

Paul, Almira – (1790 – after 1814)
American sailor and prostitute
Almira Paul was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was married at fifteen to a sailor to whom she bore two children.  When he was killed in action at sea, she resolved to go to sea herself in male attire, and joined the British cutter Dolphin, as the cock’s mate under the name of Jack Brown. Paul saw action on several British and American vessels. Sentenced to be flogged after she kicked the ship’s cook overboard, she managed to retain the secret of her sex b y wearing a shirt throughout the flogging. Later captured by Algerian pirates, she was released in Algiers through the intervention of the British consul. Returning to England, she actually married a woman and fled to Jamaica before her sex could be revealed. Arriving in Baltimore, America aboard the Macedonian, Paul returned to female attire to avoid arrest. Forced to become a prostitiute there to survive, she was later imprisoned in Boston for failing to pay her landlord. Her later career remains unknown.

Paul, Queenie – (1894 – 1982)
Australian vaudeville entertainer and producer
Born Evelyn Pauline Harding (Dec 13, 1894) in Sydney, New South Wales, as a teenager she fled home and joined the chorus of the J.C. Williamson troupe (1909). Queenie was married to the American entertainer Mike Connors (died 1949), with whom she produced stage shows and established the Tivoli vaudeville shows in the Sydney Grand Opera House, which showcased such famous performers as Roy Rene and the comedian George Wallace (1895 – 1960). Best known for such songs as ‘Charmaine’ and ‘Bye-Bye Blackbird,’ Queenie Paul died (July 31, 1982) aged eighty-seven, in Sydney.

Paula – (347 – 404 AD)
Roman Christian matron and saint
Paula was the daughter of the patrician Rogatus, a descendant of Agamemnon, King of Sparta, and his wife Blaesilla, who was a descendant of the Scipio and Gracchi families, and of Paullus Aemilius. She was also related to Furia, the daughter-in-law, of Petronius Probus, consul (371 BC). Paula was married to Toxotius (c335 – 379 AD), of the Julii family, to whom she bore five children, including Paulina, the wife of Pammachius, and Julia Eustochium. After the death of her husband, she took instruction in the Hebrew language and Bible study from St Jerome, and with her dughter Eustochium, she followed him to Bethlehem, travelling on a pilgrimage via Egypt and Palestine (385 AD). There they founded a monastery and convent. Regarded as a saint, she was venerated as such (Jan 26) the day of her death.

Paule, Teodora de    see    Fregoso, Teodora

Paulet, Angelique – (1592 – 1651)
French poet
Angelique Paulet was the daughter of a magistrate who levied the tax known as ‘la Paulette.’ Beautiful, and possessed of the social graces, she attended the precieuse salon at the Blue Room of Madame de Rambouillet. Sometimes known as ‘Lyonne’ many popular songs were written to celebrate her beauty and talents.

Paulet, Elizabeth Blount, Lady – (c1515 – 1593)
English Tudor educational patron
Elizabeth Blount was born at Osbaston in Leicestershire. She was married firstly to Anthony Batsford (died in 1538). She remarried secondly to Sir Thomas Pope (c1507 – 1559), and thirdly to Sir Hugh Paulet (died 1572). Lady Paulet was an active supporter and patron of Trinity College at Oxford University. Elizabeth Paulet died (Oct 27, 1593) at Tittenhanger.

Paulina – (c1050 – 1107) 
German nun
As a widow Paulina founded the Benedictine anney of Cella Paulina in Mayence, and became a recluse there. Her son Wernher was a monk at the abbey of Hirsauge in Thuringia but later removed with twelve other monks to his mother’s foundation. Paulina was honoured as a saint (March 14).

Paulina, Caecilia – (c185 – 236 AD)
Roman Augusta (235 – 236 AD)
Caecilia Paulina was the daughter of consul Paulus. She was married (c202 AD) to Maximinus Thrax (the Thracian) (c172 – 238 AD), who took the Imperial throne in 235 AD, after the assassination of Alexander Severus. Caecilia Paulina was granted the Imperial titles and was deified after her death. She had been claimed by the Christian historians as one of their own, but this identification was based on wrongly interpreted evidence. She paid for the building of a temple to the four seasons. Possessed of beauty and a kindly disposition, she is said to have done much to try and ameliorate her husband’s incredible temper. The story that Maximinus killed her because he had tired of her importunities for mercy need not be believed. Her son, Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus (c205 – 238 AD) was granted the title of Caesar, but was later murdered with his father. The empress was commemorated on the coinage.

Pauline Mathilde Ida – (1854 – 1914)
Duchess of Wurttemburg
Princess Pauline was born (April 11, 1854) at Dusseldorf, the younger daughter of Duke Eugen of Wurttemburg (1820 – 1875) and his wife Princess Matilda Augusta of Schaumburg-Lippe, the daughter of George I Wilhelm (1784 – 1860), Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. She renounced her royal rank and title as a royal duchess in order to marry Melchior Hans Ottokar Wilhlem Dremed (1855 – 1910) a physician with Jewish antecedents, at Karlsruhe in Silesia. The marriage was not officially recognized and Pauline was created Madame von Kirbach. She resided with her husband in Breslau in Silesia and produced several children who were not acknowledged by their royal kin. The former princess died (April 23, 1914) aged sixty, in Breslau.

Paulla, Sergia – (fl. c80 – c100 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Sergia Paulla was the sister of Lucius Sergius Paullus, consul (c70 AD). She became the wife of Gaius Caristanius Fronto, consul (90 AD), who served as governor of Lycia and Pamphylia in Asia Minor (81 – 83 AD), during the reign of the Emperor Domitian (81 – 96 AD). Sergia Paulla was the mother of Gaius Caristanius Paulinuus, who was honoured with an inscription at Cadyanda in Lycia, and she was the aunt of Sergia Paullina, the wife of consul suffect Cornelius Piniarius Severus.

Paullina, Fabia Aconia – (c320 – 385 AD)
Roman poet
Fabia Aconia Paullina was the daughter of Aco Catullinus Philomathius, consul (349 AD), and the granddaughter of Aco Catullinus, proconsul of Africa (317 – 318 AD). She was married (c337 AD) to Vettius Agorius Praetextatus (c300 – 384 AD), the praetorian prefect and conusl designate (385 AD).Paullina resided with her husband for almost five decades, and fully shared his intellectual beliefs. A devout pagan, she erected a statue to the Vestal virgin Coelia Concordia. At her husband’s death she commemorated him by writing a surviving elegiac inscription for his epitaph, in which she listed his public offices after his pagan priesthoods. St Jerome however consigned Praetextatus to the outer darkness and ‘not the heavenly palace of her imagination.’

Paullina, Pompeia – (c15 – c70 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Pompeia Paulina was probably the daughter of Pompeius Paullinus, the Imperial legate who commanded the Roman army in Germany during the reign of Nero (58 AD). She was married (c30 AD) to the younger Seneca (c4 – 65 AD), the tutor of the young Nero. The marriage remained childless. When her husband was implicated in the conspiracy of Piso and incurred the displeasure of Nero, the emperor ordered him to die (65 AD). Tacitus recorded in his Annales that Paullina insisted in opening her veins and dying with him. Nero however forced her wounds to be bound and forcibly saved her life. Tacitus recorded that; ‘Nero did not dislike Paullina personally. In order, therefore, to avoid increasing his ill-repute for cruelty, he ordered her suicide to be averted. So, on instructions from the soldiers, slaves and ex-slaves bandaged her arms and stopped the bleeding. She may have been unconscious. But discreditable versions are always popular, and some took a different view – that as long as she feared there was no appeasing Nero, she coveted the distinction of dying with her husband, but when better prospects appeared life’s attractions got the better of her. She lived on for a few years, honourably loyal to her husband’s memory, with pallid features and limbs which showed how much vital blood she had lost.’

Pavelic, Myfanwy Spencer – (1916 – 2007)
Canadian portraitist and painter
Pavelic was born (April 27, 1916). She was one of the few Canadian artists who have had their works exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Pavelic was a founding member of the CPA (Canadian Portrait Academy) and was the recipient of several high honours in recognition of her work most notably she was appointed as member of the Order of Canada (1984) and a member of the Order of British Columbia (2001). Myfanwy Pavelic died (May 7, 2007) aged ninety-one.

Pavlichenko, Liudmila Mikhailovna – (1916 – 1974)
Russian military officer and war heroine
Liudmila Pavlichenko was drafted into the Soviet army during World War II (1941). She graduated successfully from the Vystrel Courses training regime (1943), and became famous with the Russian people as a daring and fearsome sniper. With the end of the war she joined the Bolshevik Party (1945), and was later employed as a researcher at the headquarters of the Red Navy till 1953.

Pavlova, Anna Pavlovna – (1881 – 1931)
Russian ballerina,
Anna Pavlova was born in St Petersburg, the daughter of a soldier and a laundress and trained at the Imperial Ballet School at the Mariinsky Theatre (Kirov State Theatre) under Enrico Cecchetti. She graduated in 1899, and became established as a prima ballerina seven years later (1906). Pavlova quickly established herself firmly on the world stage, creating roles which she would make eternally famous such as The Dying Swan (1907) by Mikhail Fokine. She spent several years with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe she teamed up with Mikhail Mordkin and toured Europe with her own ballet company, and established a permanent home for herself at Golders Green, in London, England (1912).
Pavlova’s last appearance in Russia was in 1913, and she never returned. Her own repertoire included almost two dozen roles, and she beccame especially famed for her interpretation of Giselle. A world celebrity, she charmed journalists, dressed with elegance, and was continually photographed. Anna Pavlovna died of pleurisy (Jan 23, 1931) aged fifty, at the Hotel des Indes, in The Hague, in Holland, whilst preparing to go on tour.

Pavlova, Maria Vasilievna – (1854 – 1938)
Russian palaeontologist
Maria was born at Kozelsk, the daughter of Vassily Pavlov. She studied and majored in palaeontology under Professor Godri in Paris, and on her return to Moscow she was appointed professor at the Moscow University, where she specialized in prehistoric animal remains. Maria was married to the geologist Alexei Petrovich Pavlov (1854 – 1929), together they founded the Geological Museum at the Moscow University, later known as the Pavlova Geological Institute in their honour.
Maria Pavlova died in Moscow.

Pavlovskaia, Emilia Pavlovna – (1853 – 1935)
Russian soprano
Born Emilia Berman in St Petersburg, she studied singing at the St Petersburg Conservatory, and graduated in 1873. Emilia made her stage debut in Italy, and performed with the Malta Opera, appearing in Kiev and Odessa, and Tiflis in Georgia, and also at Kharkov. Attached to the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinskii Theatre as a soloist (1883 – 1889), from 1895 Emilia was employed as a vocal instructor at the Bolshoi Theatre Opera Class. Emilia Pavlovskaia died in Moscow.

Paxaea – (c10 BC – 35 AD)
Roman Imperial courtier
Paxaea was the wife of Pomponius Laebo, governor of Moesia. She and her husband were both guilty of extortion during her husband’s period in office. Being accused of such to the Emperor Tiberius, and fearing imperial retribution, the couple committed suicide by opening their veins. Tacitus records their deaths in his Annales, stating that they committed suicide in order to preserve the family estates. The emperor however wrote to the Senate and remarked that, “…Labeo, charged with the misgovernment of his province and other offences, had tried to conceal his crime by maliciously implying persecution and unnecessarily alarming his wife, who --- though guilty --- had been in no danger.”

Paxinou, Katina – (1900 – 1973)
Greek tragedy actress, she was born in Piraeus, Athens, and studied acting at the Geneva Odeon. She made her stage debut in the title role of the opera Beatrice by Dimitri Mitropoulos. Paxinou was later attached to the Marika Cotopouli Company, and then formed her own company with the assistance of Alexis Minotis, whom she later married. She worked with the Greek National Theatre, and appeared in the classical role of Sophocles’s Elektra, when that company toured England (1939). Paxinou performed the plays of Henrik Ibsen when she joined up with the Charles Cochran, and performed again in London (1940).
The intervention of World War II prevented Paxinou’s return to Athens, so she travelled to the USA, where she performed Ibsen’s Hedda Gabbler on Broadway. She returned to Athens several years after the end of the war (1953) and assisted with the revival of the ancient classical Greek tragedies. Paxinou appeared in two films whilst in America, appearing as Pilar in Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and in Uncle Silas (1946). Katina Paxinou died (Feb 22, 1973) aged seventy-two, in Athens.

Paxton, Marie – (1905 – 1992)
Anglo-American stage actress
Marie Paxton was born in London, the daughter of actor Sydney Paxton, and came from a well known theatrical family. Her stage experience began during early childhood. Marie accompanied her family to the USA, where she appeared in such Broadway productions as Pickwick (1927) and Napoleon (1928). She later appeared in The Three Sisters with Katharine Cornell and Dame Judith Anderson, The Chalk Garden, with Dame Gladys Cooper, and O Mistress Mine with Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne during the 1940’s. Her other notable stage roles included that of Lady Brockhurst in The Boy Friend (1970) and Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady.  Marie Paxton died (Aug 16, 1992) in New York.

Payne, Edith Frances   see   Robinson, Edie

Payne, Millicent – (1910 – 1967)
Jamaican poet
Millicent Payne was born in Barbados. She produced one collection of stories entitled Short Stories: Check and Mate, the Barbados Gift Book (1941).

Payne, Sylvia May – (1880 – 1974)
British psychoanalyst and author
Sylvia Payne was the daughter of a clergyman ans studied medicine in London. She was married to a surgeon to whom she bore three children. During WW I she served as the commandant and medical officer at the Red Cross Hospital in Torquay, for which valuable service she was appointed CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by King George V (1918). Sylvia then worked as a psychiatrist at the London Clinic of Psychanalysis and was a fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia Helena – (1900 – 1979)
Anglo-American astronomer and university lecturer
Cecilia Payne was born in Wendover in Buckinghamshire, the daughter of a lawyer. She attended Newnham College, Cambridge to study natural science and decided upon a career in astronomy. Cecilia travelled to the USA so she could study at the Harvard College Observatory under the guidance of Harlow Shapley (1885 – 1972). She was the author of Stellar Atmospheres (1925), and her especial field of research concerned the chemical elements of which the stars and the universe consisted. She was married to fellow astronomer Sergei Gaposchkin and became a professor at Harvard and headed the university’s astronomy department (1956 – 1960). With her husband she published a catalogue of variable stars (1938) which had been compiled by using photographic plates. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin died (Dec 6, 1979) aged seventy-nine, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Paynel, Eleanor    see   Vitre, Eleanor de

Paynel, Jeanne – (1404 – c1456)
French mediaeval heiress
Jeanne was the daughter and heiress Fouques Paynel, Seigneur de Hambuie and Bricquebec. She was the paternal granddaughter of Guillaume Paynel II, Baron d’Hambuie and his wife Jeanne de Bricquebec, the daughter of Robert VII, Seigneur de Bricquebec. With the early deaths of her parents (1408) Jeanne was betrothed by her guardians to Gilles de Rais (1404 – 1440) the infamous Marshal of France. News of the engagement so horrified society that the Paris Parlement annulled the betrothal and provided her with new guardians. She was eventually married to Louis d’Estouteville to whom she brought the seigneurie of Bricquebec. It later passed to the families of the ducs de longueville and the ducs de Luynes. When the English invaders arrived in Normandy she and her husband defended their chateau against the forces of Henry V. They were blockaded in but received honourable terms.

Payton, Barbara – (1927 – 1967)
American film actress
Payton was born in Cloquet, Minnesota (Nov 16, 1927). Blonde and attractive, she was better known for her looks than her acting talent. Nevertheless she became a notable leading lady during the 1950’s appearing in such films as Dallas (1950), Drums in the Deep South (1951), The Great Jesse James Raid (1953) and The Flanagan Boy (1955) after which she retired from films. Barbara Payton died aged thirty-nine.

Pazzi, Maria Maddalena de’ – (1566 – 1604)
Italian nun, mystic and painter
Born Caterina de’ Pazzi in Florence, she entered the Carmelite convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli (1582) where she took the religious name of Maria Maddalena. Famous for her ascetisim she went barefoot and existed upon a bare diet of bread and water. She experience mystical visions and ecstasies which were recorded by her confessor, and during these trances she painted, cut gold leaf and produced intricate needlework. Canonized after her death, Maria Maddalena’s paintings including The Press, the Allegory of Profession, and the Madonna and Child with Sts Francis and Catherine were hung in the basilica of St Peter in Rome.

Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer – (1804 – 1894)
American educator, abolitionist, and author
Elizabeth Peabody was born at Billerica, Massachusetts (May 16, 1804). The sister-in-law of famous authors Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 – 1864) and Horace Mann (1796 – 1859) Elizabeth was also the pupil of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the famous philosopher and poet and was educated in Salem and Lancaster. A gifted educator and teacher, she became greatly interested in promoting education for very young children. She worked in Boston with Bronson Alcott, the father of the famous novelist, Louisa May Alcott.
Elizabeth frequented the prominent literary circles in Boston before she founded the very first American kindergarten school there (1860), which became a showcase for the teaching concepts of Friedrich Froebel. It was through efforts that the kindergarten was accepted into the American public education system. Elizabeth Peabody wrote works concerning this field of education, such as Record of a School (1835) and Kindergarten Culture (1870), also acting as editor (1873 – 1875) of the Kindergarten Messenger periodical. She edited the Reminiscences of Rev. William Ellery Channing, D.D. (1880) and wrote the Last Evening with Allston and Other Papers (1886). Peabody taught at the Concord School of Philosophy from 1880. Elizabeth Peabody died (Jan 3, 1894) aged eighty-nine.

Peabody, Josephine Preston – (1874 – 1922)
American writer, poet, and dramatist
Josephine Peabody was born in Brooklyn, New York (May 30, 1874) and was married to Lionel Marks. She wrote several volumes of verse such as The Wayfarers (1898), Harvest Moon (1916), and The Collected Poems (1927) which were published posthumously. Peabody was also the author of several plays such as The Piper (1910), The Wings (1912), The Wolf of Gubbio (1913) and The Collected Plays (1927) which were published posthumously. She also left memoirs entitled Diary and Letters (1925). Josephine Peabody died (Dec 4, 1922) aged forty-eight.

Peace Pilgrim – (1908 – 1981)
Native American Indian pacifist and philosopher
Her name was a pseudonym and she left memoirs which were published posthumously entitled Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words (1982).

Peacock, Millie Gertrude Holden, Lady – (1876 – 1948)
Australian politician
Millie Holden became the wife (1901) of Sir Alexander James Peacock (1861 – 1933), the Premier of Victoria, and became Lady Peacock (1902 – 1933). With the death of her husband Lady Peacock succeeded to his seat in the Legislative Assembly thereby becoming the first woman to enter the Victorian parliament. She remained in the House for two years (1933 – 1935). The Dowager Lady Peacock died (Feb 7, 1948).

Peale, Angelica Kauffman – (1775 – 1853)
American portrait painter
Angelica Peale was the daughter of artist Charles Willson Peale, and his first wife Rachel Brewer. Angelica was taught painting technique by her father, but she retired from active work after her marriage. She was the aunt of painters Anna Claypoole Peale and Sarah Miriam Peale.

Peale, Anna Claypoole – (1791 – 1878)
American painter
Anna was the daughter of the painter James Peale. She assisted her father with his miniatures when his eyesight began to fail, and became well known for her own portrait miniatures. Anna Peale shared commissions with her sister Sarah Peale, Anna executing the miniatures. She and her sister were elected the first women Academicians by the Pennsylvania Academy (1824).

Peale, Sarah Miriam – (1800 – 1885)
American painter
Sarah Peale was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the younger sister of Anna Claypole Peale. She was trained as an artist by her father, and by her cousin, Rembrandt Peale and became famous as a portrait painter, her subjects including Daniel Webster, the US Secretary of State and the Marquis de La Fayette amongst many others. For thirty years she resided in St Louis and devoted herself to producing still-life works (1846 – 1877). Sarah Peale died in Philadelphia.

Pearce, Alice – (1913 – 1966)
American stage, film and television character actress and comedienne
Alice Pearce was born (Oct 16, 1913) in New York, the daughter of a bank official, and was partly educated in Europe. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York (1940). Alice worked with repertory companies during the summer in order to gain stage experience, and made her debut on Broadway in the play New Faces of 1943. She enjoyed great success in the role of Lucy Scmeeler in On the Town (1944), and then as a hypochondriac patient opposite Jerry Lewis in The Disorderly Orderly (1964).
However, Alice Pearce was best remembered as the first actress to play (1965 – 1966) the part of the nosy neighbour Gladys Kravitz, in the popular television series Bewitched (1965 – 1971) which starred Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead, and George Tobias as her long sufferring husband. For this role she was awarded a posthumous Emmy Award a few months after her death. Other film credits included My Six Loves (1963), Dear Heart (1964), Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) and The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). Her television roles included appearances on various popular programs such as Studio One (1955), Kraft Television Theater (1955), Hallmark Hall of Fame, General Electric Theater (1962) and Dennis the Menace (1962) amongst many others.
Alice Pearce died of cancer (March 3, 1966) aged fifty-two, in Hollywood, California.

Pearce, Louise – (1885 – 1959)
American physician and pathologist
Louise Pearce was born (March 5, 1885) in Winchester, Massachusetts, the daughter of a tobacco merchant. She attended school in Los Angeles, California and graduated from Stanford University (1907). Pearce joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1913), and worked with the Institute’s director, Simon Flexner, to develop the drug tryparsamide which was used to control the African sleeping sickness. Their results were published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (1919). Louise Pearce travelled to the Belgian Congo in order to set up a hospital and successfully test the drug on sick patients, and the Belgian government then awarded her the Order of the Crown of Belgium and the King Leopold II Prize (1953). She was later the president (1946 – 1951) of the Woman’s Medical College in Philadelphia. Louise Pearce died (Aug 10, 1959) aged seventy-four, in New York.

Pearce, Philippa – (1920 – 2006)
British children’s author and writer
Ann Philippa was born (Jan 23, 1920) in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire. She became a scriptwriter with the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) before becoming an editor with Oxford University Press. Pearce’s first published work was the novel Minnow on the Say (1955) whilst her second, the incredibly popular Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958) was awarded the Carnegie Medal. Other works included A Dog So Small (1962) and The Battle of Bubble and Squeak (1978) which was the winner of the Whitbread Award. Philippa Pearce was married (1962) to Martin Christie (died 1964), a former soldier. She survived her husband over forty years. Philippa Pearce died (Dec 21, 2006) aged eighty-six, at Durham.

Pearl, Minnie – (1912 – 1996)
American country vocalist and entertainer
Born Sarah Ophelia Colley (Oct 25, 1912) in Centerville, Tennessee, she first appeared at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville (1940), where she achieved great popularity by combining country music with comedy routines. She produced popular albums such as The Story of Country Music and Answer to Giddyup and Go. Minnie Pearl was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame (1975) and received the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music (1987). Revered across the USA as the ‘queen of country comedy’ Minnie Pearl retored in 1991 and died in Nashville (March 4, 1996) aged eighty-three.

Pearson, Daphne – (1911 – 2000)
Anglo-Australian war heroine
Joan Daphne Mary Pearson was born (May 25, 1911) in Christchurch, near Bournemouth, England, the daughter of a clergyman. She was educated in Bristol and trained as a photographer, establishing her own studio at St Ives in Cornwall, before illness forced her to sell this successful business. With the outbreak of WW II she enlisted with the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) and was trained as a medical orderly at the RAF base in Kent. There she assisted at a plane crash near the base, and threw herself over the injured pilot she was dragging clear of the wreckage, thus saving his life. Her bravery was recognized and Pearson became the first woman to be awarded the George Cross (1941), formerly known as the Empire Gallantry Medal.
After the war Pearson held various positions, including that of assistant governor at a women’s prison and at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, before ultimately immigrating to Australia (1959). A close friend of the noted Australian landscape architect, Mervyn Davis for twenty-five years, and with whom she long resided, with his death (1985), she devoted herself to the management of a farm outside Melbourne, in Victoria. Daphne Pearson died (July 25, 2000) aged eighty-nine, in Melbourne.

Pearson, Eglington Margaret – (c1744 – 1823)
British bird and insect painter
Eglington Pearson was the wife of James Pearson, the noted glass-stainer (died 1805). She survived her husband and died in London.

Pearson, Dame Ethel Maud – (1869 – 1959)
British humanitarian and activist for the blind
Ethel Fraser was the third daughter of William John Fraser (c1830 – 1913) of Hampstead, London and his wife Jane Palmer. She became the second wife (1897) of Cyril Arthur Pearson (1866 – 1921) and became Lady Pearson when he was created a baronet by King George V (1916 – 1921). She was the mother of Sir Neville Arthur Pearson (1898 – 1982). He succeeded his father as second baronet (1921) and married three times but left no male issue and the baronetcy became extinct at his death. Her son’s second wife was the famous actress Dame Gladys Cooper.
Lady Pearson was closely associated with St Dunstan’s Hospital for the Blind which housed blind soldiers, and served for over twenty-five years as the president of that association (1921 – 1947) succeeding her husband in that position. She also served as vice-president of the National Institute for the Blind and was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by King George V (1920) in recognition of her valuable voluntary work for the blind. She survived her husband almost four decades as the Dowager Lady Pearson (1921 – 1959) but was also known as Dame Ethel Pearson. Dame Ethel Pearson died (April 10, 1959) aged eighty-nine.

Pease, Ethel    see   Gainford, Ethel Havelock-Allan, Lady

Pease, Miriam Blanche – (1887 – 1965)
British civil servant
The Hon. (Honourable) Miriam Pease was born (Aug 22, 1887), the elder daughter of Joseph Albert Pease, first Baron Gainford, and his wife Ethel, the daughter if Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Marsham Havelock-Allen. Pease entered the civil service as one of the earliest women to be recruited. She served for three decades (1916 – 1938) as the government inspector of factories. She was promoted as Superintending Inspector (1938 – 1942) of the West Midland Division. Her final office was that of town councillor in North Berwick (1954 – 1958). Pease remained unmarried. Miriam Pease died (Jan 30, 1965) aged seventy-seven.

Pebatjma – (fl. c780 – c765 BC)
Queen consort of Egypt
Pebatjma was the daughter of an unidentified king. She became the wife of King Kashta (c800 – 751 BC). She was the mother of King Shabaqo (c765 – 695 BC), and bore the titles of ‘King’s Wife’ and ‘King’s Sister.’ Of her daughters, the elder, Amenirdis I remained unmarried and served as ‘God’s Wife’ of Amun, and Peksater became the last wife of King Py (Piankhy).

Pechey-Phipson, Edith – (1845 – 1908)
British physician
Mary Edith Pechey-Phipson was born near Colchester, Essex, the daughter of a clergyman. She was employed as a governess before being admitted to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland with Sophia Jex-Blake, and three other women, to study medicine. Because Edinburgh University refused to give medical degrees to women despite their aptitude, Edith travelled to Switzerland where she attended Bern University and recieved her medical degree. The Royal College of Physicians in Ireland granted her and Jex-Blake their medical licenses on the same day (1877). Pechey was associated with the Medical Women for India Fund and was placed in charge of the Cama Hospital in Bombay. She began her own practice and was married (1889) to Herbert Phipson. She was the first woman to be elected to the Senate of the University of Bombay (1891) and was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. She later established the Pechey-Phipson Sanitorium for the care of women and children at Nasik. Pechey-Phipson later returned to England with her husband (1905). Edith Pechey-Phipson died of breast cancer at Folkestone in Kent.

Pecinna – (fl. c750) 
Spanish virgin saint
Pecinna was of noble parentage. With her two sisters Columba and Magrina, she refused offers of marriage, and the three sisters took vows of chastity and lived as religious ascetics. Persecuted by a pagan king, Pecinna and Magrina fled to Poitou in France, but she died there of exhaustion and privation. She was interred firstly at Sainte Pezaine, Poitou, but was later translated to Niort, and then St Quentin, where a church was built in her honour (1090). Her feast was observed (June 24 and 25).

Peck, Annie Smith – (1850 – 1935)
American mountaineer, feminist, and scholar in Greek literature
Annie Peck was born in Providence, Rhode Island and was educated at the University of Michigan and at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. She was trained as a linguist and taught Greek at Smith College. Her mountaineering career died not begin until she had reached the age of forty-five (1895) when she made a successful ascent of the Matterhorn, and she was founder-member of the American Alpine Club (1902).
When she climbed Mt Orizaba (1897) she made the record for the highest peak then climbed by a woman. Likewise her ascent of Mt Huascaran in the Andes of Peru (1908), which set a record for altitude by an American female mountaineer, despite the height being successfully disputed by Fanny Bullock Workman. At the age of sixty-one (1911) Peck climbed the peak of Mt Coropuna in Peru, where she planted a ‘Votes for Women’ sign. Her last mountaineering feat was the ascent of Mt Madison in New Hampshire (1932), made when she was eighty-two years of age. Her published works included A Search for the Apex of America (1911) and The South American Tour (1913).

Peck, Ellen – (1829 – 1915)
American confidence trickster and swindler
Ellen Peck specialized in relieving elderly men of their money, her career continuing well into old age. She was born Nellie Crosby in Woodville, New Hampshire and did not begin her life of crime until after the age of fifty, when she deserted her family and went to New York. Peck became the mistress of the elderly millionaire named Babbit whom she swindled and defrauded of over fifteen thousand dollars. She was eventually apprehended and received a four year sentence for fraud (1884 – 1888).
Released she returned to her former activities and even defrauded Jay Gould of a large sum of money. She was then re-arrested after impersonating the wife of a Danish admiral in order to obtain large bank loans. When one of her later elderly victims left a large sum to his nurse, Peck formed a lesbian relationship with the woman in order to defraud her of her inheritance. She was finally arrested in 1913 after attempting to swindle and blackmail another businessman whilst on a sea cruise. Ellen Peck died in prison.

Peck, Julie   see   London, Julie

Peck, Juliet Elizabeth – (1961 – 2007)
British journalist and foreign correspondent
Born Juliet Crawley (Jan 25, 1961), she was the daughter of a clergyman, and was educated at Bedgebury Park School, Kent before studying art at Edinburgh University. Juliet worked in a leper colony in India before joining Afghan Aid (1986) in Peshawar. Her first husband was the French photo-journalist, Dominique Vergos, who was later shot dead, and she then remarried in Russia (1991) to the Northern Irish war cameraman Rory Peck, whom she had met in Afghanistan. She was with her husband when he was killed during the storming of the White House in Moscow (1993). Upon her return to England, Peck resided mainly in Yorkshire, where she became a local councillor and was a prominent member of the the foxhunting fraternity. Juliet Peck died of cancer (Jan 10, 2007) aged forty-five.

Peck, Winifred Frances Knox, Lady – (1882 – 1962)
British novelist
Winifred Knox was the second daughter of the Bishop of Manchester in Lancashire. She attended school at Wycombe Abbey before going on to study at Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University. She became the wife (1911) of Sir James Peck, the permanent secretary of the Scottish Education Department, and bore him two children. Possessed of a lively wit and intelligence Lady Peck established a reputation for herself as a popular novelist, her work being compared with that of Angela Thirkell. Her work included The Skies Are Falling (1936), They Come, They Go (1937), Let Me Go Back (1940), A Garden Enclosed (1941), Tranquillity (1943), Veiled Destinies (1948) Facing South (1950) and the childhood memoirs Home for the Holidays (1955). Lady Peck died (Nov 20, 1962) aged eighty, in Edinburgh.

Pecquigny, Marie de – (c1272 – 1333)
French-Anglo courtier
Marie de Pecquigny was the daughter of Jean I de Pecquigny (died 1304), Vidame of Amiens and was the paternal great-great-granddaughter of Jean I (died 1191), Count of Ponthieu. Marie was a distant cousin of Eleanor of Castile, the first wife of Edward I, King of England (1272 – 1307). As a young girl Marie served at the English court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Eleanor and was styled ‘domicilla de Pynkeny’ in the Liber Garderobe, the surviving royal wardrobe account. Marie was married firstly (1289) to Almeric de St Amand (died 1310). The wedding took place at Leeds Castle in Yorkshire and St Amand was created a baron (1299) but the couple remained childless. Marie later remarried to a second English baron John Peyvre (died 1315) but this marriage was also childless. Marie retained her connections with the royal family in England, and sent letters to France (1311 – 1312) forIsabella of Valois, the wife of Edward II. She was visited by Edward III at Toddington (Oct, 1329). Marie de Pecquigny survived her second husband for almost twenty years.

Pedania – (fl. c120 – c150 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Pedania was the daughter of Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, consul ord. (118 AD), and great-niece to the Emperor Hadrian (117 – 138 AD). She probably became the wife of Gaius Sertorius Brocchus.

Pedersen, Helga – (1911 – 1980) 
Danish lawyer, judge, and politician
Helga Pedersen was born in Taarnborg. She attended Copenhagen University and Columbia University in New York. After WW II she became a district court judge (1953 – 1956) in Copenhagen, and was elected as a Member of Parliament (1950 – 1964), serving in government as the minister of Justice (1950 – 1953). When she left politics Pedersen was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge (1964). She became the first woman judge to be appointed to the European Court of Human Rights.

Pedia Secunda – (fl. 117 – 138 AD)
Roman civic activist
Pedia Secunda was probably the wife of Publius Claudius Maximus Marcellianus, a patrician resident and patron of the city of Eukarpia in Phrygia, Asia Minor. Pedia and Marcellianus issued coins in honour of the empress Sabina, the wife of Hadrian, which also honoured the local council (boule) and the goddess Eukarpia, and bore the bust of the god Hermes. The commissioning of these coins was ordered by Marcellianus, but is recorded as having been carried out by Pedia.

Peel, Delia Spencer, Lady – (1889 – 1981)
British courtier
Born Lady Adelaide Margaret Spencer (June 26, 1889), she was the daughter of Charles Robert, sixth earl Spencer, and his wife Margaret Baring, the daughter of Edward, Lord Revelstoke. She was married (1914) to Sir Sidney Cornwallis Peel, first and last baronet, twenty years her senior, and the marriage remained childless. With the death of her husband (1938), Lady Delia joined the household of Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI, as woman of the Bedchamber, in which post she served ten years (1939 – 1950). She was awarded the CVO (Commander of the Victorian Order) (1947) and the DCVO (Dame Commander of the Victorian Order) (1950), after which she served the queen as extra woman of the Bedchamber. Lady Peel was appointed an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (1954). With her retirement from royal service she resided at Barton Tuf, near Norwich, Norfolk. Her great niece, Diana Spencer became the wife (1980) of Charles, Prince of Wales son of Queen Elizabeth II. Lady Delia Peel died (Jan 16, 1981) aged ninety-one.

Peel, Dame Molly    see   Gibbs, Dame Molly Peel

Peet, Margaret Sherman (Margot) – (1906 – 1997)
American advertsiing executive
Margot Peet was born in Detroit, Michigan and was educated at the University of Michigan, where she became the first female to graduate with a degree in journalism. She was married (1936) to Charles Peet, a New York lawyer. Peet worked originally as a columnist and editor of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before beginning her career in advertising. She started as a copywriter for the firm McCann-Erickson, Inc on Madison Avenue, and remained with that firm, in a variety of capacities for almost four decades. She was elected as Advertising Woman of the Year (1958) by the American Advertising Federation. She was later named as senior vice-president of the company, becoming the first woman to serve on the firm’s board. Margaret Sherman Peet died (Aug 6, 1997) aged ninety, in Bronxville, New York.

Peete, Lofie Louise – (1883 – 1947)
American murderess
Born Lofie Preslar in Louisiana, she had been widowed several times, and also had a varied career as a prostitute and blackmailer before she married (1915) her last husband, Richard Peete, a saleman from Denver, Colorado, to whom she bore a daughter. Peete deserted her family (1920) and travelled to Los Angeles in California where she was employed as a housekeeper to the millionaire Jacob Charles Denton. He refused to marry her so she arranged his murder but remained living in his mansion, and vainly attempted to gain control of his estate. She was extradited and imprisoned for murder, serving an eighteen year sentence before her release (1938). Peete was then paroled into the custody of Arthur Logan and his wife Margaret in Pacific Palisades in California, but after having Mr Logan committed to an asylum, she shot Mrs Logan (1944) and buried her remains in the garden. She was arrested and convicted, being sentenced to the gas chamber at San Quentin (April 11, 1947).

Peeters, Catharina – (1615 – 1676)
Flemish painter
Catharina Peeters was born in Antwerp, and was sister to the noted marine painters Gilles and Jan Peeters. She is known to have worked on the painting of a sea-battle (1657), now preserved in the Liechtenstein Collection at Vaduz Castle, which bears her signature, but how much of the work is her own remains unknown. She was the aunt of Isabella Josina Peeters.

Peeters, Clara – (1594 – after 1657) 
Flemish painter
Clara Peeters was born in Antwerp, and her first work, a still-life, was executed when she was only fourteen. She was married (1639) to Henrik Joossen. Her talent was recognized in her lifetime, and as a result, twenty-four of her works, all still-lifes with one reflective self-portrait, have survived. The Prado Museum, Madrid, holds several of her better known canvasses.

Peeters, Isabella Josina – (b. 1662)
Flemish painter and still-life artist
Isabella Peeters was born in Antwerp, and was niece to the painter Catharina Peeters, and her three brothers, Gilles, Bonaventure, and Jan Peeters, all noted as marine artists, one of whom was her father. None of her work has survived.

Pega – (c675 – c719)
Anglo-Saxon anchorite
Pega was born of the royal tribe of the Guthlacingas, and was the sister to Guthlac (c673 – 714). She took a vow of chastity and lived in seclusion as an anchoress at Peakirk (Pega’s church) in Northamptonshire, not far from her brother’s hermitage at Crowland. When Guthlac realized he was dying he invited Pega to his funeral. For this occasion she sailed down the Welland River, curing a blind man from Wisbech during the journey. Pega inherited Guthlac’s psalter and scourge, both of which, it was later claimed she gave to Crowland, which became the shrine of her brother’s cult. Pega later travelled to Rome on a pilgrimage, and died there. The Norman chronicler Ordericus Vitalis claimed that her relics had survived in an unnamed Roman church in his day, and that miracles took place there. The church honoured her as a saint (Jan 8).

‘Peg Peggoty’    see    Giles, Boronia Lucy

Pegge, Catharine – (c1637 – 1678)
English royal mistress
Catharine Pegge was the daughter of Thomas Pegge, of Yeldersley, Derby, and his wife Catherine, the daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton. Through her mother she was a descendant of Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Catharine became the mistress of King Charles II in 1656 during his exile in Europe, and prior to his return to England. She bore him two children, and her attractive looks were inherited by their son. Sometime before 1667, in Flanders, Catharine became the third wife of Sir Edward Green, of Sampford, Essex (c1614 – 1676), and bore him a daughter, Justiniana Green (1667 – 1717) who became a nun at Pontoise in France. Of her royal children, Charles Fitzcharles (1657 – 1680) was created first Earl of Plymouth by his father (1675). He was married but died childless. Her daughter, Lady Catharine Fitzroy (1658 – 1759) became a nun at Dunkirk as Dame Cecilia and lived to be aged over one hundred.

Peile, Fanny – (fl. 1857 – 1870) 
Anglo-Indian fugitive and memoirist
Fanny was the wife of Lieutenant Peile, of the 38th Native Infantry stationed at Delhi in India. With the outbreak of the Mutiny at Delhi in mid-1857, Fanny and her friends, Dr and Mrs Woods, managed to escape from the cantonments and reach safety at Kurnaul, the two women helping to care for the doctor who had been severely wounded, but survived these horrific events due to the courage of his wife and Mrs Peile. The group were robbed of all their possessions but remained otherwise unharmed. Through the kindness of sympathetic natives and a local zemindar, the party managed to survive. Just before they reached safety they were joined by Fanny’s husband, Lieutenant Peile, who had also miraculously managed to survive the mutiny in Delhi. Likewise both aided and hindered by natives and robbers, a native finally escorted him to where his wife and her friends were being sheltered, and the group reached Kurnaul and safety. Her written account of these events The Delhi Massacre, a narrative by a lady (1870) was published in Calcutta.

Peksater – (fl. c720 – c680 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Peksater was the daughter of King Kashta and his wife Pebatjma. She was the fourth wife of King Piye (Piankhy). She was interred within the royal cemetery at Abydos, and was depicted in a relief uncovered at the temple of Amun at Gebel Barkal. Queen Peksater was also depicted on the stelae of Irihor which was preserved in Bologna, Italy. Parts of the door to her tomb are preserved in the Cairo Museum.

Pelagia – (c500 – c550)
Gallo-Roman landowner
Pelagia was the wife of Iocundus, member of a patrician family from Aquitaine, to whom she bore two sons, the elder of whom was Arcadius (c518 – 591), Abbot of Limoges, later known as St Yrieux. The Frankish historian Gregory of Tours recorded in his Historia Francorum that after the deaths of her husband (c537) and her younger son, Pelagia took over the management of the family estates, so that Arcadius could pursue his religious career. She also financially supported her son’s monastery at Limoges. Her death was recorded in Gregory’s Liber in Gloria Confessorum.

Pelagia Mikhailovna – (1628 – 1629)
Russian Romanov grand duchess (tsarevna)
Grand Duchess Pelagia Mikhailovna was born (April 27, 1628) in Moscow, the second daughter of Mikhail Romanov, the first tsar (1613 – 1645) of that dynasty, and his wife Eudoxia Loukianevna, the daughter of Loukiane Stepanovitch Streshneyev, an important boyar. The Tsarevna Pelagia was the younger sister to Irina Mikhailovna. She died in infancy (Feb 4, 1629) and was interred near the tomb of her parents in the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in Moscow.

Pelagia of Tarsus – (c285 – 304 AD)
Greek Christian martyr
Pelagia of Tarsus received baptism secretly from Bishop Clinus. When her mother discovered this, she turned Pelagia over to the authorities. Refusing to recant her religion, she was killed by being roasted to death inside a bronze bull. The church venerated Pelagia as a saint (May 4). She is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology and in the Menology of the Emperor Basil which gives an alternate date for her feast (Oct 7). The story that she was to marry the son of the Roman emperor Diocletian is pure fable.

Pelet, Ermesende de – (c1149 – 1176)
French medieval heiress
Ermesende inherited the county of Melgueil in southern France, and was the daughter of Bernard V Pelet, Count of Melgueil (1146 – 1170), and his wife Beatrice, the daughter and heiress of Bernard IV, Count of Melgueil. Ermesende was married firstly to Pierre Bermond, Seigneur d’Anduze, with whom she ruled jointly as countess of Melgueil after the death of her father (1170). With her husband’s death (1172) Ermesende remarried (1173) to Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse but left no children. By her will, which was witnessed before Aldebert, Bishop of Nimes and the Cardinal Raymond des Arenes, Raymond continued to rule Melgueil until his own death (1190).

Pell, Anna Johnson     see    Wheeler, Anna Johnson Pell

Pellapra, Emilie de – (1808 – 1871)
French memoirist
Emilie was the illegitimate daughter of the Emperor Napoleon I. She made a suitably aristocratic marriage becoming the wife of the Prince de Chimay. She left memoirs which were published posthumously in Paris and entitled Une fille de Napoleon memoires d’Emilie de Pellapra, comtesse de Brigode, princesse de Chimay (1921). They were translated into English (1922).

Pellegrin, Florence – (1660 – 1716)
French opera actress
Pellegrin became the mistress of Philippe II, Duc d’Orleans, later Regent of France (1715 – 1723), fourteen years her junior. She was the mother of his illegitimate son, Charles de Saint-Albin, Abbe d’Orleans (1698 – 1764). Florence Pellegrin died (July 26, 1716).

Pellegrini, Bianca – (fl. c1440 – after 1467)
Italian beauty
Born into a noble family at Milan in Lombardy, Bianca became the wife of Melchiore d’Arluno, a nobleman of the same city. She was admired by the noted military commander Pier Maria Rossi, Count de Berceto, of Torrechiara Castle near Parma, and became his mistress, he himself being married to Antonia Torelli of Guastalla who had born him legitimate sons. Bianca bore Rossi an illegitimate son Ottaviano for whom he provided for at the expense of his legitimate children.
The humanist author Jacopo Caviceo wrote a biography of Pier Rossi (1482) in which he made reference to the chamber at Torrechiara known as the Camera Peregrina Aurea (Golden room of the pilgrim) which was decorated by frescoes depicting the lovers which were painted to commemorate Rossi’s passion for Bianca Pellegrini, and an inscription praised her as PELLEGRINA LIZADRA ET SOPRA TUTO. Caviceo recorded that Rossi named the castle of Roccabianca after the woman ‘whom he loves above all others’ and which he later deeded to Bianca as a gift (1467). Portrait medals of Bianca Pellegrini attributed to Giovanni Enzola (1457) and (c1465) survive.

Pelletier, Madeleine – (1874 – 1939)
French militant feminist and women’s campaigner
Born Anne Pelletier in Paris, she left school at the early age of twelve. She adopted instead the Christian name of Madeleine was trained as a physician, and to that length, adopted male attire in order to forward her medical career. She was the first woman to be appointed to the staff of the Assistance Publique (1899). Pelletier was influenced by the ideals of anarchism and communism, and became president (1906) of Le Groupe de la Solidarite des Femmes. She travelled alone to Soviet Russia (1922) and upon her return to France she campaigned publicly and vigorously for birth control, and the rights of women to obtain abortions, even performing such operations herself. She was finally arrested for such an operation and confined to a mental home after sufferring a stroke (1937), and where she died soon afterwards. Her published works included La femme en lutter par ses droits (1908) and the novel La femme vierge (1933).

Pellizone, Jeanne Julin – (1768 – 1837)
French memoirist
Born Jeanne Moulinneuf, her married name was Pellizone. She resided at Marseilles in Provence during the Revolution and survived the ensuing horrors. Her private journal was edited and published posthumously by Felix Tavernier in the Provence historique publication as Les Cent-Jours a Marseille.Journal de Mme Pellizone. (1949).

Peloris, Claudia – (fl. 54 – c62 AD)
Roman Imperial freddwoman
Peloris had originally been a slave and was then attached to the household of the Empress Octavia, the first of Nero (54 – 68 AD) as a freedwoman. She and her brother Tiberius Claudius Eutychus are attested by an inscription from their surviving burial monument, which was to be used by their sisters and their freedmen and women. The building plans for their monument and its precincts are included on the monument.

Pels, Auguste van – (1900 – 1945)
German-Jewish refugee
Auguste van Pels went into hiding in Amsterdam (1942 – 1944) with the family of diarist Anne Frank (1929 – 1945) after the Nazi occupation. After their betrayal, she died in Ravensbruck concentration camp. In the published version of Anne’s diary, she was given the pseudonym ‘Petronella van Daan’and in the classic film The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), she was played by actress Shelley Winters, who donated her Academy Award statuette to Anne Frank House.
She was born Auguste Rottgen in Buer (Sept 29, 1900) into a lower middle class Jewish family. She was married (1925) to Hermann van Pels and they resided at Osnabruck, on the Dutch-German border. They followed relatives to Holland (1937) as a means of escaping the German anti-Semitic laws. In 1938 her husband joined Otto Frank’s firm, Petacon, as a food production specialist. With her husband and their son, Pieter, they remained hidden from the Nazis with the help of loyal friends for two years. She was later seperated from husband and son and taken to Auschwitz in Poland, and then transferred to Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany. She participated in the enforced march to Theresienstadt (April, 1945) but had died before the camp was liberated (May 8). Her husband was gassed in the chambers and her son died at Mauthausen.

Peltaseri – (fl. c700 – c650 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Peltaseri was one of the wives of King Atlanersa of the XXVth Dynasty (721 – 656 BC). She was stepmother to Queen Nasalsa, the mother of kings Anlamani and Apelta. Queen Peltaseri was depicted on reliefs from the inner face of the west tower of the pylon of excavated the temple of Gebel Barkal, with her husband and other female members of his family. This pylon, later destroyed, bore inscriptions which identified Peltaseri and gave her the titles of ‘King’s Sister’ and ‘King’s Wife.’

Peltser, Tatiana Ivanovna – (1904 – 1992)
Russian stage and film actress
Peltser was born (June 6, 1904) and made her stage debut in 1920. She worked with the Miniature Theatre during the war years (1940 – 1947) and then with the Moscow Satire Theatre for twenty-five years (1947 – 1972) and became known as a talented character actress. She was best known for her appearances in films like Wedding with a Dowry (1953), The Soldier (1955), Honeymoon (1956), The Adventures of a Yellow Suitcase (1971) and Quarantine (1983). Peltser was awarded the Russian State Prize (1951) and declared the Russian People’s Artist (1972), and later became a teacher with the Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theatre (1977). Tatiana Peltser died (July 16, 1992) in Moscow.

Pemberton, Sophie – (1869 – 1959)
Canadian painter
Sophie was born in Victoria, British Columbia, the daughter of Joseph Pemberton, the Surveyor-General of Vancouver. She was educated at home and later travelled to France to study painting at the Academie Julien in Paris. She produced both portraits and landscapes. She achieved international recognition when her work Little Boy Blue (1897) was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. Sophie produced the decorations for the Pemberton Memorial Chapel (1909) which her family later presented to Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital. Sophie Pemberton died in Victoria.

Pembroke, Agnes Mortimer, Countess of – (c1315 – 1369)
English Plantagenet courtier
Lady Agnes Mortimer was one of the youngest of the eight daughters of Roger Mortimer, first Earl of March, and his French wife Joan de Geneville. Her father was the ill-fated lover of Queen Isabella, wife to Edward II and mother to Edward III. Whilst still a child Agnes was married at Hertford (1328), in the presecence of Edward III and Queen Philippa, to Laurence Hastings (1318 – 1348), later first Earl of Pembroke (1339), the son of John, second Baron Hastings, a claimant to the throne of Scotland. The marriage produced an only child, John Hastings, second Earl of Pembroke. With the death of Earl Laurence the countess was granted an annuity of one hundred marks for the maintenance of her son. Countess Agnes remarried (1351) to John de Hakelut and the king granted the couple the wardship of the castle and town of Pembroke, though soon afterwards (1353) both were accused of causing much damage and being guilty of oppressions to the peasants and tenants on their estates. Hakelut died in 1357 and Agnes was granted the custody of the lordship and county of Pembroke, which she administered for her son, who was married (1359) to Princess Margaret, daughter of Edward III. Countess Agnes died (July 25, 1369) aged in her early fifties. She was interred within the church of the Minoresses outside Aldgate, London.

Pembroke, Anne Parr, Countess of – (1514 – 1551)
English Tudor courtier
Anne Parr was born either at Kendal Castle, Westmorland, or at Blackfriars in London, the younger daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal Castle, and his wife Matilda (Maud) Green, the daughter of Sir Thomas Green, of Green’s Norton, Northamptonshire. Her elder sister was Catharine Parr, Lady Latimer, the sixth and last wife (1543 – 1547) of King Henry VIII, whilst their brother Sir William Parr (1513 – 1571) was later made Marquess of Northampton. Anne Parr was raised partly at Kendal Castle by her mother after the death of her father (1517), but later joined the schoolrom at the Tudor court, where she and her sister were taught with the Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She attended the funeral of Queen Jane Seymour, mother of Edward VI (Nov, 1537) and was still unmarried, being referred to as ‘Mistress Anne Parre.’
Anne eventually became the wife of William Herbert (1506 – 1570) sometime between prior to (Jan, 1539) and served at court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Catharine Howard prior to that lady’s arrest (Nov, 1541). With the marriage of her sister Catharine to King Henry, the Herbert’s place in the royal favour was assured, William was knighted, and the couple received several royal grants, including rich estates having belonged to the dissolved royal abbey of Wilton (1544), which henceforth became the family’s chief seat. Lady Herbert attended her sister the queen as her chief lady-in-waiting, and was a participant of the study of the New Learning, which took place in the queen’s apartments. When Bishop Gardiner and his staunchly Catholic aupporters were attempting to have Queen Catherine removed on the grounds of high treason, Lady Herbert stood steadfastly by her (1546). According to tradition it was Lady Herbert who arranged to send a secret message to inform the king that Queen Catherine was ill with grief, and thus affected a reconiliation between the royal couple, which saved Catherine’s life, and completly thwarted the plans of Gardiner and his adherents. With the accession of Edward VI, William Herbert was created first Earl of Pembroke (1547) and Anne became a countess (1547 – 1551). She may have been a witness at the secret marriage of Queen Catharine to Thomas Seymour a few months later, but this remains only supposition. After presenting themselves at court to the Lord Protector, the Duke of Somerset, and his wife, Lord and Lady Pembroke retired from the court.
Countess Anne died (Feb 20, 1551) aged thirty-six, at Baynard’s Castle, London, having never recovered from the birth of her daughter. Her nephew, King Edward VI, caused her funeral to be celebrated with great public state and magnificence, at St Paul’s Cathedral (Feb 28). Her husband later remarried but was interred with Anne at his own death. A portrait of Lady Pembroke in stained glass, formerly at the old chapel at Wilton, and preserved at Wilton Church (1900) showed her kneeling in an armorial mantle quartering the arms of Parr, Ross of Kendal, Green, Mabelthorpe, Fitzhugh, Marmion, St Quentin, Furneaux, and Stavely. She left three children,

• Henry Herbert (1544 – 1601). He succeeded his father as second Earl of Pembroke (1570 – 1601), and was married three times, leaving issue. His last wife was the poet Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke.
• Hon. (Honourable) Sir Edward Herbert (1547 – 1595), of Powis Castle. He was ancestor of the Herberts of Powis.
• Lady Anne Herbert (1550 – 1593). She became the wife (1562) of Francis, Lord Talbot (1550 – 1582), son and heir of George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, but died wihout surviving issue.

Pembroke, Anne Talbot, Countess of – (1523 – 1588)
English Tudor peeress and courtier
Lady Anne Talbot was born (March 18, 1523) the only daughter of George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury, and his second wife Elizabeth Walden, the daughter of Richard Walden, of Erith, Kent. She was heiress to her mother’s estate. Lady Anne was married firstly (1539) to Peter Compton (1522 – 1540), of Compton Wynyates, Warwick, through whom she became ancestor of the later Earls of Northampton, after the birth of their posthumous son, Henry, Lord Compton (1540 – 1589). After a widowhood of over a decade Lady Compton became the second wife (1552) of Sir William Herbert (1506 – 1570), first Earl of Pembroke, whose first wife had been Anne Parr, sister to Queen Catharine Parr. Soon afterwards Lord Pembroke obtained the custody of Anne’s son, though their own marriage remained childless.
They attended the court of Queen Mary Tudor and Queen Elizabeth I, to whom Pembroke was an uncle. Lord Pembroke died (March 17, 1570) at Hampton Court Palace, and was interred in St Paul’s Cathedral with his first wife. Anne survived her husband for almost two decades as the Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1570 – 1588). Lady Pembroke died (July 18, 1588) aged fifty-five, in London, and was interred with her mother, the Countess of Shrewsbury, at Erith in Kent. In her will she bequeathed to her son Henry ‘my gould ring withe a diamond set therein which I late had of the gifte of Quene Marie.’

Pembroke, Beatrice de Clermont, Countess of    see   Clermont, Beatrice de

Pembroke, Catherine Simonovna Vorontzova, Countess of – (1783 – 1856)
Russian-Anglo aristocrat
Countess Ekaterina Simonovna Vorontzova was born (Oct 24, 1783) the daughter of Count Simon Vorontzov, the Russian ambassador to England (1784 – 1806) during the reign of George III. She was mentioned in the Memoires of her paternal aunt Princess Dashkova, the favourite of Empress Catherine the Great, and was married (1808) in the Greek chapel in Marylebone, London, to the eleventh Earl of Pembroke. An Anglican ceremony took place shortly afterward at the home of her mother-inlaw Lady Pembroke, at the family home in Cavendish Square. She was then formally presented as a peeress to King George and Queen Charlotte. The Farington Diary represents the couple’s marriage as having been a happy and contented one, and at his death (1827) Lord Pembroke left the bulk of his disposable property to Catherine’s son. She survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1827 – 1856). Lady Pembroke died (March 27, 1856) aged seventy-two, and was interred at Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire.

Pembroke, Elizabeth Spencer, Countess of – (1737 – 1831) 
British beauty and courtier
Lady Elizabeth Spencer was born (Dec 29, 1737) the daughter of Charles Spencer, third Duke of Marlborough and his wife Elizabeth Trevor. Exquisitely beautiful, she was married (1756) to Henry Herbert, tenth Earl of Pembroke (1734 – 1794) and was the mother of George Augustus Herbert, the eleventh earl (1759 – 1827). Her husband caused a great scandal by eloping in a packetboat disguised as a sailor with Kitty Hunter, the daughter of one of the lords of the Admiralty, though he left a letter which testified to Lady Pembroke’s virtues. Her husband later returned to her, while Hunter, after bearing a child, became the wife of Sir Alured Clarke. Lady Pembroke served at court at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace as lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III for thirty-five years (1783 – 1818).
When the king became mentally deranged (1788) one of the obsessive fixations of his illness was the belief that he had divorced the queen and married Lady Pembroke, whom he referred to as ‘Queen Esther’ or ‘the Queen of Hearts.’ Lady Bessborough recorded that King George persecuted the countess with love letters when he sufferred a relapse of his illness (1804) and that she had to kindly, but firmly ask him to desist. When he became permanently incapacitated (1810), his obsessive behaviour on this subject remained constant until his death. Queen Charlotte is said to have been offended by the king’s attentions to Lady Pembroke, but as the countess gave him no encouragement the situation was able to pass without too much embarassment. Encroaching age and infirmity finally caused the countess to resign her position at court (Feb, 1818) only nine months before the queen’s own death. Lady Pembroke retired from court and received a gift of money from the Prince Regent in honour of her service to his mother. The countess died (May 26, 1831) aged ninety-three, at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, in Surrey.

Pembroke, Gertrude Frances Talbot, Countess of – (1840 – 1906)
British beauty and salon hostess
Lady Gertrude Chetwynd-Talbot was the daughter of John Chetwynd-Talbot, eighteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife Lady Sarah de La Poer Beresford, the daughter of Henry, fifth marquess of Waterford. Well educated, she married rather late, becoming the wife (1874) of George Herbert (1850 – 1895), thirteenth earl of Pembroke, ten years her junior. The couple remained childless. A famous beauty and society leader, Lady Pembroke and her husband were members of the group of friends of Lord Curzon of Kedleston, known as the ‘Souls,’ and often entertained guests at their family home at Wilton. Her sisters Lady Lothian and Adelaide, Countess Brownlow were also prominent older members of theis social and artistic coterie. Lady Paget recalled the countess and her sisters looking like the three Fates (1893).  Lady Pembroke survived her husband eleven years as Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1895 – 1906). Lady Pembroke died (Sept 30, 1906) aged sixty-six, at Berkhampsted House. She was interred with her husband at Duggleston in Wiltshire.

Pembroke, Margaret de Quincy, Countess of    see   Quincy, Margaret

Pembroke, Marie de St Pol, Countess of   see    St Pol, Marie de

Pembroke, Mary Sidney, Countess of – (1561 – 1621)
English writer and literary patron
Mary Sidney was born (Oct 27, 1561) at Tickhill, near Bewdley, Worcestershire, the third daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and his wife Mary, the daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and was the sister of the Tudor poet and versewriter, Sir Philip Sidney (1554 – 1586). Mary Sidney was educated in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French. Her beauty and personal manner assured her a place at court, and she entered the household of Queen Elizabeth I (1575) as maid-of-honour. She was soon married (1577) to Henry Herbert (1544 – 1601), second Earl of Pembroke (1570 – 1601), and was chatelaine of his family estate at Wilton in Wiltshire.
Her brother Philip dedicated to her The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1590) which was twice revised in her lifetime. Lady Pembroke collaborated with her brother in translating the psalms, and with his death (1586) she completed this project alone. She was patron of Edmund Spenser, who dedicated to her his Ruines of Time, and referred to her as ‘Urania’ in ‘Colin Clout’s come home Againe,’ and Clorinda in ‘Astrophel.’ Meres compared the countess to Octavia, sister of the Roman emperor Augustus in his Palladis Tamia (1598). When Queen Elizabeth paid a visit to Wilton (1599), the countess composed a pastoral dialogue in praise of Astraea to commemorate the occasion. Mary survived her husband very comfortably for two decades as Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1601 – 1621), her husband treating her with great generosity in his will, and she had the use of the manor and park of Devizes for her lifetime. As a widow she and her elder son entertained James I and his queen, Anne of Denmark at Wilton (1603), and the king later granted her the royal manor of Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire (1615). Lady Pembroke died (Sept 25, 1621) aged fifty-nine, at Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate, and was interred in Salisbury Cathedral. The countess left four children,

• William Herbert (1580 – 1630), third Earl of Pembroke (1601 – 1630). He was married to Lady Mary Talbot, but died childless.
• Lady Katherine Herbert (1581 – 1584). She died young.
• Lady Anne Herbert (1583 – 1607). She died unmarried.
• Philip Herbert (1584 – 1650), Earl of Montgomery and then fourth Earl of Pembroke (1630 – 1650). He was married firstly to Susan de Vere, and secondly to the famous Lady Anne Clifford, daughter of the Earl of Cumberland, and widow of the Earl of Dorset. Lord Pembroke left surviving issue by his first wife only.

Pembroke, Mary Talbot, Countess of – (1581 – 1650)
English Tudor and Stuart aristocrat and heiress
Lady Mary Talbot was eldest daughter of Gilbert Talbot, seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife Mary Cavendish, the daughter of Sir William Cavendish, and his stepmother, Bess Hardwick.
Lady Mary was married (1604) to William Herbert (1580 – 1630), third Earl of Pembroke, the festivities including a grand tournament held at Wilton. The marriage had been purely a financial and dynastic arrangement, but the countess, whom the historian Rouse described as; “… dwarfish and unattractive” adored her handsome husband. The tradition of her looks is borne out by Lord Clarendon, who thought that Lord Pembroke had, ‘paid much too dear for his wife’s fortunes by taking her person into the bargain.’ Despite this, Lord Pemroke’s friends respected her admirable character, and she merely ignored gossip concerning her husband’s infidelities. Their only child and heir, Henry, Lord Herbert, was born in 1620 and died the same year. All her other pregnancies ended in miscarriages.
Lady Pembroke and her sister Lady Arundel were importanr figures at the court of James I and his wife Anne of Denmark. Both ladies were present when the Duke of Lorraine and a large retinue of nobles paid a visit to the English court (1606) and were entertained lavishly at Hampton Court Palace. The chronicler Rowland Whyte recorded proudly that, ‘no lady there did dance near so well as she did that day ; so she carried away the Glory, and it was given her by the King, Queen, and others.’ The countess was coheiress of the ancient feudal baronies of Talbot, Strange, Blackmere, and Furnival. With the death of her father (1616) the majority of his vast estates were shared between the countess and her two younger sisters, but the four baronies fell into abeyance until the deaths of Countess Mary (1650) and her next sister, Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kent (1651), when these dignities became vested in the person of their youngest sister, Alathea Howard, Countess of Arundel (died 1654).
Lady Mary survived her husband for two decades as the Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1630 – 1650). The title passed to William’s brother, Philip Herbert, who succeeded as the fourth Earl of Pembroke, and left descendants. During her widowhood she resided variously at Baynard’s Castle, London, Wilton Abbey, or Ramsbury, and appears to have been a kind aunt to her brother-in-law'’ numerous children. Lady Pembroke died (Jan 25, 1650) aged sixty-eight, at Ramsbury House, Wiltshire. She was interred with her husband in Salisbury Cathedral.

Pembroke, Mary Woodville, Countess of    see   Woodville, Mary

Pembroke, Mary Dorothea Hope, Countess of – (1903 – 1995)
British courtier and royal official
Lady Mary Hope was the only surviving daughter of Sir John Adrian Louis Hope (1860 – 1908), the first Marquess of Linlithgow, and his wife the Hon. (Honourable) Hersey Alice Eveleigh De Moleyns, the daughter of Dayrolles Blakeney Eveleigh De Moleyns (1828 – 1914), fourth Baron Ventry. Lady Mary served at court where she was appointed to serve HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent as lady-in-waiting (1934). She then became the wife (1936) Sidney Charles Herbert (1906 – 1969), the sixteenth Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, and bore him two children. Lady Pembroke was appointed CVO (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) (1947) by King George VI in recognition of her service to the royal family. The countess served Princess Marina in this capacity for sixteen years until 1950 when she took on the less onerous duties as Extra Lady-in-Waiting until 1968. During WW II she was appointed as an honorary first officer of the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service). She survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1969 – 1995) and spent her time between her London residence and her estate at Wilton in Salisbury. She was appointed DL (Deputy Lieutenant) of Wiltshire by Queen Elizabeth II (1980). The Countess of Pembroke died (Jan 16, 1995) aged ninety-one. Her two children were,

• Lady Diana Mary Herbert (born 1937) for whom the Duchess of Kent stood sponsor at her christening. She remained unmarried.
• Henry George, Lord Gerbert (born 1939). He succeeded his father as the seventeenth Earl of Pembroke (1969) and left issue.

Penalva, Maria de Portugal de – (c1610 – 1678)
Portugese grandee and courtier
Maria de Portugal was born into the ancient nobility and was married to the Conde de Penalva. She was a member of the court of King Joao IV and his wife Luiza de Guzman. Maria was appointed as an attendant in the household of their daughter, the Infanta Catalina (Catherine) of Braganza. With the marriage of the infanta with Charles II of England (1661), the countess accompanied her charge to London, and served as joint duenna with Elvira de Vilpena, Condesa de Pontevel. When Charles later ordered that the queen’s attendants be returned to Lisbon (1662), Maria Penalva alone was permitted to remain, due to her closeness to the queen and her increased ill-health, which was exacerbated by failing eyesight. She was styled ‘Madam Nurse’ in the queen’s household accounts (1671) and received an annual pension of 120 pounds. Condesa Penalva died in London.

Pendray, Leatrice Gregory – (1905 – 1971)
American physicist
Leatrice Gregory was born in Colorado City, Texas, and was married (1927) to Edward Pendray, a journalist attached to the New York Herald Tribune. Together with her husband Leatrice was co-founder (1930) of the American Rocket Society (which became part of the American Institute of Aeronautics in 1963) and was also assistant editor of Astronautics, the society’s official publication. Leatrice also wrote a published syndicated newspaper column and assisted her husband in producing several books on astronomy. Leatrice Pendray died in Princeton Hospital.

Penn, Hannah Callowhill – (1671 – 1726)
American colonial letter writer
Hannah Callowhill was born in Bristol, the daughter of a Quaker family. Uncharacteristically for a woman she was taught the details of running the family business, and was married (1696) to William Penn (1644 – 1718), the founder of Pennsylvania, as his second wife. Hannah then travelled to America with him (1699). After her husband was wrongfully imprisoned for debt, Hannah returned to England, but she refused to surrender the province of Pennsylvania to the English crown, and with her husband’s death (1718) she was closely associated with the government of the province, and her correspondence clearly reveals the extent of her influence.

Penne, Matilda – (c1350 – 1393)
English medieval skinner
Born Matilda Herlawe, she became the wife of William Penne, a citizen and skinner of London. At his death without heirs (1380), Matilda inherited half of his not inconsiderable estate. She retained the family home and continued to run the business of preparing and selling furs in Wood Street, Eastcheap. Matilda’s will (proved Feb 3, 1393) left her brother Peter Herlawe (living 1409), who resided with her, and presumably assisted with the running of her late husband’s business, as her executor and main beneficiary. Though some of her goods were later seized and confiscated due to low standards of craftsmanship (1388), Matilda Penne was a highly respected businesswoman in London.

Penne, Sibyl – (c1500 – 1562)
English Tudor courtier
Sibyl Penne was the sister-in-law of Sir William Sidney, chamberlain to Prince Edward (later Edward VI 1547 – 1553) the son of Henry VIII. Sibyl Penne was appointed (Oct, 1538) as the dry nurse to the future King Edward VI (1547 – 1553). She served under Lady Margaret Bryan, who was mistress of the prince’s household. It was she who presented the prince to his new stepmother, Anne of Cleves (1540), and she resided in the prince’s household at Hunsdon, Havering, and Ashridge. Mrs Penne and her husband received monastic properties of Little Missenden and Penn in Buckinghamshire from Henry VIII, as a reward fro Mrs Penne’s service to the prince. She received New Year’s gifts from Queen Mary until her death and later received honours from Queen Elizabeth I for her loyal service, and was granted apartments in Hampton Cout Palace. Her spinning wheel was later discovered behind a wall in Hampton Court, and according to tradition, her ghost is said to haunt there.

Penney, Caroline – (1895 – 1992)
American philanthropist
Born Caroline Autenrieth in Eldred, New York, she was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She became the third wife (1926) in Paris of the wealthy merchandiser James Cash Penney, to whom she bore two daughters. Mrs Penney actively supported her husband’s business concerns and with his death she served as president of the J.C. Penney Foundation (1971 – 1979). She was a patron of various organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Parsons School of Design, and the Young Women’s Christian Association World Service Council. Caroline Penney died (March 17, 1992) aged ninety-six, in Manhattan.

Pennington, Elizabeth – (1734 – 1759)
British poet
Elizabeth Pennington was a member of the literary circle frequented by Samuel Richardson and Frances Sheridan. Her best known pieces were ‘The Copper Farthing’ (1763), ‘Ode to Morning’ and ‘Ode to a Thrush.’ She was included by John Duncombe in his work The Feminiad (1754).

Pennington, Mary Engle – (1872 – 1952)
American chemist, scientific researcher and refrigeration specialist
Mary Pennington was born (Oct 8, 1872) in Nashville, Tennessee, the daughter of a manufacturer. She studied chemistry and biology at the University of Pennsylvania and estasblished the Philadelphia Clinical Laboratory (1898) where she conducted bacterial research. Pennington became an authority on the refirgeration of perishable foodstuffs such as fish, eggs, and poultry, and she set benchmark standards for the preservation of milk whicbh was adopted by health authorities throughout the USA. She then joined the staff of the US Department of Agriculture as a bacteriological chemist (1907 – 1919) and conducted research into refrigerated railway cars during WW I. Pennington later established her own consultancy service in New York (1922) and was awarded the Garvan medal by the American Chemical Society (1940). She was the first woman to be elected a member of the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers. Mary Engle Pennington died (Dec 27, 1952) aged eighty, in New York.

Pennington, Sarah – (fl. c1746 – 1783)
British Hanoverian author
Sarah was the wife (c1746) of Sir Joseph Pennington, of Yorkshire, to whom she bore several children. Their subsequent sepaeration (1758) created much public scandal. Sarah was forced to leave her children with her husband and retired to live in Bath, Somerset. Lady Pennington was the author of the hugely popular work, the conduct manual An Unfortunate Mother’s Advice to her Absent Daughters: in a Letter to Miss Pennington (1761) which was reprinted well into the next century. Other published works included Letters on Different Subjects (1766) and The Child’s Conductor (1777).

Penrose, Elizabeth      see     Markham, Elizabeth

Penrose, Dame Emily – (1858 – 1942)
British educator and author
Emily Penrose was the daughter of Francis Penrose, the archaeologist and architect. She attended a private school in Wimbledon and then resided in Greece with her father, which imbued her with a love of all things Greek. Emily later returned to England to study ancient languages at Somerville College and was then appointed as principal of Bedford College (1893 – 1898), then of Royal Holloway College (1898 – 1907), and lastly was appointed head of Somerville (1907 – 1926). Emily Penrose was a member of the Royal Commission on University Education in Wales (1916) and was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) (1918) and then DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by King George V (1927) in recognition of her valuable contribution to education.

Penrose, Lee Miller, Lady    see   Miller, Lee

Penson, Dame Lillian Margery – (1896 – 1963)
British historian, educator, and author
Lillian Penson studied history at college, and later chaired the modern history department at Birkbeck College in London (1930). Two decades afterwards she was elected as vice-chancellor of Birkbeck (1948) and established the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Penson was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by King George VI (1951) in recognition of her valuable contribution to education, and served as a member of the US Educational Commission in England (1949 – 1956).

Penthievre, Marie Therese Felicite d’Este, Duchesse de – (1726 – 1754)
Italian-French royal
Princess Maria Theresa Felicita d’Este of Modena was born in Modena (Oct 6, 1726) the daughter of Francesco III d’Este, Duke of Modena, and his wife Charlotte Aglae, the daughter of Philippe II, Duc d’Orleans and Regent of France (1715 – 1723). She was the great-granddaughter of Louis XIII of France (1610 – 1643). Marie Therese was married to her French cousin, Louis Jean de Bourbon, Duc de Penthievre (Nov 16, 1725 – March 4, 1793), whom she predeceased by forty years. Her daughter-in-law was the ill-fated Princesse de Lamballe, the favourite of Queen Marie Antoinette, who was slaughtered by the mob during the Revolution (1792). The Duchesse de Penthievre died (April 30, 1754) aged twenty-seven, at the Chateau of Rambouillet, near Paris, aged twenty-seven.

Pentland, Marjorie Adeline Gordon, Lady – (1880 – 1970)
British writer and nursing volunteer
Lady Marjorie Gordon was born (Dec 7, 1880) the eldest daughter of John Campbell Gordon, the first Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, and his wife the Hon. (Honourable) Ishbel Maria Majoribanks, the daughter of the first Baron Tweedmouth. Lady Marjorie was married (1904) to John Sinclair (1860 – 1925), later created first Baron Pentland (1909) by King Edward VII and Lady Marjorie Sinclair became the Baroness Pentland (1909 – 1925). During WW I she volunteered for the war effort and became involved organizing nursing units and ambulance brigades for the front. For this valuable work she was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by King George V (1917) and was also appointed D.G.St.J (Daughter of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
Lady Pentland wrote the life of her mother Lady Aberdeen entitled A Bonnie Fechter: Life of the Marchioness of Aberdeen (1952) in which she published a selection from her personal diaries and letters. She survived her husband for forty-five years as the Dowager Baroness Pentland (1925 – 1970) and resided at West Clandon near Guildord in Surrey. She was the mother of Henry John Sinclair (1907 – 1984) who succeeded his father as the second Baron Pentland (1970 – 1984) but died without a male heir and the Pentland title became extinct. Her daughter the Hon. Margaret Ishbel Sinclair died remained unmarried.

Pentreath, Dolly – (1685 – 1777)
Cornish fish-seller
Dorothy Pentreath was born in Mousehole on Mounts Bay, Cornwall. Dolly Pentreath died aged ninety-two, and the inscription on her surviving gravestone at the church of St Paul states (inaccurately) that she was the last known person to speak the native Cornish language. Regarded as such by the Society of Antiquaries, according to tradition she did not learn the English tongue until the age of twenty. Dolly had an extremely colourful career as an itinerant fortune-teller and fish-wife and married a man named Jeffery. She reputedly would happily charge money from strangers who wished to hear her speak in Cornish, whilst abusing those who refused her fee.

Penyston, Letitia – (c1493 – 1558)
English Tudor courtier and matriarch
Letitia Penyston was married three times, firstly to Robert Knollys (c1465 – 1521), a descendant of Sir Thomas Knollys (died 1435), who served twice as Lord Mayor of London. Her second husband was Sir Robert Lee (died 1537) of Burston, Buckinghamshire, and thirdly to Sir Thomas Tresham, of Rushton, Northamptonshire. By her first husband Letitia left four children, Sir Francis Knollys (1514 – 1596), the loyal servant of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Knollys (c1516 – 1583), and two daughters, Mary Knollys, and Jane Knollys, the wife of Sir Richard Wingfield, of Kimbolton Castle. Her granddaughter was the infamous Lettice Knollys, who married secondly to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Elizabeth I, and was the mother of the queen’s last favourite, Robert Devereux (1566 – 1601), second Earl of Essex (1576 – 1601).

Peponilla    see   Epponina

Pepys, Mary Rachel Fitzalan-Howard, Lady – (1905 – 1992)
Britsh courtier
Lady Rachel Fitzalan-Howard was the eldest daughter of Henry, fifteenth Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife Gwendoline Constable-Maxwell, Baroness Herries. She married firstly (1939) Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Keppel Davidson, killed in action in Tunisia (1943), and secondly (1961) Brigadier-General Anthony Hilton Pepys, leaving two children from her first marriage. Lady Pepys served as lady-in-waiting to HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent from 1943 till that lady’s death (1968). She was appointed CVO (Commander of the Victorian Order) (1954) and DCVO (Dame Commander of the Victorian Order (1968) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her services to the royal family, and was also awarded the Order of Mercy.

Pepys, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lady – (c1754 – 1830)
British society figure
Elizabeth Dowdeswell was the daughter of William Dowdeswell, Member of Parliament. She became the wife (1777) of Sir William Weller Pepys, first baronet (1801). Lady Pepys is mentioned in the correspondence of the antiquarian Horace Walpole.

Peralta Castera, Angela – (1845 – 1883)
Mexican pianist and composer
Angela was born (July 6, 1845) at Puebla, and studied singing with Agustin Balderas, and composition with Cenbio Paniagua. She later travelled to Italy where she studied singing with Francesco Lamperti and produced salon pieces for the piano (1875). Angela Peralta Castera died (Aug 30, 1883) aged thirty-eight.

Peranda, Agnes (Inez) – (c1215 – 1281)
Italian Clarissan nun
Agnes Peranda was the niece to St Clara of Assissi, being the maternal granddaughter of Faverone Sciffo, Count di Offreduccio and his wife Ortolana de Fiumi. She became a nun and was sent to Spain by her aunt to establish a Franciscan convent in Barcelona (1233). Agnes presided as superior of this house for almost five decades until her death. Her remains were translated by Alfonso Colona, the Benedictine Bishop of Barcelona (Feb 28). Revered as a saint (Sept 17), Agnes was listed in the Acta Sanctorum, whilst details of her life were preserved in the Cronica Seraphica.

Peratrovich, Elizabeth – (1911 – 1958) 
American Indian activist and spokesperson
Elizabeth Peratrovich was born into the Raven clan of the Tlingit Indians in south-eastern Alaska. She served as Grand President of the ANS (Alaska Native Sisterhood). She worked tirelessly to secure legal rights for her people and was responsible for the passing of the Alaskan Anti-Discrimination Bill (1945).

Percalus – (fl. c500 BC)
Greek queen consort
Percalus was the daughter of Chilon, and the granddaughter of Demarmenus. She became the wife of King Demaretus (died 491 BC). Percalus had originally been betrothed to Leotychides, but Demaretus had carried her off by force and married her himself. The historian Herodotus records this story as being the origin of the later quarrel between the two princes.

Perche, Matilda Fitzroy, Countess of – (1086 – 1120)
Anglo-Norman patrician
Matilda Fitzroy was the illegitimate daughter of Henry I of England. She was married to Rotrou II, Count of Perche (c1078 – 1144) as his first wife. She was drowned in the wreck of the White Ship in Barfleur harbour (Nov 25, 1120). Her royal half-brother, William, was being rescued when he heard Matilda’s pleas for help. He went back to try and save her and both were drowned.

Perclada, Margarida de – (c1175 – 1221)
French literary patron and muse
Margarida de Perclada was the wife of Raymond, Comte de Castell-Rousillon, and patron of the troubadour Guilhelm de Cabestanh. Spurious legend calls her Saurimonde and says that Cabestanh was her lover. Her husband Raymond supposedly discovered the couple’s liasion and killed Cabestanh. He has his heart cut out, delicately cooked and served to Saurimonde at dinner. When she had eaten it, Raymond told her what she had done, whereupon the countess threw herself to her death from a castle battlement. In actuality Cabestanh was living in 1212 and the real countess Margarida died in 1221, having survived her husband for some years.

Percoto, Caterina – (1812 – 1887)
Italian writer
Caterina Percoto was born in Friuli, Lombardy into a patrician family. Educated at home and at boarding school, her family refused to allow Percoto to marry the man of her choice, so she resolved to remain unmarried. All of her life was spent on her rural properties, where she devoted herself to sharing the work of the farm labourers, and writing. Some of her work appeared in the Trieste magazine Favilla, and Percoto produced four volumes of short stories Racconti (Short Stories) (1858), Novelle vecchie, e nuovo (New and Old Tales) (1861), Novelle scelte (Chosen Tales) (1880) and Novelle popolari edite and inedite (Popular Tales, Published and Unpublished) (1883).
Her work recorded the conditions of the rural poor around her, and the abuses they sufferred at the hands of their Austrian overlords and the local Catholic clergy. Percoto paid special tribute to the enormous burdens carried by rural women in general. Her work remained unaffected by idealism or the paternalistic attitudes common at this time, and she refused to translate the dialect of Friuli in Tuscanized Italian.

Percy, Alice de – (fl. c1150 – c1180)
English clerical concubine
Alice de Percy was the daughter of William de Percy. She became the mistress of Hugh Le Puiset, Bishop of Durham (1153 – 1195) to whom she bore two sons, Hugh Le Puiset, Chancellor of France, and William Le Puiset, archdeacon of Northumberland. When the bishop tired of his liasion with Alice he provided for her financially, and married her off to Baldwin de Morville.

Percy, Eileen – (1899 – 1973)
Irish actress
Eileen Percy was born in Belfast (Aug 1, 1899) and immigrated to the USA with her family during childhood. She began her stage career on Broadway whilst still a child (1911) and then became a member of the Ziegfeld troupe. Although she began her film career as the leading lady of Douglas Fairbanks in 1917, Percy later dropped to starring in minor roles.  She retired from films after appearing in The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932) and became ajournalist, producing a society column for the Examiner newspaper in Los Angeles. Eileen Percy was portrayed by Arlene Dahl in the film Three Little Words (1950), which was a biography of the career of her second husband, the famous lyricist Harry Ruby (1895 – 1974) and his associate Burt Kalmar (1884 – 1947).

Percy, Mary    see    Mary of Lancaster

Percy, Victoria Frederica Caroline Edgecumbe, Lady – (1859 – 1920)
British aristocrat and courtier
Lady Victoria Edgecumbe was the daughter of William Henry Edgecumbe (1832 – 1917), fourth Earl of Mount Edgecumbe and his wife Lady Katherine Hamilton, the daughter of James Hamilton (1811 – 1885), first Duke of Hamilton and Brandon. She became the wife (1880) of Lord Algernon Malcolm Arthur Percy (1851 – 1933), to whom she bore two children. Lady Percy attended the court of Queen Victoria, and with her husband attended the coronations of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (1902) and George V and Queen Mary (1911). Lady Percy died (Feb 20, 1920) aged seventy. Her children were,

• Katharine Louisa Victoria Percy (1882 – 1964). She became the wife of Josceline Reginald Heber-Percy (1880 – 1964) and left issue.
• Algernon William Percy (1884 – 1916). He remained unmarried and was killed in action in Jutland during WW I.

Perdomo y Heredia, Josefa Antonia – (1834 – 1896)
Dominican devotional poet
Josefa Perdomo was born (June 13, 1834) at Santo Domingo, and was niece to the poet Manuel de Jesus Heredia. She produced highly charged religious verse under the pseudonym ‘Laura’ which appeared in various periodicals such as the literary journal El Oasis, which was published by the Sociedad Amantes de las Letras. Josefa Perdomo y Heredia died (May 25, 1896) aged sixty-one.

Peregrina, La    see    Gomez de Avellaneda, Gertrudis

Pereira, Amalia de Victoria – (1941 – 2009)
Angolese politician
Amalia Maria Caldeira de Victoria Pereira Simeao was born (Oct 3, 1941). She became involved in Liberal politics and became one of Angola’s most important political figures. Whilst resident in Portugal she became was one of the founders of the Partido Liberal Democratico (Liberal Democratic Party) (1983). She remained president of the PLD until her death (Jan 7, 2009) aged sixty-seven.

Pereira, Irene Rice – (1907 – 1971)
American geometric abstract painter
Irene Rice was born (Aug 5, 1907) in Chelsea, near Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of a Polish immigrant. She studied dress and art design, and with the early death of her father (1922) she supported her family financially by working as a stenographer and secretary. Irene Pereira was married firstly (1929 – 1938) to the commercial artist, Humberto Pereira, secondly (1942 – 1950) to George Wellington Brown, an engineer, and thirdly (1950 – 1959) to the Irish poet and translator, George Reavey. All of her marriages ended in divorce.
Pereira travelled in Europe and North Africa (1931) and then painted her Man and Machine (1936). She was best known for the use of glass or parchment, and light refraction in her abstract works, of which the most famous were Three White Squares (1940), Undulating Arrangement (1947) and Shooting Stars (1952). She wrote several volumes concerning art and philosophy such as Light and the New Reality (1951), The Transformation of Nothing and the Paradox of Space (1952) and The Crystal of the Rose (1959). A major retrospective of her work was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Irene Rice Pereira died (Jan 11, 1971) at Marbella in Spain.

Perekusikhina, Maria – (1739 – 1824)
Russian Imperial courtier
Sometimes called Maria Savvishna or ‘Islavishna,’ she was the personal attendant of the Empress Catharine the Great (1762 – 1796). Together with Anna Protasova, Maria was one of the empress’s most intimate friends and scandal stated that the two women tested the virility of Catharine’s designated favourites prior to being invited to share the Imperial couch. Maria survived her mistress by almost three decades, and was granted an Imperial pension. She receives mention in the Memoirs of Princess Dashkova.

Perestu – (c1825 – c1883)
Ottoman Valide Sultan (queen mother) (1876 – c1883)
Perestu became the wife of Sultan Abdulmecid I (1823 – 1861). Childless herself, she adopted her stepson Sultan Abdulhamid II (1842 – 1918), after the death of his own mother Tirimujgan, and raised him as her own. She was later installed by him as queen mother when he came to the Ottoman throne (1876).

Perette of Rouen – (c1360 – c1411)
French midwife and physician
A native of Rouen in Normandy, Perette may also have performed surgeries, and was also known as Peretta Peronne. She was later prosecuted in Paris as a witch, and for practising medicine without a license. Perette suffered a period of imprisonment, but was eventually released by order of Charles VI.

Perey, Margeurite Catherine – (1909 – 1975)
French scientist
Margeurite Perey was invited to join the research group organized by Marie Curie at the Radium Institute (1929), she was born at Villemomble. After studying at the University of Strasburg she eventually became a professor of Nuclear Chemistry (1949), and was later appointed director of the Centre for Nuclear Research (1958). Perey isolated the natural and rare isotope francium, which was combined with simple or complex compounds. Her experiments with radioactivity led to her death from cancer. Margeurite Perey was the first woman to be appointed a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

Perez, Candelaria – (1810 – 1870)
Chilean soldier and officer
Candelaria Perez she served as a sergeant with the Chilean Army. Perez served as a member of the forces sent to Peru in order to combat the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. Candelaria achieved national fame as the heroine of the battle of Yungay (1839). Candelaria Perez died (March 28, 1870).

Perez, Gontrada – (c1110 – 1186)
Spanish courtier
Gontrada Perez was the mistress of Alfonso VII, King of Castile (1104 – 1157), whom she survived thirty years. Their daughter Urraca Alfonsez (1126 – 1179) was recognized by her father and she became the second wife (1144) of Garcia VI, King of Navarre.

Perez, Jeanne – (1918 – 1957)
Haitian feminist and writer
Jeanne Perez was born in Port-au-Prince and was educated there at the Paret Institute. She became a member of various civic associations which concentrated on the campaign to obtain political concessions for women in Haiti. Perez joined with Cleanthe Desgraves Valcin and Amelie Laroche, amongst other feminist figures, to found the Ligue Feminine d’Action Sociale. She served as chief editor of the feminist periodical La viox des Femmes, and herself established the feminist journal La Semuese. She wrote the historical play Sanite Belair; drame historique en trois tableaux (1942) and the novel La mansarde (1950), besides essays and short stories. Jeanne Perez died (Oct 4, 1957) aged thirty-nine.

Perez y Montes de Oca, Julia – (1839 – 1875)
Cuban poet
Julia Perez was born in the Cobre region, the daughter of Joaquin Perez de Naranjo, being the younger sister to poet Luisa Perez y Montes de Oca. She went to reside with her sister in Havana (1860) where she formed part of the literary salons of the period, but she became increasingly ill with tuberculosis, and eventually retired to private life. Julia Perez y Montes de Oca died aged thirty-five, at Artemisia. A collection of her verse was published posthumously as Poesias (1887).

Perez y Montes de Oca, Luisa – (1835 – 1922)
Cuban poet
Luisa Perez was born in the Corbre region, the daughter of Joaquin Perez Naranjo, and was the elder sister to Julia Perez y Montes de Oca. She was raised in Santiago after the death of her father (1852) and was married to the professor and literary critic Ramon Zambrana. However, his early death and the loss of several of her children had a profound melancholic effect on her personality and her verses. With her husband’s death Perez remained in Havana, but returned to Regla before her death. Though her work came to be largely overshadowed by more modern themes, her literary contributions were later recognized by the Ateneo de la Habana (1918). Besides two collections of verse (1856) and (1860), Perez wrote essays and several novels such as Angelica y Estrella (1864) and La hija del verdugo (1865). Luisa Perez y Montes de Oca died (May 25, 1922) aged eighty-seven.

Perez Tellez, Emma – (1900 – 1988)
Spanish poet
Perez Tellez was born in Murcia. Her published work included Premas de la mujer del preso (1932), Conciones a Stalin (1944) and Isla con sol (Island with sun) (1945). She later went to reside in the USA. Emma Perez Tellez died in Miami, Florida.

Pergami, Angelica – (fl. 1815 – 1821)
Italian courtier
Angelica Pergami was born in Milan, Lombardy. She was married to an innkeeper of Cremona named Oldi. She was sister to Bartolommeo Pergami (1784 – 1842), who became the chamberlain and lover of Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales during her residence in Italy prior to her return to England (1820). After her brother insinuated himself into the affections of the princess, Angelica then joined the royal household as a lady-in-waiting, claiming to be a Venetian noblewoman, and assumed the title of ‘Contessa Oldi.’ Considered of limited intelligence and looks, she was also believed to be illiterate. She accompanied the queen to England where she attended on her at Brandenburg House in London until her death (1821). With Queen Caroline’s death her brother retired to Pesaro, where he later died. Angelica’s fate remains unknown, though her niece, Vittorine Pergami becme the wife of an Italian patrician, Conte Belluzzi. Her portrait survives.

Perham, Dame Margery – (1895 – 1982) 
British academic, writer, lecturer and specialist on African affairs
Freda Margery Perham attended secondary schools in Windsor and Abbots Bromley, before attending college at Oxford and then Sheffield University, where she studied modern history. A year spent in British Somaliland stimulated her lifelong interest in Africa, and she travelled extensively throughout the continent studying closely the colonial government and their insitutions. Her first published work, Native Administration in Nigeria (1937) established Perham as an international specialist concerning Africa, and was often consulted by colonial officials. Margery Perham became the first fellow of Nuffield College and she greatly assisted with the establishment of the library at the Institute of Colonial Affairs at Oxford. Her published works included Africans and British Rule (1941), The Colonial Reckoning (1961), The Colonial sequence, 1949 – 1969 (1970) and the autobiography African Apprenticeship (1929).

Perialla – (fl. c500 BC)
Greek priestess
Perialla held the office of Pythian priestess at Delphi. The historian Herodotus records that she was deprived of her office after giving a false judgement that Demaretus of Sparta was not the son of King Ariston. Perialla had been either persuaded or bribed that this answer was favourable to the plans of King Kleomenes I, the enemy of Demaretus.

Pericholi, La    see   Villegas, Micaela

Perictione – (fl. c430 – c400 BC)
Greek literary figure
Perictione was the wife of Ariston and the mother of the famous philosopher Plato (428 – 347 BC). Husband and wife were both of distinguished ancestry. Perictione’s family was related to Solon and to Dropides the archon (644 BC). Her daughter Potone married Eurymedon and was the mother of Speusippus, who succeeded her uncle as head of the Platonic academy in Athens (347 – 339 BC).

Perier, Margeurite – (1646 – 1733)
French Jansenist figure and letter writer
Margeurite Perier was the daughter of the Jansenist poet Gilberte Perier (1620 – 1687). She was the maternal niece of Sister Jacqueline Pascal, and of the noted philospher and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662).

Perigord, Ain de (Anne) – (c925 – c970)
French mediaeval heiress
Ain was the daughter of Guillaume I, Count of Perigord and was the sister to Count Bernard of La Marche (died c936). She became the wife of Boso I (c915 – c980), Count of La Marche. Her husband inherited the county of Perigord from Ain’s nephews Arnauld Bourtration (died c975), Ranulfe and Richard, who all died without posterity, and it remained in the family for several generations. Eventually it passed to the d’Albret family of Navarre, and then to King Henry IV who caused it to be reunited with the crown. Countess Ain left three sons,

• Helie (c945 – c990), Count of Perigord (c980 – c990).
• Boso II (c947 – c1003). He succeeded his brother as Count of Perigord (c990 – c1003).
• Adalbert II, Count of La Marche (c959 – 997) who left issue.

Perilla – (c3 BC – before 58 AD) 
Roman poet
Perilla was perhaps the stepdaughter of the poet Ovid, being the daughter of this third wife by a previous marriage. Nothing of her work has survived. Perilla is known solely from a beautiful poem addressed to her by Ovid in his Tristia. This work was written in the style of poetic letters of lament, at Tomis, on the Black Sea (modern Romania) whence he had been exiled by the Emperor Augustus.  
According to Ovid, Perilla (a female pseudonym for the Republican period) was taught the arts of poetic writing by Ovid himself in her youth. He acknowledges that Perilla herself wrote poems, and the two exchanged and read each others verses. The theory that Perilla was actually a Greek freedwoman has been discounted. The fact that the name of her son is recorded as Nerullinus would seem to indicate that her real name may have been Nerulla.

Perkins, Frances – (1880 – 1965)
American social reformer, politician and Cabinet minister
Frances Perkins was born (April 10, 1880) in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Worcester. She was educated at Mount Holyoke College (1898 – 1902) and then became closely associated with the work at Hull House in Chicago. She was married to the economist Paul Wilson (died 1952). The couple had an only daughter. Perkins moved to New York and became a consumer lobbyist (1910 – 1912) and an investigator for industrial safety in New York. She later served for a decade (1933 – 1944) as the US secretary of Labour, being appointed to that position by President Franklin D. Roosevelt she was the first woman to serve in the Cabinet.
Frances Perkins was then appointed as chairperson of the US Civil Service Commission (1946 – 1953). Perkins’ work made her responsible for New Deal legislation which led to the Social Security Act (1935) and the Wages and Hours Act (1938). She resigned from the Cabinet under Harry Truman (1945) but continued to work closely with the Civil service Commission until 1952. Frances Perkins was later appointed a professor at the Cornell School of Industrial Relations (1956) and published the memoir The Roosevelt I Knew (1946). Frances Perkins died (May 14, 1965) aged eighty-five, in New York.

Perl, Susan – (1922 – 1983)
Austrian-American book illustrator and cartoonist
Perl was born (Sept 8, 1922) in Vienna and later immigrated to the USA. She was best known for her advertisements featuring children which appeared in the New York Times and which were published in How Come? : Easy answers to Hard Questions. Perl produced the illustrations for A.A. Milne’s work Once Upon a Time and for Household Hints by Phyllis Diller. She produced the cartoon book The Sex Life of the American Female (1964). Susan Perl died (June 27, 1983) aged sixty, in New York.

Perna – (fl. c1460)
Italian mediaeval lay physician
Of Jewish antecedents Perna had been trained in the medicinal arts, presumably by a family member who pursued the same career. She is on record as applying for a license to practice medicine in the town of Fano as a ‘doctoress.’ It remains unknown whether her application proved successful.

Peron, Aurelia      see    Tizon, Aurelia

Peron, Eva – (1919 – 1952)
Argentinian First Lady
Born Marie Eva Duarte into a poor family in Buenos Aires, she was originally a popular actress before she married (1945) Juan Domingo Peron (1895 – 1974), who was elected president (1946) with an overwhelming majority. Eva had orchestrated labour demonstrations which had secured his release frim prison. Attractive and politically savy, Madame Peron collected vast support from Argentinian women, not hesitating to exploit both her humble background and her glamorous persona, and established the Eva Peron Social Aid Foundation, which provided assistance to the poor. Her own candidacy for the vice-presidency (1951) was bitterly opposed by the military, and Eva’s renunciation of the office was broadcast over the radio, to great dramatic effect. Eva Peron’s health failed and she died young, shortly after attending the ceremonies which installed her husband in power for his second term as president (1952 – 1955).  In the famous musical Evita (1978), produced by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice, she was portrayed by Julie Covington who sang the famous song ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,’ whilst actress and singer Madonna portrayed her in the film (1997).

Peronelle of Bar – (c1149 – 1174)
French medieval heiress
Peronelle of Bar was the only daughter and surviving child of Milon III, Count of Bar, and his wife Agnes de Baudement. Her stepfather was Robert I, Count of Dreux, the son of Louis VI (1108 – 1137). Her two brothers died young and upon her father’s death (1151) Peronelle succeeded as countess of Bar. Then a child, her uncle, Manasses, the Duke-Bishop of Longres ruled as regent until 1168, when he relinquished the government to Peronelle and her husband Hugh du Puiset (c1125 – 1189), Vicomte of Chartres, who was recognized as Count of Bar in her right.

Perovskaya, Sofya Lvovna – (1854 – 1881)
Russian feminist and socialist
Sofya Perovskaya was the daughter of Lvov Perovsky, the Governor-General of St Petersburg and was raised there and in the Crimea. She later studied mathematics in St Petersburg, despite parental opposition. Sofya first worked as a rural nurse (1872 – 1873) and came into contact with revolutionary groups. Blonde and attractive she joined the revolutionary sect known as ‘the People’s Will’ and became involved in the successful plot to assassinate Tsar Alexander II (March 1, 1881), directing the assassins herself. All were caught and Sofya was publicly hanged in Semenovsky Square in St Petersburg (April 3), aged only twenty-eight. Her four male co-conspirators, including her own lover, Zhelyabov, died with her. The only other female conspirator, Gesya Helfman was reprieved and given life imprisonment because she was expecting a child.

Perowne, Agatha Violet Beaumont, Lady – (1903 – 1994)
British aristocrat
The Hon. (Honourable) Agatha Beaumont was born (Dec 26, 1903) the fourth and youngest daughter of Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont (1860 – 1923), second Baron (1907) and first Viscount Allendale (1911 – 1923) and his wife Lady Alexandrina Louisa Maud Vane-Tempest, the daughter of the fifth Marquess of Londonderry. She was sister to Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont (1890 – 1956), second Viscount Allendale. Her direct ancestor George Beaumont (died 1712) of Chapelthorpe, left a daughter Hannah Beaumont, the wife of Andrew Burnaby, Prebendary of Lincoln, who were the ancestors of HM Queen Elizabeth (nee Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons), the wife of George VI (1936 – 1952) and mother of Elizabeth II.
Miss Beaumont became the wife (1933) of the diplomat, Sir John Victor Thomas Woolrych Tait Perowne (died 1951) of St James’ Court, Buckingham Gate in London. The couple had two children, a daughter Rachel Penelope Perowne (1938 – 1940) who died in infancy, and a son, John Florian Canning Perowne (born 1942). During WW II Lady Perowne was engaged in volunteer work for the war effort organizing nursing and ambulance services for the troops. For this valuable work she was appointed O.ST.J (Officer of the Order of St John of Jerusalem). Lady Agatha survived her husband for over four decades as the Dowager Lady Perowne (1951 – 1994) and resided mainly in London. Lady Perowne died (Jan 15, 1994) aged ninety.

Perpetua, Vibia – (181 – 203 AD) 
Roman Christian martyr and author
Vibia Perpetua was a native of Carthage in North Africa. During the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian she was arrested and imprisoned, together with her maid, Felicitas, and her her Christian teacher, Saturus. Perpetua is best known because of The Passion of Perpetua, which may have been edited by Tertullian, includes accounts of visions received by Perpetua during her imprisonment, before she was killed in the arena. Perpetua and Felicitas were honoured by a church built over the site of their burial place, which was later positively identified (1907).

Perrers, Alice – (c1348 – 1400)
English medieval courtier
Alice Perrers was the mistress of King Edward III from 1363 till his death (1377). Hostile chroniclers claimed that she was of low birth and the daughter of a tiler from Henney in Essex, but she was actually the daughter of Sir Richard de Perrers, who had conducted a long feud with the Abbey of St Alban’s which might also explain the chronicler’s hostility. She has also been called the daughter of John Perrers of Holt, and his wife Gunnora, the daughter of Sir Thomas de Ormesbyre.
Renowned for her greed and rapacity, Alice was later placed in the household of Queen Philippa as lady-in-waiting (domicella camerae Reginae) (1366). She bore Edward an illegitimate son, Sir John de Southeraye (c1364 – c1383). She received the great manor of Wendover (1371) and later obtained possession of Oxeye and the manor of Bramsfordseke in Devonshire (1375). In this same year Alice rode through Chepe Ward from the Tower of London dressed in cloth of gold as the ‘Lady of the Sun’ to attend the great jousts which were being held at Smithfield. Alice was married firstly to Sir Thomas de Narford, and then (c1376) to Sir William de Windsor (c1333 – 1384), to whom she bore two daughters, Jane and Joan, her legitimate heirs, though she continued her liasion with the now elderly king, who made her lavish gifts of expensive jewellery. The monkish chronicler of the abbey of St Albans was particulalry hostile to Alice after she bested him in an estate dispute, and the speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Peter de la Mare, spoke openly against her at the Good Parliament (1376), and she was sentenced to forfeiture of her goods and was banished from court. However, she soon crept back into favour with the king, and Alice is said to have stolen the rings from Edward’s fingers as he lay dying, and then abandoned him.
During the first Parliament of Richard II the former sentence of forfeiture was confirmed but later revoked (1380) and her husband obtained a grant of the lands which Alice had formerly held. She later conducted a lawsuit against William of Wykeham concerning some jewels which she alleged she had pawned to him after her indictment. Wykeham denied the charge and the courts found in his favour. Alice later petitioned for the reversal of the judgement against her (1397), and the matter was referred for the king’s pleasure, apparently without effect. Alice Perrers died aged about fifty-two. In her will she directed that she should be buried in the parish church of Upminster in Essex.

Perrier, Sophie Roseline Irene de Villeneuve-Vence, Marquise du – (1763 – 1808)
French aristocrat
Sophie de Villeneuve-Vence was born (Feb 25, 1763) at Aix-en-Provence, the fourth daughter of Alexandre de Villeneuve-Vence, Marquis de Vence, and his wife Angelique Louise de La Rochefoucald, the daughter of Alexandre de La Rochefoucald, Comte de Surgeres. She was of the family of the famous letter writer Madame de Sevigne (1626 – 1693). Prior to her marriage Sophie became a canoness of the noble chapter of St Louis at Metz. She was married (1780) at Vence in Aples Maritimes, to Charles Philippe, Marquis du Perrier (1748 – 1801) but they remained childless. During Robespierre’s Terror (May – July, 1794) the marquise, her husband and her elder sister, the Marquise de Tourottes were arrested and imprisoned at Oiseaux. They all survived and were eventually liberated (Oct, 1794). She survived her husband as the Dowager Marquise du Perrier (1801 – 1808) and died (Dec 27, 1808) aged forty-five, in Paris. Being childless her estates and properties were inherited by her elder surviving sister Adelaide, Comtesse de Bardoneche.

Perrin, Ethel – (1871 – 1962)
American physical education specialist
Ethel Perrin was born (Feb 7, 1871) in Needham, Massachusetts, the daughter of a merchant. She attended college in West Bridgewater before enrolling at the BNSG (Boston Normal School of Gymnastics) (1890). With a strong belief in the wisdom of physical exercise as beneficial to motherhood, Perrin co-authored two physical education manuals One Hundred and Fifty Gymnastic Games (1902) and A Handbook of Rhythmical Balance Exercises (1906). She later worked at Smith College and at the University of Michigan. Her model, The State of Michigan Course of Study in Physical Education (1914), became the template for instruction across the country. She was closely associated with the APEA (American Physical Education Society) and later retired to be a dairy farmer (1936). Ethel Perrin was awarded the Luther Halsey Gulick award for her valuable contribution to physical education. Ethel Perrin died (May 15, 1962) aged eighty-one, in Brewster, New York.

Perrin, Louise  see   Labe, Louise

Perronele – (fl. 1292 – 1319)
French merchant
Dame Perronele was an established merchant in Paris who is recorded in the tax records as specializing in the sale of herbs and spices, hence her being known as ‘Perronele l’espiciere.’ Her business which she ran for over three decades at least, was a prosperous asnd thriving one. She is on record as traveling from Paris to Artois to provide herbal medicines and advice to Comtess Maude d’Artois and her household (1319).

Perrot, Mary    see   Berkeley, Mary

Perry, Antoinette – (1888 – 1946) 
American actress and theatrical producer
Mary Antoinette Perry was born in Denver, Colorado, and worked on the stage from the age of seventeen (1905). Antoinette later became a stage director and was responsible for the production of popular plays such as Strictly Dishonourable, Personal Appearances, and Kiss the Boys Goodbye. She founded the American Wing Theatre (1941) and the annual Antoinette Perry Awards, nicknamed ‘Tony’ awards were named in her honour.

Perry, Eleanor – (1915 – 1981)
American author and screenwriter
Eleanor was the first wife of the pioneer director, Frank Perry (1930 – 1995), fifteen years her junior, and wrote several of the scripts for his films such as David and Lisa (1962), Ladybug Ladybug (1963) and The Swimmer (1968) which starred Burt Lancaster. The couple later seperated (1970) and were then divorced (1971) after which Eleanor Perry continued to produce scripts for such films as The Deadly Trap (1971) and The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973). Eleanor Perry was the recipient of several Emmy Awards (1967) and (1973).

Perry, Emily – (1907 – 2008)
British actress
Emily Perry was born (June 28, 1907) in Torquay, Devon. She ran a dancing school for children, The Patricia Perry Academy of Dancing for over two decades. She was best remembered in the role of Madge Allsop, the perennial and much put upon bridesmaid of Australian entertainer Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries). Perry appeared in several television specials with Everage including The Dame Edna Experience (1987 – 1989), Dame Edna’s Neighbourhood Watch (1992) and Dame Edna’s Hollywood (1993). Perry also made an appearance in the popular British series Last of the Summer Wine (1994). Emily Perry died (Feb 19, 2008) aged one hundred years, at Twickenham, Middlesex.

Perry, Frances Mary – (1907 – 1993)
British gardening author
Frances Perry studied at Swanley College, and later married into the famous Perry family of horticulturalists. Frances proved to be a prolific author, her interest covering a wide range of subjects, but her best known work, which remained a standard for some years was Water Gardening. Frances was later appointed principal of a college for adult education, but remained a horticultural advisor to the Middlesex County Council for several decades. Frances Perry was also at one time a garden columnist with the Observer newspaper. She was awarded the Victorian Medal of Honour (1971).

Perry, Julia Amanda – (1924 – 1979)
Black American composer
Julia Perry was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and graduated from the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (1948). Perry took further study under Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and with Luigi Dallapiccola in Italy. Julia also studied conducting at Siena (1956 – 1958) and was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships. Her published work included The Cask of Amontillado (1954), and the opera ballet The Selfish Giant (1962). Perry composed a dozen symphonies including No. 11 Soul Symphony (1972), as well as piano and violin concertos. Julia Amanda Perry died (April 29, 1979) aged fifty-five, at Akron, Ohio.

Persdotter, Agda – (fl. 1558 – c1565)
Swedish courtier
The daughter of Pers, a minor court official, Agda became the early mistress of King Erik XIV (1560 – 1568), prior to his accession to the throne. Their association produced three children whom the king recognized. Their liaison ended after Erik’s association with Karin Mansdotter whom he married. Her children were,

• Virginia Eriksdotter (1559 – 1633). She became the wife of Haakon Knutsson Hand (died 1596).
• Constantia Eriksdotter (1560 – 1649). She became the wife of Henri Frankelin (died 1610) and left issue.
• Lucretia Eriksdotter (born 1564). She either died young or remained unmarried.

Persiani, Fanny – (1812 – 1867)
Italian coloratura soprano
Born Fanny Tacchinardi in Rome (Oct 4, 1812), she was the daughter of the noted violinist and tenor, Nicola Tacchinardi (1772 – 1859). She later married (1830) the operatic composer, Giuseppe Persiani (1799 – 1869). Madame Persiani was considered one of the most successful and talented coloratura sopranos of the time. Though she lacked beauty and possessed a less than perfect voice, her singing style was considered immaculate. Fanny Persiani died (May 3, 1867) aged fifty-four, at Passy, near Paris.

Persida Nenadovica – (1813 – 1873)
Princess consort of Serbia and dynastic matriarch
Persida Nenadovica was born (Feb 13, 1813) at Valvejo, the daughter of Ephraim Nenadovic. She was married (1830) to Alexander I Karageorgevitch (1806 – 1885), the ruling prince of Serbia (1842 – 1859) and was his consort. Persida bore him ten children, including Peter I Karageorgevitch (1844 – 1923), who later became King of Serbia (1903 – 1921), after he engineered the assassination of King Alexander I and his unpopular wife Draga Mashin. Prince Alexander later abdicated the throne (1859) and the royal couple retired to live in Austria, where they attended the Hapsburg court in Vienna. Princess Persida died (March 29, 1873) aged sixty, in Vienna. Her ten children were,

• Polexia Karageorgevica, Princess of Serbia (1833 – 1914). She married firstly to Konstantin Nikolajevic (1821 – 1877), and secondly to Dr Alexander Preshern (died 1914).
• Cleopatra Karageorgevica, Princess of Serbia (1835 – 1855). She became the wife of Milan Avrama Petronijevitch.
• Alexa Karageorgevitch (1836 – 1841). He died young.
• Svetozar Karageorgevitch, Prince of Serbia (1841 – 1847). He died young.
• Peter I Karageorgevitch (1844 – 1921). He became King of Serbia and left issue.
• Jelena Karageorgevica, Princess of Serbia (1846 – 1867). She became the wife of Djordje Simic (died 1921).
• Andrej Karageorgevitch, Prince of Serbia (1848 – 1864). He died young.
• Jelisabetta Karageorgevica, Princess of Serbia (1850). She died in infancy, aged six months.
• Djordje Karageorgevitch, Prince of Serbia (1856 – 1889). He died unmarried.
• Arsene Karageorgevitch, Prince of Serbia (1859 – 1938). He was married and left descendants.

Pert, Camille – (1865 – 1952)
French novelist and author
Born Louise Hortense Grillet, Camille Pert wrote mainly romantic novels such as Amoureuses (Women in Love) (1895), Les Amours perverses de Rosa Scari (The Wayward Love Affairs of Rosa Scari) (1905) and Une Liasion coupable (A Guilty Liasion) (1907).

Pertevniyal – (c1810 – 1883)
Ottoman Valide Sultan (queen mother) (1861 – 1876)
Pertevniyal was of Circassian origins, and is believed to have been sister to Husyar, the wife of Ibrahim Pasha and the mother of Khedive Ismail of Egypt (1830 – 1895).  Originally named Besma, she entered the harem of her future husband Sultan Mahmud II (1785 – 1839) as a slave. He married her after she bore him a son Sultan Abdulaziz I (1830 – 1876). With her son’s death she retired from the court. Sultana Pertneviyal died (Feb 5, 1883) aged in her early seventies, in Constantinople.

Pery, Dame Angela   see   Limerick, Angela Olivia Trotter, Countess of

Pesotta, Rose – (1896 – 1965)
Jewish Russian-American Labour organiser and leader
Born Rose Peisoty in Derazhnya in the Ukraine (Nov 20, 1896), the daughter of a grain merchant, she refused to marry at her parents’ request and immigrated to New York (1913) where she assumed the surname Pesotta and was employed as a garment maker. Rose joined the ILGWU (Inertnational Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union) and went on to study at Bryn Mawr Summer School and at the Brookwood Labor College. She became vice-president of the ILGWU (1934 – 1944), which she held for three terms, and travelled round the country organizing unions, being possessed of a charming and volatile personality, and with a talent for public speaking. Pesotta published two works of autobiography Bread Upon the Waters (1944) and Days of Our Lives (1958). Rose Pesotta died (Dec 7, 1965) aged sixty-nine, in Miami, Florida.

Pestana, Alice    see     Caiel

Petacci, Clara – (1912 – 1945)
Italian political figure, the last mistress of Benito Mussolini
Born Claretta Petacci, she was the daughter of a physician. She became the mistress of Mussolini after she chased his car in the street and he stopped to speak with her, admiring her beauty. She resided with him as his mistress and he installed her within the Palazzo Venezi. Beautiful, sensuous and large-breasted such was her sexual influence over the dicator that his doctors feared for his health, but by 1943 Mussolini had begun to tire of her. They remained together but the disaster of W W II led to their relationship becoming increasingly unstable and Mussolini treated her with some brutality. Some of this treatment was due to the unfavourable reaction from the public, who tolerated a mistress, but not an ensconced favourite. When Mussolini fell Clara’s family wanted her to flee to Spain with them but she refused. She was killed with Mussolini by the mob and her body was hung upside down next to his in Milan.

Peter, Sarah Worthington – (1800 – 1877)
American philanthropist and Catholic activist
Born Sarah King, after her marriage she became a prominent patron of education and the arts. Her private correspondence was printed in the work In Winter We Flourish: Life and Letters of Sarah Worthington King Peter, 1800 – 1877 (1939).

Peterborough, Anastasia Robinson, Countess of    see   Robinson, Anastasia

Peterborough, Elizabeth Howard, Countess of – (1603 – 1671)
English Stuart heiress and courtier
Elizabeth Howard was the only child and heiress of Lord William Howard of Effingham (1577 – 1615) and his wife Anne St John. Her father was the granddaughter of Sir Charles Howard (1536 – 1624), first Earl of Nottingham which made Elizabeth the kinswoman of both Queen Elizabeth I and James I, and a descendant of the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (800 – 814). She became the wife of John Mordaunt (1599 – 1644), first Earl of Peterborough, to whom she bore two sons Henry Mordaunt (1623 – 1697) who succeeded his father as the second Earl of Peterborough (1644 – 1697) but left an only daughter. His brother John, Viscount Mordaunt of Avalon (1626 – 1675) was the father of Charles Howard (1658 – 1735) who succeeded his uncle as the third Earl of Peterborough (1697 – 1735). Lady Elizabeth survived her husband for twenty-five years as the Dowager Countess of Peterborough (1644 – 1671).

Peterkin, Julia – (1880 – 1961)
American novelist
Julia was the daughter of a plantation manager in South Carolina. She was famous for her depictions of the Gullah Blacks. Julia Peterkin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1929) for her work, Scarlet Sister Mary (1928). When this was presented on stage Ethel Barrymore played the role in black.

Peters, Jane Alice    see   Lombard, Carole

Peters, Jean – (1926 – 2000)
American actress
Born Elizabeth Jean Peters (Oct 15, 1926) in Canton, Ohio, she was educated at the University of Michigan, and made her screen debut as Tyrone Power’s leading lady in the film Captain from Castile (1947). Jean Peters was best remembered for her role in the classic Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). She was married firstly (1957 – 1971) to the famous billionaire Howard Hughes (1905 – 1976), from whom she was later divorced. Her second husband was the film executive Stanley Hough. Peters later turned to television acting, and appeared on several programs. Jean Peters died (Oct 13, 2000) aged seventy-three, at Carlsbad, California.

Peters, Maureen – (1935 – 2008)
British historical novelist
Peters was born (March 3, 1935) at Caernarvon in Wales. She was married twice and bore four children. All of her histprical romances were published under her own name such as The Woodville Wench (1972), Katheryn, The Wanton Queen, Anne, The Rose of Hever, Mary, the Infamous Queen and Henry VIII and His Six Wives. Peters also wrote family sagas, ordinary romances and mystery novels.
Under the peusdonym ‘Veronica Black’ she published the popular Sister Joan detective series with a nun who solves mysteries. These novels included such titles as A Vow of Silence (1990), A Vow of Obedience (1993), A Vow of Penance (1994), A Vow of Compassion (1997) and A Vow of Evil (2004). As ‘Catherine Darby’ she was the author of the nine volume Falcon series set in the middle ages which included titles such as Falcon Royal (1976), Falcon Rising (1976) and Falcon Sunset (1976).

Petersen, Virgilia – (1904 – 1966) 
American author, lecturer, television personality and critic
Virgilia Petersen was born (May 16, 1904) in New York, she married firstly (1933) to Prince Maria Pawel Sapieha-Kodinski (1900 – 1987) from whom she was divorced, and secondly, to Gouverneur Paulding. Petersen was best remembered for her novel Polish Profile (1940) which became a best-seller, and Beyond This Shore (1942), both published as Virginia Sapieha. She worked in radio and television, acting as moderator in ‘The Author Meets the Critic’ televsion program (1952 – 1955), and the ‘Books in Profile’ radio program (1956). She was also a book-reviewer for the New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune. Her own autobiography A Matter of Life and Death (1961) was published under her maiden name. Virgilia Petersen died (Dec 24, 1966) aged sixty-two.

Peterson, Edith – (1914 – 1992)
American medical researcher
Peterson was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Barnard College where she studied zoology. She continued her studies in this field at Columbia University. Edith Peterson became known for her detailed study of cell cultures including nerve and muscle tissues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her research led to the discovery that myelin, which the body uses to insulate nerve cells, could be produced via test tubes. She was married and left children. Edith Peterson died (Aug 15, 1992) aged seventy-eight, in Middletown, New York.

Peterson, Eugenie    see   Devi, Indra

Pethick-Lawrence, Emmeline – (1867 – 1954)
British suffragette and social reformer
Born Emmeline Pethick in Clifton, Bristol, she was the daughter of a Member of Parliament and attended boarding school in Devizes, as well as private schools abroad. She was the founder of the Esperance Working Girls’ Club (1895) with Mary Neal and then the Maison Esperance (1897), a dress-making co-operative. Emmeline was married (1901) to the liberal unionist member of Parliament, Frederick William Lawrence (1871 – 1961), editor of The Echo, who was later created Baron Pethwick-Lawrence, who adopted his wife’s name to his own as a gesture of equality.
Emmeline Lawrence became the editor of the Women’s Social and Political Union, and with her husband she co-edited the Votes for Women newspaper. She and several other women chained themselves to the railings of 10 Downing Street (1908), though she disavowed the more extreme forms of feminine militancy then emerging. Emmeline was one of the organizers of the International Peace Conference held at The Hague (1915). Pethick-Lawrence stood as the Labour candidate for Rusholme, Manchester (1918), but was not elected, and she strongly supported her husband’s career which saw him appointed as Secretary of State for India and Burma (1945). She published a volume of memoirs entitled My Part in a Changing World (1938) and was elected President of Honour of the Women’s Freedom League (1953).

Petipa, Maria Mariusovna – (1857 – 1940)
Russian ballerina
Maria Petipa was born in St Petersburg, the daughterof Marius Ivanovich Petipa, from whom she received her early dance and choreographic instruction. Maria made her stage debut as leading dancer with the Mariinskii Theatre (1875), and appeared in other ballets produced by her father. Famous as a leading character actress, she performed in Paris (1897) and Budapest (1899), and retired from the stage in 1907. After the revolution Maria immigrated to France, and died in Paris.

Peto, Dorothy Olivia Georgiana – (1886 – 1974) 
British policewoman
Dorothy Peto was appointed as the first superintendent of the Metropolitan Women’s Police. During WW I she was appointed as the director of the Bristol Training School for Women Patrols and Police before joining the Women’s Volunteer Organization established by Margaret Damer Dawson (1914). It took some years for the authorities to realize the distinct need for female police officer, and finally Peto was appointed as Superintendent (1930 – 1946). Dorothy Peto was awarded the King’s Police Medal (1945) by King George VI.

Petraliphaina, Theodora Dukaina    see   Theodora of Arta

Petre, Anne Howard, Lady – (1742 – 1787)
British Catholic heiress and peeress
Anne Howard was born (Aug 29, 1742) the daughter and coheir of Philip Howard (c1688 – 1750), of Buckenham, Norfolk, and his second wife Henrietta Blount, the daughter of Henry Blount of Blagdon, Devon, and widow of Peter Proli of Antwerp, Holland. She was the niece of Edward Howard (1686 – 1777), the ninth Duke of Norfolk. Anne was married (1762) to Robert Edward Petre (1742 – 1801), ninth Baron Petre and became Baroness Petre (1762 – 1787). Together with her sister Winifred, Lady Stourton, at the decease of their childless uncle (1777) Lady Petre was coheir to the ancient feudal baronies of Mowbray, Segrave, Furnivall, Talbot, Strange de Blackmere, Howard, braose of Gower, Dacre of Gillisland, Greystock, Ferrers of Wemme, Giffard of Brimsfield and Verdon, which, with the exception of Mowbray and Segrave continued into the twentieth century in abeyance between the heirs of these two ladies. Lady Petre died (Jan 15, 1787) aged forty-four. She left three children,

• Robert Edward Petre (1763 – 1809) who succeeded his father as the tenth Baron Petre (1801 – 1809) and left issue.
• Hon. (Honourable) George William Petre (1766 – 1797) who married and left issue.
• Hon. Anne Catherine Petre (died 1798). She became the wife of General Denzil Onslow, of Staughton House, Huntingdonshire.

Petre, Catherine Walmesley, Lady – (1697 – 1788)
British Catholic aristocrat
Catherine Walmesley was the daughter of Bartholomew Walmesley of Dunkenhalgh, Lancaster, and was eventually the sole heiress of her brother Francis Walmesley. She was married firstly (1712) to Robert, seventh Baron Petre (1689 – 1713) who died the following year of smallpox. Her son Robert James, eighth Baron Petre (1713 – 1742) was born posthumously. Possessed of both beauty and wealth the Dowager Lady Petre was considered as a bride for James III (the Old Pretender) around the time of the 1717 rebellion, possibly as her wealth would have assisted her future husband in his attempt to regain the British crown. The marriage never eventuated and the rebellion failed. Lady Petre remained a widow for three decades for finally remarrying (1733) to Charles Stourton (1702 – 1753), the fifteenth Baron Stourton, and became the Baroness Stourton (1744 – 1753). This marriage remained childless and Lady Catherine survived Charles as the Dowager Baroness Stourton for thirty-five years (1753 – 1788). Lady Stourton died (Jan 31, 1788) aged ninety.

Petrella, Clara – (1914 – 1987)
Italian soprano and operatic performer
Clara Petrella was born (March 28, 1914) at Milan in Lombardy. She was a descendant of the noted composer Errico Petrella (1813 – 1877) who produced the operas Marco Visconti and La Contessa d’Amalfi, and was niece to the soprano Olivia Petrella. She made her stage debut in Alessandria (1939) making a successful career as an opera performer until 1962. Possessed of a beautiful pinto voice she was often compared favourably with the famous Eleonora Duse. Petrella was particularly noted for her performances in the title roles of Manon Lescaut and Madama Butterfly, and she recorded Pagliacci with Decca Records. She appeared in the television production of Il tabarro (1956). Clara Petrella died (Nov 19, 1987) aged seventy-three.

Petronella – (fl. 593)
Italian nun
Petronella was born into a patrician family in Lucania. She never married and became a nun at the urging of Bishop Agnellus and donated all of her property to the convent she entered. Petronella later fled to Sicily to escape the Lombard invasions, and was there seduced by Agnellus, the son of the bishop, who removed her and her property from the convent in Lucania. A letter from Pope Gregory I (Sept, 593) and preserved in his Epistolarum Registrum ordered that Petronella and her property be restored to the convent.

Petronia Magna – (fl. c80 – 88 AD) 
Graeco-Roman religious patron
Petronia Magna was perhaps the widow of a Roman soldier or official. A woman of some financial means, she paid for the building of a temple to the goddess Aphrodite at Kom Ombo (Ombos) in the Thebaid region of Egypt, in the name of herself and her children. The facade of this temple was decorated with scenes concerning the activities of the goddess Hathor, but the inscription is Greek. The temple was dedicated (Feb 26, 88 AD) during the prefecture of C. Septimius Vegetus, during the reign of the Emperor Domitian.

Petronilla – (d. c250 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Long erroneously identified as the daughter of the first century apostle St Peter, the cemetery of Domitilla in Rome contained a fresco dating from the fourth century, which portrayed Petronilla about to be put to death for having refused to marry a nobleman named Flaccus, preferring to remain a virgin. Her name is partly the reason that she came to be connected with St Peter, which relationship was long refuted by scholars, and her supposed Acts, dating from the sixth century, are forgeries. However, it does seem certain that in the mid third century, perhaps during the persecutions initiated by the Emperor Traianus Decius (249 – 251 AD), a young woman named Petronilla was martyred because of her adherence to the Christian faith. The church venerated her as a saint (May 31).
St Petronilla appears frequently in late mediaeval stained glass and painted screens in England, and is usually portrayed with a set of keys, which emblem is presumably borrowed from her fictitious association with St Peter. During the eighth century Petronilla’s sarcophagus was removed to the basilica of St Peter’s, and her chapel there eventually became that of the French kings, being decorated by Michelangelo and Bramante. The Frankish Emperor Charlemagne and his brother Carloman II took St Petronilla as their particular patron.

Petronilla of Alsace – (c1082 – 1144)
Countess consort of Holland
Originally named Gertrude she was the daughter of Dietrich II (Theodore) of Alsace, Duke of Upper Lorraine and his second wife Gertrude of Flanders, the widow of Heinrich III, Count of Louvain. She was full-sister to Thierry of Alsace (1099 – 1168), Count of Flanders. Gertrude became the wife (c1103) of Count Florenz II the Fat (1083 – 1121), Count of Holland (1091 – 1121) and became countess consort of Holland (c1103 – 1121). Her Flemish subjects called her Petronilla (Petronel) and she survived Florenz for over two decades as Dowager Countess of Holland (1121 – 1144). Countess Petronilla died (May 23, 1144) and left four children,

• Hedwig of Holland (c1105 – 1132). She became a nun at Rijnsburg.
• Dirk IV (c1110 – 1157). He succeeded his father as Count of Holland (1121 – 1157) and left issue.
• Floris the Black of Holland (c1115 – 1136). He became Count of Frisia but died unmarried.
• Simon of Holland (died after 1131). He became a priest in Utrecht.

Petronilla of Aquitaine (Aelith) – (1124 – after 1159)
French princess
Petronilla was born at the Ombriere Palace, Poitiers, or at Belin Castle, the younger daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine (1127 – 1137) and his wife Aenor of Chatellerault. Her elder sister Eleanor was the wife successively of Louis VII of France and then Henry II of England. Sometimes called Aelith or Alix she is called Petronilla in her father’s will (1137). Petronilla accompanied her sister to the French court after her marriage, and was a member of her sister’s household. There she met the king’s powerful kinsman, Raoul I, Count of Vermandois (1090 – 1152). Raoul then repudiated his wife, Eleanor of Blois, and was married to Petronilla, with the connivance of the king and queen (1142). Countess Eleanore appealed to Pope Innocent II, who caused Petronilla and Raoul to be excommunicated. The refusal of the pope to lift his ban led to the infamous burning of the town of Vitry by Louis VII (1143).
Pope Celestine II later lifted the sentence of excommunication at the Council of Rheims (1144). Despite all of this they were eventually divorced (1152). Soon afterwards Petronilla accompanied her sister to the English court after her marriage with Henry II. The Pipe Rolls record gifts made to Petronilla, and she died sometime after 1159. She was interred in the church of St Arnoul at Crepy-en-Valois. Petronilla bore Raoul four children, all of whom died without issue. The childlessness of her daughters and the contraction of leprosy by her only son were held by John of Salisbury as the fulfillment of Bernard of Clairvaux’s prediction that ‘no good’ would come of Petronilla’s uncanonical marriage. Her children were,

• Isabella of Vermandois (Mabile) (1143 – 1183). She was the first wife of Philip I, Count of Flanders (c1134 – 1191), but died childless.
• Elisabeth of Vermandois (1144 – 1151). She died young.
• Raoul II the Leperous (1145 – 1167), who ruled jointly with his elder half-brother, Hugh III, as count of Vermandois. He was married to Margaret of Alsace but died childless. His widow remarried to Count Baldwin V of Hainault.
• Eleonore of Vermandois (1152 – 1213). She was married four times but died childless.

Petronilla of Aragon – (1136 – 1174)
Queen regnant (1138 – 1164)
Infanta Petronilla was the only child of King Ramiro II of Aragon, and his wife Agnes of Poitou, daughter of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine. Her parents had been forced to marry for dynastic reasons, but both had religious vocations and seperated from each other after her birth, her mother retiring to a convent. King Ramiro caused Petronilla to be betrothed in infancy to Ramon Berengar IV, Count of Barcelona (1113 – 1162), whom he appointed to rule Aragon as regent, so he could retire to a monastery. Ramon Berengar then ruled Aragon until he formally married Petronilla in 1150. 
Widowed in 1162, Queen Petronilla formally ceded the kingdom to her son Alfonso II in 1164, who was then aged twelve, the government being continued by a council of regents in his name. The first queen regnant in the history of the kingdom of Aragon, Petronilla became, by her own decision, the last. Her will directed that no other female should ever inherit the throne in her own right. Queen Petronilla died (Oct 17, 1174) aged thirty-eight.

Petronilla of Argengau – (c837 – c870)
Angevin progenitrix
Petronilla was probably the daughter of Conrad I, Count of Argengau, brother of the empress Judith, second wife of the Carolingian Emperor Louis I the Pious. Her mother was Adelaide, the daughter of Hugh II, Count of Tours and Orleans. She was a close relative of Duke Hugh of Burgundy. The Emperor Charles II (875 – 877) gave Petronilla in marriage (c850) to Tertullus (c836 – c878) the seneschal of the Gatinais, and the Gesta Consulum Andegavensium recorded the marriage of Tertullus with ducis Burgundiae filiam nomine Petronillam. The Chronica Turonensis named their son, Ingelgar (c853 – c888), Count of Angers as nepos Hugonis Ducis Burgundiae. Countess Petronilla was the paternal grandmother of Fulk I (c870 – 941), the first Count of Anjou (929 – 941).

Petronilla of Bar – (c1150 – 1174)
French mediaeval heiress
Hereditary Countess of Bar-sur-Seine, Petronilla was the daughter of Milon III, Count of Bar, and his first wife Agnes de Baudement, later the wife of Robert I, Count of Dreux, a younger son of King Louis VI of France (1108 – 1137). Petronilla became the wife (c1166) of Hugh IV de Le Piuset (c1140 – 1189), Vicomte de Chartres, who ruled Bar-sir-Seine in her name and was styled count of Bar. Countess Petronilla died young, aged about twenty-five, most probably from the effects of childbirth. Count Hugh later retired to England and died at Bishop Auckland. Her children were,

• Milon IV de Le Puiset (c1167 – 1211). He succeeded his mother as Count of Bar-sur-Seine (1175 – 1211) though his father ruled during his minority. He also succeeded Hugh as vicomte of Chartres (1189 – 1211) and was married to Helisende of Joigny but died without issue.
• Henry de Le Puiset (died after 1190).
• Hugh de Le Puiset (died after 1184).
• Heloise de Le Puiset (died after 1189). She became the wife of Guy de Senecy (died after 1220).
• Margeurite de Le Puiset (died after 1189). She became the wife of Eudes d’Aspremont.

Petronilla of Bigorre   see   Bigorre, Petronilla de

Petronilla of Comminges – (c1190 – 1251)
French mediaeval heiress
Petronilla was the daughter of Bernard IV, Count of Comminges, and his first wife Stephanie, Countess of Bigorre. Petronilla was raised at the Aragonese court and inherited the important county of Bigorre from her mother and was married five times. Her first husband was Gaston VI de Moncada, Vicomte de Bearn, her second Nuno Sanchez de Aragon, Count of Rousillon, from whom she was divorced, and her third was Guy de Montfort (c1193 – 1220). Her last two husbands were Aimery de Rancon, from whom she was divorced, and Boson de Mastas, seigneur de Cognac. Countess Petronilla survived her last husband barely ten months and died (Nov 13, 1251) aged about sixty-one. Her many marriages caused discord concerning their inheritance to break out between her three daughters and their respective heirs.

Petronilla of Troyes – (c1305 – 1355)
French nun and saint
Petronilla was connected to the family of the counts of Troyes. She entered the religious life and was appointed as the first abbess of the Poor Clares at Le Moncel, near Oise. This convent had been founded by Philip IV of France, but was not ready for occupation till the reign of Louis IX. Down till the time of their dispersion during the French Revolution the Poor Clares of Moncel regarded Petronilla as their special protector and patron. The Franciscans observed her feast (May 14).

Petrova, Olga – (1886 – 1977)
British silent film star and stage actress
Born Muriel Harding, with her entry into movies as an actress, she took a Russian stage name and was billed an an aristocrat, who had been born in Warsaw, Poland. Petrova retired from the screen (1918) and then wrote three stage plays in which she appeared herself. She left an autobiography entitled Butter With My Bread (1942).

Petrova, Xenia Grigorievna    see   Xenia of St Petersburg

Petrova-Zvantseva, Vera Nikolaievna – (1876 – 1944)
Russian mezzo-soprano
Born Vera Petrova in Saratov, she received vocal training at the Moscpw Conservatory, and graduated in 1897. After further training and instruction under Varvara Zarudnaia, Vera was attached to a provincial theatre group before joining the Moscow opera (1900 – 1904). She later performed at the Zimin Theatre (1905 – 1918) and was appointed a professor at the Moscow Conservatory until 1931. Vera Petrova-Zvantseva died (Feb 11, 1944) in Moscow.

Petrovskaia, Nina Ivanovna – (1884 – 1928)
Russian poet
Nina Petrovskaia was the wife of the noted Symbolist publisher Sokolov-Krechetov. She was popularly known during her youth as the ‘Russian Carmen ‘ because of her complicated romantic entanglements with the poets andrei Belyi (1880 – 1934) and Valeri Yakovlevich Briusov (1873 – 1924), whose novel Ognennyi Angel centred around her. Nina emigrated from Russia in 1911, and resided in much pecuniary distress in Rome until 1921, when she removed to Berlin in Prussia. Nina Petrovskaia died in Berlin, alone and forgotten, her body and health destroyed by drug-addiction.

Petrovykh, Maria Sergievna – (1908 – 1979)
Russian poet, translator, and author
The long-time friend to the poet Anna Akhmatova, she was known primarily for her translations of works from Armenian, Polish, and Yiddish into Russian. A collection of her poems and translations appeared in her only published work, A Distant Tree (1968). Two of her works were published posthumously Predestination (1983) and The Line on the Horizon: Poems and Translations, Reminiscences of Mariia Petrovykh (1986).

Petrude    see   Ratrude

Petrusenko, Oksana Andreievna – (1900 – 1940)
Ukrainian vocalist
Oksana Petrusenko was born in Kharkov Oblast (formerly Balakleia), and received her vocal training under P. Saksaganskii. Her career as a solist was varied and impressive. Oksana performed in operatic roles in Kazan, Samara and Sverdlosk during 1927 – 1933. Later she joined the Shevchenko Opera, and was part of the Ballet theatre in Kiev from 1934. Her early death was much lamented and regretted.

Petry, Ann – (1908 – 1997) 
Black-American novelist and short-story writer
Born Ann Lane in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, she attended the university there. Ann Petry later moved to New York and worked as a journalist with the newspapers Amsterdam News and People’s Choice. Her published works The Street (1947) and The Narrows (1951) were especially noted for her use of realism and unadorned tragedy.

Petty, Mary – (1899 – 1976)
American magazine cartoonist and illustrator
Mary Petty was born (April 29, 1899) in Hampton, New Jersey, and attended Horace Mann College. She was encouraged to use her talent for drawing by her father and became the wife (1927) of the New York cartoonist Alan Dunn (1900 – 1974). There were no children. She was best known for her ruthless and caustic depictions of the upper classes set frozen in the pre-WW I era which appeared over a four decade period of her association with The New Yorker (1927 – 1966) during which time she produced thirty-eight covers. She was the author of This Petty Place. Mary Petty died (March 6, 1976) aged seventy-six, in Paramus, New Jersey.

Peutinger, Juliana – (1499 – c1505)
German child scholar and prodigy
Juliana was born in Augsburg, the daughter of the humanist Conrad Peutinger and his wife Margeurite, daughter of the merchant Anton Wesler. Highly educated from infancy, Juliana entered into a linguistic competition with Latin scholar and when the emperor Maximilian I visited Augsburg (1504), Juliana, then aged only four years, greeted him with a Latin speech, which amazed him and his entourage. Juliana died soon afterwards of a childhood illness.

Peverara, Laura – (c1550 – 1601)
Italian soloist, harpist, and dancer
Laura was born in Mantua, the daughter of a court tutor. She was raised at the Gonzaga court and trained as a singer, working in Verona. She was the first member of the celebrated Concerto delle Donne in Ferrara (1580 – 1598). The poet Torquato Tasso composed his Il Lauro verde, in honour of her marriage with Conte Annibale Turco. Other musicians such as Giovanni Battista Gabella and Giovanni Gabrieli composed madrigals in her honour. Laura Peverara died (Jan 4, 1601).

Peyser, Lois – (1925 – 1994)
American television writer
Lois was married to fellow writer Arnold Peyser (1922 – 2001), and wrote the scripts for popular television shows such as The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show and the television film The Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981) starring Patty Duke, for which they were jointly awarded the Writers Guild of American Award. They also scripted episodes of such popular sitcoms as My Favourite Martian, Gilligan’s Island and Love, American Style. With her husband she wrote the screenplay for the Elvis Presley film The Trouble With Girls (1969). Lois Peyser died of ovarian cancer.

Pfeiffer, Anna Ursula – (1813 – 1863)
German thief and criminal
Anna Pfeiffer was born in Nuremberg, she began her career at an early age, and supported herself various as a pickpocket and by house burglary. She died at the age of forty-nine, having been imprisoned over forty times during a twenty-five year period (1838 – 1863).

Pfeiffer, Emily Jane – (1827 – 1890)
Welsh poet and writer
Emily Pfeiffer was born in Montgomeryshire. She produced ten volumes of poetry including Poems (1876), Sonnets and Songs (1880) and Flowers of the Night (1889). With a definite feminist slant evident in her work, Pfeiffer tackled difficult subjects such as marriage, rape, and sexuality.

Pfeiffer, Ida – (1797 – 1858)
Austrian traveller, adventurer, collector and author
Born Ida Reyer in Vienna, she made two journeys around the world (1846 – 1848) and (1851 – 1854), collating mineralogical and botanical collections for the British Museum. Ida Pfeiffer endured awful hardship during a trip to Madagascar (1856) and died in Austria soon afterwards. She left written accounts of her travels.

Phaedra – (fl. c30 – c4 BC)
Hebrew concubine and courtier
Phaedra became one of the later wives of King Herod I the Great. The historian Flavius Josephus recorded in his Antiquitates Judaicae that Phaedra was the mother of Herod’s daughter Roxana who died unmarried.

Phaedyme – (fl. c530 – 521 BC)
Queen consort of Persia
Phaedyme was the daughter of Otanes, the satrap of Sascylium, and was the elder sister of Amestris, the wife of Xerxes I. She was married firstly to King Kambyses II (c560 – 522 BC), secondly to King Smerdis (c555 – 522 BC) and lastly to King Darius I (550 – 486 BC). She bore no children that have been recorded, and her marriages were all dynastic arrangements.

Phaenarete – (fl. c470 BC)
Greek matron
Phaenarete was born into the Alopece clan, and had apparently trained as a midwife. She became the wife of Sophroniscus, a citizen of Athens, and they were the parents of the famous philosopher Sokrates (c470 – 399 BC). The claim that her husband was a sculptor or stonemason is erroneous.

Phalaris, Marie Therese Blonel d’Haracourt, Duchesse de – (1797 – 1782)
French courtier and society figure
Marie Therese Blonel d’Haracourt was originally abandoned by her husband, the Duc de Phalaris, who fled to Spain because of insurmountable debts, and the duchesse spent some time residing in a convent before being introduced into fashinable society in Paris. The duchesse succeeded Madame de Sabran as the mistress of Philippe II, Duc d’Orleans, Regent of France (1715 – 1723), who found her company diverting. He died in her arms, and though she survived him six decades, her liasion with Orleans was never forgotten, and caused her to be referred to in fashionable society as ‘Madame Jezebel.’ The Duchesse de Phalaris died aged eighty-five.

Phanariotou-Philippou, Athena – (1912 – 1935)
Greek poet
Athena Philippou was born on the island of Nisiros, the daughter of Georgios Philippou. Writing verse from childhood, she was educated on Nisiros and in Athens where she married (1933) Demetrios Phanariotes. Athena died young in Athens, and her romantic poetry was published posthumously in New York (1945). Her poems Lyrika Tragoudia explore the themes of rejection, forgetfulness, hope and disillusionment. Her work lacks literary discernment, but contains an effortlessly rhythmic quality.

Phanothea   see   Phemonoe

Phantasia – (fl. c1000 BC)
Egyptian poet
Phantasia was frrom Memphis or Naukratis in Egypt, and was the daughter of Niarchus. Phantasia wrote the epic works the Trojan War and the Adventures of Odysseus, which she left in the temple of Hephaestus in Memphis, where the blind Greek poet Homer is said to have used them as the basis for his own famous works on the same subjects.

Pharailde (Vereld, Verylde) – (c655 – 745)
Carolingian recluse and nun
Pharailde was the only daughter of Theodoric, an Austrasian lord, and his wife Amalburga, who was related to Pepin I of Landen. Her stepfather was Count Witger of Lorraine who became a monk at the abbey of Lobbes. Both of her parents were revered as saints, and Pharailde was the elder half-sister to saints Ermebert (died c713), Bishop of Cambrai and Arras, Reinhilda, who was martyred, and Gudula (died 712). Pharailde herself became a nun at the abbey of St Gertrude at Nivelles. She was said to have been aged ninety at her death. She was venerated as a saint (Jan 4) and was the patron saint of Ghent in Flanders, of sick children, and of cattle.

Pharandzem (Parantsem) – (c330 – 370 AD) 
Queen of Armenia
Pharanzhem was the daughter of Andok of Siounia. She was married firstly to the Armenian prince, Gnel, and then (c361 AD) to his uncle, King Arshak II (c325 – 368 AD), as his second wife. Queen Pharandzem was the mother of King Papa (ruled c369 – c374 AD). The historians Faustus of Byzantium and Moses of Chorene record that she was accused of murdering Arshak’s first wife, Queen Olympias. Arshak and his loyal general Vasak, a Mamikonid prince, were lured to the court of Sapor II of Persia, on the pretext of peace negotiations, but were instead murdered.
The forces of Sapor then stormed Armenia, besieging and sacking the principal cities. Queen Pharandzem valiantly held out in the fortress of Artogerassa, securing her son’s flight to safety in Pontus. With Papa’s return, Sapor attacked Artogerassa a second time (c369 AD). Besieged there for terrible fourteen months, the queen mother was finally captured by the Persians, who subjected her to rape and brutal tortures before finally putting her to death.

Phausta    see   Fausta, Aelia

Phelan, Nancy Eleanor – (1913 – 2008)
Australian novelist, biographer, travel writer and memoirist
Born Nancy Creagh (Aug 2, 1913) in Sydney, New South Wales, she was related to the composer Sir Charles Mackerras and the noted war corrrespondent Louise Mack. Nancy was raised in Sydney where she attended the Conservatorium of Music and the University of Sydney. She travelled to England (1938) where she met and married Pete Phelan, to whom she bore a daughter. She later returned to Sydney with her family (1945) and was appointed a visual aids officer with the South Pacific Commission.
An extended visit in the Gilbert Islands proved the inspiration for her first published work Atoll Holiday (1958). Nancy Phelan travelled wideley in Asia, the Pacific region, and the Middle East and was employed as a reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald (1970) and the Age (1972) newspaper in Melbourne. Her other works included Serpents in Paradise (1967), The Swift Foot of Time (1984) for which she received the Braille Book of the Year Award and Home is the Sailor (1987) which was nominated for the Miles Franklin Award. She later received the Patrick White Award (2004). Nancy Phelan died (Jan 11, 2008) aged ninety-four, in Sydney.

Phelps, Almira Hart Lincoln – (1793 – 1884)
American educator, lecturer, and writer
Almira Hart was born (July 15, 1793) in Berlin, Connecticut and was sister to the noted feminist, Emma Hart Willard (1787 – 1870). Almira trained as a teacher and was married. Mrs Phelps wrote several authoriative volumes concerning botany, geology, and scientific research, being employed as a teacher at the Patapsco Female Institute in Ellicott City in Maryland for fifteen years (1841 – 1856). Her works included Caroline Westerley; or, The young Traveller from Ohio (1833), published anonymously, and Lectures on Natural Philosophy (1836). Almira Phelps died (July 15, 1884) on her ninety-first birthday.

Phelps, Elizabeth Porter – (1747 – 1817)
American revolutionary colonist and journal writer
A native of the state of New England, her personal diary (1763 – 1812) was edited and published over seventy years after her death as Under a Colonial Roof-Tree: Fireside Chronicles of Early New England (1891), whilst parts were appeared in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart – (1815 – 1852)
American novelist and author
Elizabeth Stuart was born (Aug 13, 1815) in Andover, Massachusetts and became the wife of the Congregational clergyman, Austin Phelps (1820 – 1890). Their daughter, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward was a noted poet and novelist. Phelps produced several notable works, and used the pseudonym ‘H. Trusta.’ These included the Kitty Brown series (1850), The Angel Over the Right Shoulder (1851) and The Last Sheaf from Sunny Side (1853). Elizabeth Stuart Phelps died (Nov 30, 1852) aged thirty-seven.

Phelps, Mary Gray    see   Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Phemonoe – (fl. c900 BC)
Greek poet
Sometimes called Phanothea, she was a priestess of the god Apollo at Delphi and predated the first mythical male poet, Orpheus. The Christian writer from the second century AD, Clement, credited her as the inventor of hexameter verse. Phemenoe also wrote works on the interpretations of dreams, and her work On Augury was ised by the Roman historian, Pliny the Elder.

Pheretima – (c540 – c488 BC)
Queen consort of Cyrene
Pheretima was possibly a connection of the Battid royal dynasty. She became the wife (c524 BC) of Battus II of Cyrene, and was the mother of King Arcesilaus III (c520 – c490 BC) whom she survived.

Phila I – (c351 – 287 BC)
Greek queen
Phila I was the daughter of the regent Antipater and his wife Arsinoe. She was married firstly to Kraterus (died 321 BC), the companion of Alexander the Great. She was then married to Demetrius I Poliocertes (337 – 288 BC), king of Macedonia, who was some years her junior, and bore him several children. Phila then accompanied Demetrius on his campaigns and shared his varied changes in political fortune. However, she was deeply hurt by his polygamous marriages, and eventually committed suicide. Queen Phila was the mother of King Antigonus II (319 – 239 BC) and of Stratonike I (c316 – 254 BC), the wife of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus I Soter.

Phila II – (292 – after 239 BC)
Greek queen consort
Phila II was the daughter of Seleucus I Nikator, the Seleucid king of Syria, and of his second wife, Stratonike I, the daughter of Demetrius I, King of Macedonia. Her mother was later given as the bride of her stepson, Antiochus I, so Phila’s much elder half-brother, also became her stepfather. Phila was married at Pella in Macedon (276 BC) to King Antigonus II Gonatos (319 – 239 BC), whom she survived. Queen Phila was the mother of Demetrius II (275 – 229 BC) who succeeded his father as king of Macedonia (239 – 229 BC).

Phila of Elimaiea – (c378 – 357 BC)
Macedonian queen consort
Phila was the daughter of Derdas II, king of Elimaiea. She was married (c358 BC) to her kinsman, Philip II of Macedonia (382 – 336 BC) as his second wife, probably a polygamous union, though she was permitted the royal title. There were no surviving children and Queen Phila died soon afterwards.

Philaenis – (fl. c250 – c200 BC)
Greek author of erotic verse
Philaenis may have been a native of the island of Samos. Some fragments of her work have survived on papyrus, though even in antiquity her work was attributed to the sixth century BC male author, Polykrates.

Philbin, Mary – (1903 – 1991)
American film star
Mary Philbin was born (July 16, 1903) in Chicago, Illinois. A famous actress of the silent era, Philbin was best remembered for her role as the heroine in Lon Chaney’s horror flick The Phantom of the Opera (1925). With the arrival of sound films, Philbin retired from movies, her last appearance being in The Shannons of Broadway (1929).

Philiberta of Luxemburg (Philiberte) – (c1475 – 1539)
French heiress and princess consort
Philiberta was the daughter and heiress of Antoine of Luxemburg and his wife Antoinette, the daughter of Pierre de Bauffremont, seigneur de Charny et de Mon Saint Jean. She was married to Jean II de Chalons, Prince of Orange (1475 – 1502). She survived him forty years as Dowager Princess (1502 – 1539). The princess was the mother of Philibert de Chalon, Prince of Orange (1502 – 1530), who died without issue, and of Claude de Chalon, the wife of Henry, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg and was the mother of Rene II de Nassau, Prince of Orange (1538 – 1544). Princess Philiberta inherited from her parents the important and wealthy fiefs of Charny and Mon Saint Jean, in Burgundy. She later made over these estates (1534) to the admiral Philippe Chabot, the husband of her cousin Francoise de Longwy, in appreciation of protection that he had provided for her.

Philiberta of Savoy – (1498 – 1524)
Italian princess and patron, and duchesse of Nemours in France (1515 – 1524)
Philiberta was the only daughter of Philip I, Duke of Savoy and his second wife, Claude de Brosse-Penthievre and half-sister to Louise, Duchesse d’Angouleme, the mother of Francois I of France (1515 – 1547). Pope Leo XII, a Medici by birth tried to gain French power in Italy against the forces of Spain, by arranging the marriage of his brother Guiliano (1478 – 1516) to Philiberta, the aunt of King Francois. The pope promised her nephew papal forces in return for French help against Spain should the need arise. The marriage took place soon afterwards (Feb 10, 1515) and Francois bestowed on Philiberta the dukedom of Nemours.  
Left a childless widow only a year later, the king, as a concession to his youthful aunt, granted her the rights to the patrimony of Nemours, and of her late husband’s French lands and revenues, as well as the right to be styled duchesse de Nemours for life. A woman of considerable attractions and personal charm, Philiberta was patroness of the epic poet Ludovico Ariosto and was the ‘Anima Elelta’ of his verses. Duchess Philiberta died (April 4, 1524) aged twenty-five, and the Nemours title reverted to her sister Louise d’Angouleme. Her husband’s son Ippolito de Medici (1509 – 1535) had been fathered by an Italian mistress.

Philihilda – (c1005 – 1075)
German countess
Philihilda was the daughter of Friedrich I, Count of Isar and Andechs, and became the wife (1020) of Sieghard VII, Count of Chiemgau in Bavaria. Widowed in 1044 she survived for thirty years as the Dowager Countess of Chiemgau (1044 – 1075). Countess Philihilda died (Oct 23, 1075) aged about seventy. Through her elder son Philihilda was ancestor to the countly families of Tengling, Schala, Burghausen, Peilstein, Morle and Kleeburg. She left four children,

• Friedrich of Chiemgau (c1022 – 1071), Count of Tengling (1048 – 1071). He married Matilda of Vohburg and left descendants.
• Friedgunde of Tengling (c1024 – after 1071). She became a nun and was Abbess of St Maria in Aquileia.
• Sieghard of Tengling (c1025 – Aug 21, 1077). He took holy orders and was appointed as Patriarch of Aquileia.
• Wilpirka of Tengling C1030 – after 1075). She became the wife of Conrad of Bohemia (c1030 – 1092), Prince of Moravia and left issue.

Philipault, Julie – (fl. 1814 – 1819)
French portrait painter
Julie Philipault was the pupil of Madame Hersent, and was awarded medals in recognition of her work for the Paris salons. Her famous painting Racine reading Athalie before Louis XIV and Mme de Maintenon (1819), is preserved in the Louvre Museum.

Philipot, Lady Margaret    see   Stodeye, Margaret

Philippa of Antioch – (1148 – 1178)
Crusader princess
Philippa was the daughter of Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch and his wife Constance, the daughter and heiress of Bohemond II, Prince of Antioch. A great beauty, she allowed herself to be seduced (1166) by the Byzantine adventurer Andronikos Komnenus, who made her his mistress. However, when he was recalled to Constantinople he callously abandoned her. Before the end of 1167 her brother Bohemond III arranged for Philippa to marry the elderly Crusader baron Humphrey of Toron (c1105 – 1179).

Philippa of Armenia – (1183 – after 1219)
Byzantine Augusta
Philippa was the daughter of Roupen III, prince of Armenia, and his first wife Isabella, the daughter of Humphrey III, Baron of Toron. She was married firstly to Shahnshah, prince of Sassoun, and then (1212) became the second wife of the emperor Theodore I Laskaris (1173 – 1221). Despite bearing him a son and heir, Constantine (1214), the empress was divorced (1216) so that Theodore could make a more politically advantageous marriage with Marie of Courtenay.

Philippa of England      see    Philippa Plantagenet

Philippa of Gueldres – (1465 – 1547)
Duchess consort of Lorraine
Princess Philippa was born in Brussels, the daughter of Adolf of Egmond, Duke of Gueldres, and his wife Catherine de Bourbon. When her grandfather, Duke Arnold, pledged the duchy of Gueldres to Charles, Duke of Burgundy (1471), Philippa and her brother were kept in honourable captivity at the court of Burgundy. She became the second wife (1485) of Rene II, Duke of Lorraine (1451 – 1508). Beautiful and devoutly religious, her husband’s death left her as guardian of their children. Sufferring increasing ill-health, the duchess resolved to join the community of the Poor Clares at Pont-au-Mousson, near Nancy.
Despite great opposition from her family, Philippa was veiled as a nun (Dec, 1519). She later advised hersons to act against the spread of the Lutheran heresy in Lorraine. Famous for her auterities, she refused to take more comfortable accommodations because of her rank, and was credited with mystical visions. Her children included Duke Antony II of Lorraine (1489 – 1544) and Claude de Lorraine, the first Duc de Guise (1496 – 1550), through whom Philippa was the maternal great-grandmother of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Duchess Philippa died (Feb 28, 1547) aged eighty-one, at Nancy.

Philippa of Hainault – (1311 – 1369) 
Queen consort of England (1328 – 1369)
Philippa was born (June 24, 1311) at Valenciennes in Hainalt, the daughter of William III the Good, Count of Hainault, and his wife Jeanne, the daughter of Charles I, Count of Valois, son of Philip III of France (1270 – 1285). She was married at York (1328) to Edward III, King of England (1312 – 1377), her marriage being arranged by his mother, Isabella of Valois. Queen Philippa accompanied her husband on his Scottish campaign (1333) and is said to have roused the English troops to defeat the Scots at Neville’s Cross (1346). Likewise she was famous for her merciful intercession on behalf of the burghers of Calais (1347) after the English laid siege to the city.
Queen Philippa bore Edward thirteen children, and was also noted for her patronage of the Flemish chronicler, Jean Froissart, and Queen’s College at Oxford was established in her memory by her chaplain, Robert de Englesfield. She brought her own Flemish countrymen to England to work as weavers. The queen inreasingly sufferring with ill-health during her later years, and her position at court was taken over by the king’s mistress, Alice Perrers. Philippa was the mother of Edward the Black Prince (1330 – 1376) and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340 – 1399), and was grandmother to kings Richard II (1377 – 1399) and Henry IV (1399 – 1413). Queen Philippa died (Aug 15, 1369) aged fifty-eight, at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, and was interred in Westminster Abbey, London.

Philippa of Lancaster – (1360 – 1415)

Queen consort of Portugal and aristocratic role model
Philippa of Lancaster was the wife of King Joao I (1357 – 1433). She was born (March 31, 1360) at Leicester Castle, the elder daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and his first wife Blanche, the daughter of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster. Her younger brother was King Henry IV. Her father’s mistress (and later third wife), Lady Catherine Swynford was her governess from 1371 – 1381. In 1386 Philippa accompanied her father to Portugal where he was leading an expedition to aid Portugese independence, and Philippa was married to Joao at Oporto (Feb, 1387) to cement this alliance.
Her many children included, the Infante Alfonso (1390 – 1400), the first male heir, who died young, Duarte (Edward) (1391 – 1438), who succeeded his father as King of Portugal (1433 – 1438), Enrique (Henry) the Navigator, Duke of Viseu (1394 – 1460) who died unmarried. Her only surviving daughter Isabella (1397 – 1471) became the last wife of Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1404 – 1467). She was the mother of Duke Charles the Bold (1433 – 1477) and grandmother of Marie of Burgundy, the first wife of Maximilian I.
Queen Philippa enjoyed the reputation of a perfect wife and mother, and was greatly loved by the Portugese people because of her kindness to the poor and afflicted. Some of her letters survive, and her important cultural role in the fostering of Portugese chivalry is recorded in the Cronica da Tomada de Ceuta por el rei D. Joao I of Gomez Eannes de Zurara. Queen Philippa died (July 19, 1415) aged fifty-five, of the plague at the Abbey of Odivelas, near Lisbon. She was interred at the Abbey of Batalha, which she and her husband had jointly founded.

Philippa of Perga – (d. c220 AD)
Graeco-Roman Christian martyr
Philippa was a native of Perga in Pamphylia, Asia Minor. She was the mother of a young soldier named Theodorus and both were Christians. They were arrested with two other converted soldiers named Dionysius and Sokrates during a regional persecution during the reign of Emperor Elahgabalus and exhorted by the authorities to abjure their faith and sacrifice to the Roman gods. All refused and were condemned to death. Philippa was beheaded whilst her son was crucified. Dionysius and Sokrates were killed with lances. Their bodies were later taken and given honourable burial by other Christians. All were commemorated together as saints their feast (Sept 20) being recorded in the Roman Martyrology and the Acta Sanctorum.

Philippa of Ponthieu – (c1224 – 1278)
French heiress and countess
Philippa was the daughter of Simon of Dammartin, Count of Ponthieu and his wife Marie of Ponthieu, Dame de Montreuil, the daughter of Guillaume III, Count of Ponthieu. She was the younger sister of Jeanne of Ponthieu, the second wife of Ferdinando III, King of Castile (1217 – 1252). She firstly became the second wife (c1239) of Raoul d’Exhoudan (Issoudon) (c1200 – 1246), Count of Eu in Normandy, who was buried within the Abbey of Fourcarmont.
Countess Philippa was quickly remarried to Raoul II (c1217 – 1250), Seigneur de Coucy, who went on crusade with Louis IX of France and was killed at the battle of El Mansourah in Egypt. Philippa inherited the fief of Arguel in Ponthieu from her mother (1251) and then married (c1252) to her third and last husband Count Otto II of Gueldres (c1209 – 1271). At his death Otto was interred within the Abbey of Gravendahl. Philippa survived him as Dowager Countess of Gueldres (1271 – 1278) and their son Rainald (c1259 – 1326) became duke of Gueldres as Rainald I. Countess Philippa died (April 14, 1278) and was buried at Gravendahl with her last husband.

Philippa of Portugal – (1437 – 1497)  
Infanta and poet
Infanta Philippa was the daughter of Pedro, Duke of Coimbra and his wife Isabella, daughter of Jaime II, Count of Urgel she was the granddaughter of King Duarte of Portugal. The princess never married and was a composer of poetry, written in her youth before 1449. These verses were preserved in the Cancioneiro Geral of Garcia de Resende, and were later published in 1643.
Philippa later left the court and retired to the Abbey of Odivelas, near Lisbon (c1470), though she did not take religious vows. In 1485 her nephew, King Joao II enlisted her aid to persuade his sister Juana to agree to a political marriage with Richard III of England, but Philippa was unable to break the resolve of her niece to take up the religious life.  Philippa had studied the works of the Venetian patriarch Laurentius Justinianus, and herself composed two adaptations (or possibly translations) of his works Tratado da vida solitaria and Regra dos Monges. Infanta Philippa died (July 25, 1497) aged sixty, at Odivelas.

Philippa of Toulouse – (1074 – 1118)
French heiress
Philippa was the daughter of William IV, count of Toulouse and his second wife Emma, daughter of Robert, Count of Mortain, and was a considerable heiress. Philippa was married firstly (1090) to Rancho V Ramirez, king of Aragon as his third and last wife. His death left her childless, and she remarried the same year (1094) to William IX, Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine. Philippa’s dowry was the county of Toulouse with its’ capital of Narbonnais. During William’s absence in Palestine (11101 – 1102) Philippa ruled Poitou as regent. Later because of his public liasion with Dangerosa of Chatellerault, the duchess retired to the abbey of St Marie at Fontevrault. She was the mother to Duke William X (1099 – 1137) and Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch (1114 – 1149), and was the paternal grandmother to the legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine. Philippa of Toulouse died (Nov 28, 1118) aged forty-four, at Fontevrault, and was buried there.

Philippa Plantagenet (1) – (1355 – 1378)
English dynastic princess
Princess Philippa was born (Aug 16, 1355) at Eltham Palace, Kent, the only child of Lionel of Antwerp, the second son of Edward III, and his wife Elizabeth de Burgh, of Ulster, Ireland. Philippa was married (1359) at Reading Palace, Berkshire, to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March (1352 – 1381). She was the mother of Roger Mortimer, fourth earl (1374 – 1398) and of Philippa Mortimer (1375 – 1401), the wife of Richard Fitzalan, fourth earl of Arundel. Philippa inherited the earldom of Ulster and the lordship of Connaught in Ireland from her mother (1363). Her descendants became the nearest representatives of the line of Edward III, and passed on to the House of York the claim to the throne which resulted in the Wars of the Roses (1455 – 1485). The princess died (Jan 7, 1378) from the effects of childbirth, aged only twenty-two, and was buried at Wigmore.

Philippa Plantagenet (2) – (1394 – 1430)
Queen consort of Sweden (1412 – 1430)
Princess Philippa was born (cJune 4, 1394) at Peterborough Castle in Leicestershire, the younger daughter of Henry IV, King of England and his first wife Mary de Bohun. Philippa was married (1406) at Lund, to the future Erik XIII of Sweden (1386 – 1459) the heir of Queen Margarethe I, but their only son died in infancy. King Erik adopted his cousin Bogislav of Pomerania to be his successor if Philippa failed to bear an heir, and stipulated (1420) that Philippa would rule as regent if Erik died before Bogislav was of age to rule.
Queen Philippa ruled Sweden as regent (1423 – 1424) during her husband’s absence on a pilgrimage to Palestine. They later seperated by mutual agreement, and the queen became a nun, retiring to the abbey of Vadstena at Lingkoping. Queen Philippa died (Jan 5, 1430) aged thirty-five, at Vadstena, and was interred there.

Philippina Augusta Amalia – (1745 – 1800)
Landgravine consort of Hesse-Kassel (1773 – 1785)
Princess Philippina of Schwendt was born (Oct 10, 1745) at Schwendt in Brandenburg, the third daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm (1700 – 1771), the margrave of Schwendt, and his wife Sophia Dorothea Maria, the daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia (1713 – 1740) and sister of King Friedrich II the Great (1740 – 1786). Philippina was originally put forward (1760) as a possible bride for George III of England (1760 – 1820), and her family were interviewed by the Hanoverian minister Baron Gerlach Adolphus von Munchhausen. However the negotiations eventually fell through, the princess being considered attractive, but possessed of a streak of wilful obstinacy in her character, which the baron considered the young king would not appreciate.
Philippina was later married when aged over thirty, to Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1720 – 1785) as his second wife. Her husband’s first wife had been Mary, daughter of the English king George II, and the paternal aunt of her first proposed husband. The marriage remained childless, and her husband died at Weissenstein Castle (Oct 31, 1785). Philippina was Dowager Landgravine for fifteen years (1785 – 1800). Landgravine Philippina died (May 1, 1800) aged fifty-five, in Berlin, Prussia.

Philips, Katherine – (1631 – 1664) 
English poet
Born Katherine Fowler in London, she was the daughter of a merchant. Her father died during her childhood (1642) and her mother remarried firstly to Sir Richard Phillips (died 1644), and then to Major-general Philip Skippon (died 1660). Katherine educated at Hackney, and was married (1647) to James Philips of Cardigan Priory. She was the first female poet in England to have her work published and was popularly known as ‘the matchless Orinda’ and ‘the English Sappho.’ Her earliest works appeared prefixed to the works of William Cartwright (1651) and the unidentified poet ‘Ephelia,’ is thought by some to have been her daughter, Joan Philips. The theologian Jeremy Taylor dedicated to her his Discourse of the Nature, Offices and Measures of Friendship (1659). Philips translated Pierre Corneille’s Pompee and Horace. Her correspondence with Sir Charles Cotterell, the Master of Ceremonies to King Charles II, whom she called ‘Poliarchus’ was posthumously published as Letters from Orinda to Poliarchus (1705). Katherine Philips died of smallpox, in London.

Philips, Marianne – (1886 – 1951)
Dutch feminist and novelist
Philips was born in Amsterdam and became an active member of the women’s suffrage movement. She was best remembered for the novel, De zaak Beukennoot (The Beukenoot Affair) (1950), Philips wrote several other novels such as De wonderbare Genezing (The Wonderful Recovery) (1929), De biecht (The Confession) (1930), Bruiloft in Europa (Marriage in Europe) (1934) and De Doolhoof (The Labyrinth) (1940). Her family established the Marianne Philips Prize in her honour. Marianne Philips died (May 13, 1951) aged sixty, at Naarden.

Philipse, Margaret – (c1622 – 1690)
Dutch shipping merchant and businesswoman
Margaret Philipse was married twice, firstly to a ship-owner, and secondly to a merchant. Margaret retained her maiden name and established her own independent trading business. She acted as a business agent for various Dutch merchant traders working between Holland and America, and she herself travelled between the two countries on several occasions.

Philipson, Susan Sacher – (1934 – 1994)
American literary editor
Susan Sacher was born (Dec 12, 1934) in New York and attended the University of Michigan. She was married (1961) to the writer Morris Philipson to whom she bore a son. Susan Philipson was employed as a copy editor for several publishing houses in New York including Random House and Doubleday. She contributed articles to the Library Journal and was the author of A Lion for Niccolby (1963). She worked for three decades as a freelance writer in New York. Susan Philipson died (July 18, 1994) aged fifty-nine, in Chicago, Illinois.

Philistis – (c290 – c225 BC)
Greek queen consort of Syrakuse
Philistis was the daughter of Leptines, and was a descendant of King Dionysius I. She was married (c269 BC) to her kinsman, King Hiero II (c295 – 215 BC) and was the mother of King Gelon (c267 – 215 BC), who co-ruled with his elderly father. She was grandmother to the last ruler of the dynasty, her grandson, Hieronymus II, who was murdered with his sister (214 BC).

Phillips, Adelaide – (1833 – 1882)
American contralto vocalist
Adelaide Phillips was born (Oct 26, 1833) at Stratford-on-Avon, England, and immigrated to the USA with her family as a small child (1840). She made her first stage appearance at the early age of ten (1843). Through the intervention of the Swedish singer Jenny Lind, Adelaide was semt to London and Italy for vocal training, before returing to the USA (1855), where she established herself as a talented and popular concert and oratorio performer. Adelaide Phillips died (Oct 3, 1882) aged forty-eight, in Karlsbad, Germany.

Phillips, Catherine    see   Kirkpatrick, Catherine Aurora

Phillips, Dorothy – (1889 – 1980)
American actress
Dorothy Phillips was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and was married to fellow actor and director Alan Holubar. Phillips appeared in almost forty silent films including His Friend’s Wife (1911), The Unburied Past (1913), The Lady of the Island (1914), Adventures of a Sea-Going Hack (1915), Their Anniversary (1916), Bondage (1917), The Mortgaged Wife (1918), Hurricane’s Gal (1922), The Sparkling Chance (1925) and Women Love Diamonds (1927).
With the advent of sound Phillips appeared in uncredited roles in films like Mrs Parkington (1944) with Greer Garson, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949) with Bing Crosby, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Dorothy Phillips died (March 1, 1980) aged ninety, at Woodland Hills, California.

Phillips, Eluned – (1914 – 2009)
Welsh bard and memoirist
Phillips was born (Oct 27, 1914) in Cenarth. She became the only woman to ever win the bardic crown at the National Eisteddfod in Wales, and was twice accorded the honour (1967) and (1983). A friend to the painter Augustus John and the French singer Edith Piaf, Phillips was the author of Cerddi Glyn-y-Mel (1985) and of the memoirs entitled The Reluctant Redhead (2007). Eluned Phillips died (Jan 10, 2009) aged ninety-four, in Carmarthen.

Phillips, Irna – (1901 – 1973)
American radio scriptwriter
Irna Phillips was born (July 1, 1901) in Chicago, Illinois, where she was raised.  Wanting to be an actress she studied drama at the University of Illinois but ended up working as a schoolteacher instead. Phillips began writing radio dramas for the Chicago radio station WGN and her program ‘Today’s Children’ became an immensely popular radio serial. She remembered as the daily writer for such radio dramas as As the World Turns, The Guiding Light and Right to Happiness, amongst other popular programs. Her enormous talent in this growing field of entertainment led to her being known as the ‘Queen of the Soap Opera.’ Irna Phillips died (Dec 22, 1973) of a heart attack, aged seventy-two, in New York.

Phillips, Lena Madesin – (1881 – 1955)
American feminist and lawyer
Anna Lena Phillips was born (Sept 15, 1881) in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Her mother desired her to become a concert pianist and she studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland (1902). However, a fall caused Lena to seek an alternate career. After recovering from a nervous breakdown she went to study law at the University of Kentucky Law School, becoming the first female to graduate from that school (1917). She was the founder of the National (1919) and of the International (1930) Federation of Professional Women’s Clubs. Lena Phillips served as president of the IFBPWC for two decades (1930 – 1947). She twice ran unsuccessfully for political office. Lena Madesin Phillips died (May 21, 1955) after surgery, aged seventy-three, at Marseilles, France.

Phillips, Linda Phillipa – (1899 – 2002)
Australian pianist, composer, and critic
Rosalind Phillipa Phillips was born (June 8, 1899) at Windsor in Melbourne, Victoria. She began composing music and lyrics from childhood and was educated at Melbourne University before studying music at the Melbourne Conservatorium. She was employed by the Melbourne Sun newspaper as a music critic for over twenty-five years (1949 – 1976) and served on the panel of the Sun Aria Competition. Linda Phillips performed with Margaret Sutherland and Dorien Le Gallienne at the Victorian Jubilee Concert (1951) and acted as accompaniest to Dame Joan Sutherland during a particular recording (1957). Her compositions included works for the piano, viola, cello, and flute. Linda Phillips died (Oct 2, 2002) aged one hundred and two, in Melbourne.

Phillips, Marion – (1881 – 1932)
Australian-Anglo socialist, political activist, and Labour politician
Marion Phillips was born (Oct 29, 1881) in St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of a lawyer. She attended Melbourne University and then travelled to England where she studied at the School of Economics. A confirmed socialist and women’s suffrage supporter, she worked with Beatrice Webb on the Poor Law Commission and was a member of the Fabian Society. Phillips was closely associated with the Labour Party, and became the organization’s chief female officer (1918). She was elected as a Member of Parliament for Sunderland (1929 – 1931). The noted educator and literary critic, Arthur Angell Phillips (1900 – 1985) was her nephew, and she published A Colonial Autocracy: New South Wales under Governor Macquarie 1810 – 1821 (1909). Marion Phillips died (Jan 23, 1932) aged fifty, in London.

Phillips, Miriam – (1899 – 1997)
American stage and film actress
Phillips was born in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. She made her stage debut at the Hedgerow Theatre in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania (1924) and remained with that theatre for over three decades (1924 – 1956). Her personal repertoire included well over one hundred roles both classic and contemporary and Phillips was particularly admired as Lady Macbeth, Candida and as Mrs Alving in Henrik Ibsen’s drama Ghosts.
From 1956 she performed in Houston, Washington and Broadway in New York, where she appeared in Waltz of the Toreadors. Phillips appeared in several popular television programs such as As the World Turns and had roles in several films including The Way We Live Now and Crossing Delancey. Her last stage appearance was in Daughters (1986). Miriam Phillips died (Oct 24, 1997) aged ninety-eight, in Englewood, New Jersey.

Phillips, Norah Ratcliffe – (1910 – 1992)
British Labour politician
Norah Lusher was born (Aug 12, 1910) the daughter of William Lusher, and was convent educated. She attended the Hampton Training College where she was trained as a teacher. Norah was married (1930) to Morgan Phillips, the General Secretary of the Labour Party (1944 – 1961) to whom she bore two children, including the Labour member for Crewe, Gwyneth Dunwoody (1930 – 2008). Norah Phillips became active in local Labour Party politics and served as the general secretary, and then president, of the National Association of Women’s Clubs. She also served as the vice-president of the National Chamber of Trade. Mrs Phillips served for many years as a local magistrate and was created a Life peer as Baroness Phillips of Fulham in the County of Greater London by Queen Elizabeth II (1964). She served as the first female government whip in the House of Lords (1965 – 1970). She was later appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Greater London (1978 – 1985). Lady Phillips died (Aug 14, 1992) aged eighty-two.

Phillpotts, Dame Bertha Surtees – (1877 – 1932) 
British Scandinavian scholar and educator
Bertha Phillpotts was born (Oct 25, 1877) in Bedford, the daughter of a teacher and attended Girton College, Cambridge. She was a research student in Iceland and Denmark (1903 – 1906), and was appointed (1920) as the princpal of Westfield College, London. Bertha was then headmistress of Girton (1922 – 1925).  Bertha Phillpotts was married (1931) to the astronomer Hugh Frank Newall (1857 – 1944) and was sometimes known as Dame Bertha Newall. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries in Copenhagen (1911), was the author of Kindred and Clan in the Middle Ages and After (1913), The Elder Edda and Ancient Scandinavian Drama (1920) and Edda and Saga (1931). Her portrait was painted by Philip de Laszlo (1921) and was preserved at Westfield College. Dame Bertha Phillpotts died (Jan 20, 1932) aged fifty-four, at Cambridge.

Phintys – (fl. c420 – c400 BC)
Greek philosopher
Phintys may have been the daughter of a Spartan admiral. She is said to have been the author of the work On the Temperance of Women, which was written in letter form, and concluded that the greatest ambition contemporary women could have was to produce children whose character resembled that of their fathers.

Phipps, Catherine Annesley, Lady – (1701 – 1736)
British aristocratic heiress
Lady Catherine Annesley was the only child of James Annesley, third Earl of Anglesey (1674 – 1702) and his wife Lady Catharine Darnley, herself the illegitimate daughter of King James II (1685 – 1688) and his mistress Catharine Sedley. Lady Catherine was married (1718) to William Phipps (1698 – 1730) and was the mother, amongst others, of Constantine Phipps (1722 – 1785) who was later created first Baron Mulgrave (1767) by George III. Lady Phipps was the ancestress of the modern marquesses of Normanby, and the Annesley and Darnley quarterings on the Normanby family crest, came from this marriage. Widowed in 1730, Lady Catherine remarried to John Sheldon of Croydon. Lady Phipps died (Jan 18, 1736) aged thirty-four.

Phipps, Harriet Lepel – (1841 – 1922)
British courtier
Harriet Phipps was the younger daughter of Sir Charles Beaumont Phipps (1801 – 1866), who served as Keeper of the Privy Purse to Queen Victoria, and his wife Margaret Anne Bathurst.
Harriet Phipps was appointed as maid-of-honour to the queen (1862) and was granted the precedence of the daughter of a baron, which entitled her to the courtesy title of Honourable (Hon.). Miss Phipps never married and remained in royal service for the next four decades. She was later appointed as Woman of the Bedchamber (1889 – 1901) and her loyal service was recognized when she was granted the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert (VA). She ordered all her private papers and correspondence to be destroyed at her death, which wish was faithfully carried out. Harriet Phipps died (March 7, 1922) aged eighty.

Phoebe, Julia – (c40 – 2 BC)
Roman Imperial freedwoman
She was raised in the household of the Emperor Augustus and was the personal attendant to his daughter Julia. When Julia’s long running sexual escapades erupted in scandal and she was banished by her father, Phoebe committed suicide.

Phoolan Devi      see     Devi, Phoolan

Phratagune – (fl. c520 – c500 BC)
Persian princess of the Achmaenid dynasty
Phratagune was the daughter of Prince Artanes, and his wife Artabama, and was cousin to King Xerxes I. She was married (c510 BC) to her paternal uncle, King Darius I (519 – 486 BC) as his second wife. Her two sons were both killed in the sea battle of Thermopylae against the Greeks (480 BC).

Phronima – (fl. c640 – c620 BC)
Cyrenaean queen mother
Phronima was the daughter of Etearchus, dynast of Oaxus in Crete. She was married to Polymnestus of Therae, and was the mother of Battus I, king of Cyrene (c630 – 590 BC). She was granted the honours and styles due to a queen mother, and died during her son’s reign.

Phryne – (c365 – c310 BC)
Greek courtesan and artist’s model
Phryne was born at Thespiae, she was originally named Muesarete. Famed for her beauty and talent, she was the most famed hetaira produced by Athens in the fourth century. Phryne served as a model for the sculptor Praxiteles when he produced his statue of the goddess Aphrodite and the model for Aphrodite Anadyomene, Apelles’ painting of Aphrodite emerging from the waves. She was accused of profaning the Eleusinian mysteries, but was acquitted by the judges in the case when she cast aside her robes to reveal her beautiful figure.

Phthia – (fl. c470 BC)
Greek queen consort of Epirus
Phthia was the wife of Admetus (c500 – c429 BC), king of the Molossians of Epirus (c470 – c429 BC), and was probably the mother of his successor, Arrybas I (Tharypas) (c470 – c400 BC), who was educated in Athens. The historian Plutarch recorded that Queen Phthia urged her husband to receive the banished Themistokles with hospitality, desoite the fact that Admetus had formerly perusaded his countrymen to refuse a Molossian alliance offerred when victory against the Persians was already assured.

Phthia Chryseis – (c265 – after 221 BC)
Macedonian queen consort
Phthia Chryseis was the daughter of Alexander I, King of Epirus and his half-sister wife Olympias, and granddaughter of King Pyrrhus I. Phthia was married firstly to Demetrius II of Macedonia (276 – 229 BC), in return for military assistance in Akarnania, and secondly to his successor, Antigonos III Doson (c265 – 221 BC), whom she survived. By Demetrius she was the mother of King Philip V (238 – 177 BC), who was adopted by his stepfather as his heir.

Phthonge, Claudia – (fl. c41 – c55 AD)
Roman slave
Phthonge was attached to the Imperial household and served as nurse to Britannicus Caesar, the son of Claudius I (41 – 54 AD). She is attested by a surviving inscription erected to her memory by Aphnius, another Imperial slave ‘to his concubine who has deserved the best from him.’

Pia, Emilia – (c1470 – 1528)
Italian literary patron, courtier and letter writer
Emilia Pia was the sister to Margherita, Contessa di San Severino and became the wife of Antonio da Montefeltro (died 1499), the half-brother of Guidobald I da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. She was the aunt of Francesco I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. Emilia was the close friend of her sister-in-law Elisabetta Gonzaga and was a prominent member of her salon where she acted as director of the poets, dramatists, courtiers and musicians who flocked there, as well as figures such as Isabella d’Este. She escorted Isabella and Elisabetta during their visit to Venice (1502) and several of her letters have survived. Emilia Pia died (May 28, 1528) at Urbino. It was stated that on her deathbed instead of being concerned for her soul she was repeating passages from Baldassare de Castiglione’s work Cortigiano with Lodovico Canossa.

Piaf, Edith – (1915 – 1963)  
French popular streetsinger and vocalist
Born Edith Giovanna Gassion in Paris, she was the daughter of Jean Gassion, the famous acrobat. She sufferred from meningitis as a child, and was educated at the Ecole Primaire Bernay before becoming a street singer as a teeanger (1930). She later worked in cabaret and received the nickname ‘La mome Piaf’ (the kid sparrow). Piaf sang on radio and her nostalgic renditions of songs such as ‘Mon legionnaire’ and ‘C’est l’amour’ established her fame. The most famous of her compositions remains ‘La vie en rose.’ Piaf toured Europe and the USA after WW II, and appeared in the film French Cancan (1955) directed by Renoir and Jean Cocteau wrote Le Bel Indifferent for her. Illness eventually took its toll of her health, and she died aged only forty-seven. Edith Piaf left two volumes of memoirs Au bol de la chance (1958) and Ma Vie (1964), which was published posthumously.

Piala (Ciara) – (c425 – c455 AD)
Irish Christian martyr
Piala and her brother St Fingar were the children of an Irish king. Converted by St Patrick they were driven out by their father, and travelled first to Brittany, where they were well received. Later they removed to Hayle in Cornwall, but were moth murdered by Tewdric, king of Dannonia. The church honoured brother and sister togther (Dec 14) in Brittany. St Phillock who has a church dedicated to her in Cornwall is thought to be identical with Piala.

Piankharty – (fl. c700 – c650 BC)
Egyptian queen consort
Piankharty was the daughter of King Shabaka of the XXV Dynasty (721 – 656 BC). She was the full sister to King Haremakhet, and paternal aunt to King Harkhebi.Piankharty became the wife of her half-brother, King Tanutamun (son of Queen Qalhata), and bore him several children, including the princesses Khaliset, and Yeturow, who became the wives of their half-brother, King Altanersa. She was depicted in reliefs on the famous Dream Stelae of her husband Tanutamun, which gave her the titles of ‘King’s Sister’ and ‘King’s Wife.’

Piattoli, Anna Baccherini – (1720 – 1788)
Italian painter and artist
Anna Piattoli was taught by Violante Beatrice Siries, and received further instruction from her husband, the painter Gaetano Piattoli. Anna was mother of the artist Giuseppe Piattoli. Her self-portrait was preserved in the collection of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

Picard, Charlotte    see    Dard, Charlotte

Picardet, Claudine – (fl. 1780 – 1798)
French chemist and translator of treatises on chemistry
With the death of her first husband, she was remarried to the chemist, Louis Guyton de Morveau, who employed her to work in his own laboratory at Dijon in Burgundy. Being fluent in Swedish and German, Picardet translated several works such as the Memoires de chimie (1785) by the Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheel (1742 – 1786), which dealt with his discovery of oxygen, and Traite des caracteres exterieurs des fossiles (1790) by the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749 – 1817). Claudine later assisted Morveau in the translation of Opuscules physiques et chymiques (1780 – 1785) produced by the Swedish chemist and naturalist Torbern Olof Bergman (1735 – 1784).

Picasso, Jacqueline Hutin – (1923 – 1986)
French artist’s model and muse
Born Jacqueline Roque, she was the wife of the Spanish artist and sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), and stepmother mother of the coutouriere and designer Paloma Picasso. Jacqueline became Picasso’s mistress in 1954 and married him in 1961. Picasso produced seventy paintings, drawings, engravings and ceramic tiles which he called Jacquelines after her (1962).

Piccolellis, Isabella Poniatowska, Marchesa – (1805 – 1887)
Italian salon hostess
Isabella Poniatowska was born into the Polish princely family of Poniatowski, and was married three times. She was married firstly (1821) to Conte Prospero di Bentivoglio who died the same year, leaving her with one son. Isabella then remarried to the Marquis Zanobi-Ricci to whom she bore two daughter, of whom the elder,  Maria Anna Ricci (1833 – 1912), who became the second wife of Count Alexandre Walewski, natural son of emperor Napoleon I. Her younger daughter, Bianca Ricci married the Florentine nobleman, the Marquis Tolomei. Famous for her gentle character, graceful beauty, and elegant conversation, the marchesa married as her last husband the marquis Piccolellis, and for several decades presided over a celebrated salon in Florence, where she received many foreign visitors and diplomatic persons, as well as literary luminaries.

Piccolomini, Constanza    see   Avalos, Constanza d’

Piccolomini, Maria – (1834 – 1899)
Italian mezzo-soprano
Maria Piccolomini was born at Siena and studied singing under Raimondi and Mazzarelli in Florence, where she made her stage debut (1852). Though not possessed of a magnificent singing voice, Piccolomini was a consummate stage actress and her superior abilities in this field ensured that she became the rage of contemporary society. Piccolomini travelled wideley and performed abroad in Paris, London and New York. She retired from public performance after her marriage with the marquis de Gaetano (1863). Maria Piccolomini died (Dec 23, 1899) aged sixty-five, near Florence.

Picenardi, Elisabetta – (c1415 – 1468)
Italian nun
Elisabetta Picenardi was born into the patrician family of Picenardi in Mantua. She refused offers of marriage and became a nun of the Third Order of Servites (servants) of the Virgin Mary.
Distinguished and revered for her humility, ascetism, and gifts of prophecy, angels are supposed to have been heard singing at her death. She was revered as a saint (Feb 19).

Picentina, Antonia – (fl. c140 – c170 AD)
Roman patrician and priestess
Antonia Picentina was the wife of Claudius Secundinus who served as praetor during the reign of the Emperor Antonius Pius (138 – 161 AD), and was a patron of the city of Faleriensis. Picentina is attested by a surviving inscription from that city which records that she served as a priestess (divae Faustinae) of the Imperial cult dedicated to the elder Faustina, wife of the Emperor Antonius Pius.

Pichler, Karoline – (1769 – 1843)
Austrian poet, novelist, and dramatist
Karoline was born in Vienna, the daughter of an Imperial courtier. She received an above average education and was married (1796) to the official, Andreas Pichler (1796). Madame Pichler established her own literary salon in Vienna, which was attended by such luminaries as Madame de Stael, the novelist Henriette Herz, and the Schlegel brothers, whose sister Dorothea was a longtime friend to her. Her novels included Leonore (1804) and Frauenwurde (The Dignity of Women) (1808).  Karoline Pichler also produced the historical work Agathokles (1808) which ensured her literary fame, and personal memoirs, Denkwurdigkeiten aus meinem Leben (1844) which was published in Vienna in two volumes.

Pickard, Louise – (1865 – 1928)
British painter
Pickard studied in London and Paris, and specialized in still-life, landscape, and portrait painting. A collection of her still-life work is preserved in the Tate Gallery in London. Louise Pickard died in London.

Pickard, Mae – (1891 – 1946)
American silent film actress
Mae Pickard was born in Memphis, Tennessee and she became a showgirl and was appearing in the stageplay The Girl when she met the British lord Christian Arthur Wellesley (1890 – 1962), Viscount Dangan. She married Dangan and then retired the stage and was introduced to London society as the Viscountess Dangan. Five years later Mae became Countess Cowley when Dangan succeeded his father as the fourth Earl Cowley. She and Lord Cowley were later divorced (1933). Lady Cowley died (June 3, 1946). She left four children,

• Michael Wellesley (1915 – 1922). He became Visccount Dangan in 1919 but died a child.
• Lady Patricia Mary Anne Wellesley (1918 – 1944). She died unmarried.
• Denis Wellesley (1921 – 1968). He became Viscount Dangan at the death of his brother (1922). Lord Dangan succeeded his father as the fifth Earl Cowley (1962 – 1968) and was married
  three times and left issue.
• Lady Colleen Wellesley (1925 – 2003). She became the wife of Paul Hanlon, a physician, of Kingston in Pennsylvania, USA, and left issue.

Pickerill, Dame Cecily – (1903 – 1988)
New Zealand surgeon
Cecily Mary Wise Clarkson was born (Feb 3, 1903) the daughter of Percy Wise Clarkson, a clergyman and attended the Otago University Medical School in Dunedin, where she trained as a surgeon. Miss Clarkson was appointed as house surgeon at the Dunedin Hospital (1926) before working in Sydney, Australia as an assistant plastic surgeon (1927 – 1935). She was married (1934) to Henry Pickerill after which she established her own practice as a specialist plastic surgeon in Wellington, where she worked for over three decades (1935 – 1968).
With her husband Mrs Pickerill owned and administrated the Bassam Hospital in Lower Hutt which was used as a rooming-in hospital for the mothers of nursing infants or small children with birth defects which were corrected with plastic surgery. Some of her papers were published in the New Zealand Journal (1980). Her work as a child surgeon was publicly recognized when she was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1958). Two decades afterwards her work was again acknowledged when she was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) (1977). Dame Cecely Pickerill died (July 21, 1988) aged eighty-five.

Pickering, Elizabeth – (1642 – 1728)
British painter
Elizabeth Pickering was the daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering, and was cousin to the famous poet John Dryden. Pickering painted portraits for her circle of friends and also painted an altarpiece for the decoration of several churches near Oundle, in Northamptonshire. After the death of her husband, she maintained herself by running a school for girls.

Pickford, Mary (1) – (1893 – 1979) 
Canadian-American silent film star
Born Gladys Marie Smith in Toronto, she was the daughter of a labourer. She appeared on the stage from the age of five years as ‘Baby Gladys,’ and went on to appear in silent films (1909), working with D.W. Griffith at Biograph, which gained her world wide fame as ‘America’s Sweetheart.’ Her younger sister was actress Charlotte (Lottie) Pickford (1895 – 1936). Mary Pickford was married successively to three actors, firstly (1911) to Owen Moore (1887 – 1939) from whom she was divorced (1920), and secondly (1920) to Douglas Fairbanks, Sr (1883 – 1939), from whom she was divorced (1936), and lastly (1937) to Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers (1904 – 1999). She was the stepmother of Douglas Fairbanks Jr (1909 – 2000) and Joan Crawford was briefly her daughter-in-law.
Her most famous silent films were Poor Little Rich Girl (1916), Daddy Long Legs (1919), and appeared in the roles of both mother and son in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921). She received an Academy Award for her performance in Coquette (1929). Mary Pickford formed the United Artists Corporation with Griffith, Charlie Chaplain, and her second husband Fairbanks (1919 – 1953) and was co-founder of the Motion Picture Relief Fund. Mary Pickford retired from films (1933) and was the author of a volume of memoirs entitled Sunshine and Shadow (1955). She then lived in virtual retirement and was an alcoholic for most of the last decades of her life. She received a special Academy Award (1975) in recognition of her contribution to the film industry.

Pickford, Mary (2) – (1902 – 2002) 
British physiologist
Mary Pickford did extensive research into the function of the kidneys and the regulation of blood pressure. Born Lillian Mary Pickford (Aug 14, 1902) at Jabbalpore in India, she was later sent home to for her education. She studied at the Wycombe Abbey School and at Bedford College in London. Mary Pickford studied medicine at the University College Hospital Medical School and became a lecturer in physiology at the University of Edinburgh Medical School (1939). She was later elected a fellow of the Royal Society (1966) and was appointed to a personal chair in physiology in Edinburgh. Her research included the interaction of various drugs and hormones with the nervous system. She was the author of The Central Role of Hormones (1968). Mary Pickford died (Aug 14, 2002) aged one hundred.

Pickthall, Marjorie – (1883 – 1922)
Anglo-Canadian poet and author
Marjorie Pickthall was born in Middlesex and immigrated to Toronto with her family as a child (1889). She had her first work published at the age of fifteen (1898) and wrote three novels dealing with the adventures of young boys including Dick’s Desertion: A Boy’s Adventures in Canadian Forests; A Tale of the Early Settlement of Ontario (1905). Though hampered by ill-health for most of her life, Pickthall worked as a librarian beofre returning to England where she was employed as an ambulance driver during WW I. She produced several volumes of verse such as The Drift of Pinions (1913) and The Lamp of Poor Souls, and Other Poems (1916) and was considered the best Canadian poet of her era. She also wrote several dramatic novels Little Hearts (1915) and The Bridge (1922). After her death her father edited and published The Complete Poems of Marjorie Pickthall (1927).

Picon, Molly – (1890 – 1992)
American actress and vocalist
Molly Picon made appearances in only a few films throughout her long career. These included Come Blow Your Horn (1963), Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and For Pete’s Sake (1974) amongst others.

Piddington, Marion Louisa – (1869 – 1950)
Australian eugenicist and sex educator
Born Marion O’Reilly (Dec 23, 1869) in Sydney, New South Wales, she was trained as a schoolteacher and was married (1896) to the lawyer, Albert Bathurst Piddington (1862 – 1945). Piddington wrote pamphlets which provided sex education and information for married couples, and assisted with the foundation of the Racial Hygiene Association of NSW. Marion Piddington died (Feb 2, 1950) aged eighty, in Sydney. Her son was the noted anthropologist Ralph O’Reilly Piddington.

Pierre, Dorathi Bock – (1900 – 1997)
American dance publicist and writer
Dorathi Bock was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of the famous sculptor Richard Bock. As a teenage she began performing the Michel Fokine Ballet (1916) and was then married to the theatrical producer Jacques Pierre. She contributed articles to The American Dancer and Dance publication and was the founder and editor of The Journal of Educational Dance (1938 – 1942). She worked as a theatrical publicist for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the Comedie Francaise and the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden. Madame Pierre was the public relations director for the Free Shakespeare Festival and the Los Angeles Ballet. She published Memoirs of an American Artist: The Sculptor Richard W. Bock (1991). Dorathi Pierre died (Jan 2, 1997) aged ninety-six, in Los Angeles.

Pierrebourg, Margeurite Thomas-Galline, Baronne de – (1856 – 1943)
French salonniere and novelist
Margeurite Thomas-Galline was a friend of the novelist Marcel Proust, and was married to Aimery Harty, Baron de Pierrebourg. Beautiful and artistically talented, the baroness lived apart from her husband with the writer Paul Hervieu. She maintained a literary salon in Paris, and her daughter Madeleine Harty de Pierrebourg became the wife (1910) of the Comte de Lauris. Using the pseudonym ‘Claude Ferval’ she published several novels including L’Autre Amour and, Le Plus Fort.

Pierrefonds, Adeline de – (c1078 – after 1115)
French dynastic wife
Adeline de Pierrefonds was the daughter of Nivelon II, seigneur de Pierrefonds and his wife Hadwide. She was married (c1095) to Jean I, count of Soissons (c1062 – 1115) whom she survived.
Despite bearing her husband a son and heir, the future Count Rainald III of Soissons (c1100 – c1146), Adeline’s married life was miserable. Guibert of Nogent recorded that though the countess was an attractive woman her husband forsook her company for that of an elderly mistress. The count attempted to trick her into an adulterous situation in order to obtain grounds for a divorce, but the countess and her maids beat off the assailant. Count Jean then accused Adeline publicly of adultery, but Bishop Ivo of Chartres avowed that there was no ground for prosecution. Even on his deathbed the count continued to threaten Adeline with physical violence. Of her life after his death there are no recorded details.

Pierrefonds, Agatha de – (c1155 – c1192)
French medieval heiress
Agatha de Pierrefonds was the daughter of Dreux II, seigneur de Pierrefonds, and his wife Beatrix de Crecy. She was married firstly (before 1164) to Conan de Nesle (c1157 – 1180), Count of Soissons, but this marriage remained childless. Agatha remarried (c1182) to Hugh III de Cambrai (c1140 – 1189), viscount of Meaux, as his second wife, but this marriage also remained childless. Countess Agatha became the heiress of the seigneurie of Pierrefonds with the death of her brother Nivelon III (1161). She brought these estates to both her husbands, but Hugh de Cambrai appears to have repudiated Agatha (c1188) as he had remarried to Margeurite de Blois (1189). Agatha died childless and her estates reverted to Gaucher III de Chatillon, seigneur de Monjay (died 1219), the great-grandson of Nivelon de Pierrefonds her paternal uncle. Her personal seal, made at the time of her first marriage, the inscription on which styles her husband Conan, as lord of Pierrefonds, survives, and portrays an attractive lady, with long flowing hair, her left hand on her hip.

Pierreppoint, Elizabeth – (1569 – 1621)
English courtier
Elizabeth Pierrepoint was the daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepoint and his wife Frances Cavendish, the daughter of Sir William Cavendish and his wife Bess Hardwick (later the wife of George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury). As a child Bessie (as she was then known) was placed in the household of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots who became much attached to her referring to the child in her letters as ‘dearest mignonne.’ Elizabeth Pierrepoint became romantically involved with the queen’s Frecnh secretary Claude Nau. It appears that the affair was one-sided and Nau was the ardent party. Despite her father’s approval for their marriage Elizabeth remained disdainful of his suit and enlisted Queen Mary in her intrigues to get herself removed to the household of Queen Elizabeth in London.
With the execution of Queen Mary (1587) Elizabeth was married to Sir Edward Norreys, after whose death she became the second wife (1604) of Thomas Erskine (1566 – 1639), Viscount Fenton and became Viscountess Fenton. She became the Countess of Kellie after Erskine was created the first Earl of Kellie by King James I, who also granted them jointly (1607) the chief stewardship of the royal manor of Ampthill. The king also arranged for Lady Elizabeth to become the heir of Sir John Norreys (1608) a relation from her first marriage. Thus Lady Kellie was rewarded by King James for her services to his late mother. Lady Kellie died (April 27, 1621) aged fifty-one, and was buried at Englefield in Berkshire, beside her first husband.

Pierrepoint, Frances Cavendish, Lady – (1548 – 1632)
English Tudor aristocrat and courtier
Frances Cavendish was the daughter of Sir William Cavendish and his famous wife, the heiress Bess Hardwick, and became the stepdaughter to George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, after her mother’s remarriage. Frances was married to Sir Henry Pierrepoint (c1535 – 1615) of Holme Pierrepoint, and was the mother of five children, of whom her son and heir, Robert Pierrepoint (1573 – 1643), was created first Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull by King Charles I (1628). Lady Frances survived her mother (1608), being mentioned in her will and with the death of Sir Henry she became the Dowager Lady Pierrepoint (1615 – 1632). Lady Frances died (Jan, 1632) aged eighty-three. Lady Pierrepoint’s four daughters included Elizabeth Pierrepoint, the wife of Thomas Erskine, Earl of Kellie, and Grace Pierrepoint (1575 – 1660), the wife of George Manners. Through her son Robert she was the ancestress of the earls of Manvers and the dukes of Kingston, and through Grace Manners she was ancestress of the dukes of Rutland. One of her more famous descendants was the Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu (1689 – 1762), the noted traveller and diarist.

Pieters, Geertje – (1665 – 1735)
Dutch painter
Gertje Pieters was born in Delft. She became the servant girl of the noted female artist Maria van Oosterwyck, who taught Geertje how to paint. She specialized in painting flowers, and one of her works is preserved at the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge in England.

Pietersen, Jacqueline – (1899 – 1939)
Irish painter and avian artist
Pietersen was born (May 24, 1899) in Londonderry, and was a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists. One of best known works was Rosy Flamingos.

Pignatelli, Conchita Sepulveda, Princess – (1887 – 1972)
American society columnist
Conchita Sepulveda was born in Mexico City, New Mexico, the daughter of Ignacio Sepulveda, the first Superior Court judge of Los Angeles, California, and his wife Erlinda de la Guerra.
Her marriage to the papal patrician Prince Valerio Pignatelli ended in divorce, but she retained the title and worked as a society columnist with the Los Angeles Examiner owned by William Randolph Hearst. Her career with that particular newspaper lasted thirty years and the Los Angeles Times named her ‘Woman of the Year’ (1962). Prominent in Los Angeles society and charitable events for decades, the princess was a patron of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historical Monument Commission. Princess Pignatelli died of a heart attack in Los Angeles.

Pigott, Christobella    see   Saye and Sele, Christobella, Viscountess

Pilenko, Elizaveta Iurievna    see   Skobtsova, Maria

‘Pilgrim’    see   Innes, Catherine Lucy

Pilia, Caecilia (1) – (c127 – c58 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Caecila Pilia was born into the noble Pilii gens. She became the wife of the wealthy banker Titus Pomponius, and was the mother of Titus Pomponius Atticus (110 – 32 BC), the friend of the orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, and of Pomponia, the wife of Cicero’s brother, Quintus Tullius Cicero. Caecilia Pilia was the grandmother of Caecilia Pomponia Attica, the first wife of Vipsanius Agrippa. Pilia was living in 60 BC, but had died prior to her son’s marriage with his cousin, another Caecilia Pilia (56 BC).

Pilia, Caecilia (2) – (c73 – 44 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Caecilia Pilia was a member of the noble Pilii gens, sister to Quintus Pilius Celer, and became the wife (56 BC) of her cousin, Titus Pomponius Atticus (110 – 32 BC), the friend of Cicero.
Pilia and her husband appear to have had an affectionate personal relationship, and she often travelled with him to his various estates in Italy, and visited Cicero and his wife Terentia. Their only child was Caecilia Pomponia Attica (born 51 BC), later the first wife of the Augustan general, Vipsanius Agrippa, the friend of the Emperor Augustus. Pilia later died of paralysis (shortly after Aug, 44 BC).

Pilkington, Laetitia – (1712 – 1750)
Irish author, adventuress, poet, dramatist, society figure, and memoirist
Born Laetitia Van Lewen in Dublin, she was the daughter of a Dutch obstetrician. She wrote verses from an early age. Laetitia was married (1729) to Matthew Pilkington, a clergyman, who later divorced her on the grounds of adultery (1737), the case engendering much unpleasant publicity. She turned to writing in order to survive and published The Statutes: Or, the Trial of Constancy (1739), and she frequented the same literary circles as Colley Cibber, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Samuel Richardson, and others. Despite this notoriety she was later arrested and imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea Prison (1742). Laetitia was best known for her personal reminiscences entitled Memoirs of Mrs Laetitia Pilkington, written by Herself (1748 – 1754).

Pillau, Ida   see   Kortzfleisch, Ida von

Piller, Vera – (1949 – 1983)
German poet and prose wroter
Vera was born in Wiesbaden, West Germany and was trained as a sales clerk. She was married to the Swiss artist Dominique Piller, and they settled in Zurich (1968), where she worked as a saleswoman and waitress to support them financially.The beginning of her literary career coincided with the beginning of the breakdown of her marriage (1977). Vera Piller worked in radio and theatre productions in Zurich, but after her divorce (1978) her health took a definite turn for the worse. A heart attack left her greatly incapacitated (1980), and she died in the shower after suffering a final stroke, aged only thirty-three (May 15/16, 1983). Her work, though intense and somewhat awkward, remained stripped bare of all illusions, and included a collection of poetry Kinderlieder. Aus meinen grossen Schmerzen mach ich kleine Lieder (Children’s Songs. From My Great Sorrow and Pain I Make Little Songs) (1980) and Macht damit was ihr wollt. Lyrik und Prosa (Do What You Will With It. Poetry and Prose) which was published posthumously (1984).

Pilley, Dorothy – (1894 – 1986)
British mountaineer and writer
Her interest in climbing was stimulated by visits to Wales as a child. Dorothy Pilley travelled around the world climbing peaks in Switzerland, Canada, Japan, China, and the Himalayas. Pilley was one of the youngest women ever to be elected a member of the Ladies’ Alpine Club (1920). After her marriage with the scholar I.A. Richards (1921) the couple resided in the USA for several years. Pilley’s most famous ascent was that of the north ridge of the Dent Blanche, which she made together with her husband (1928) and she established the Pinnacle Club, the first women only mountaineering association. Dorothy Pilley was the author of Climbing Days (1935).

Pilloy, Julie Justine    see   Ozy, Alice

Pilon, Jeanne    see   Laisne, Jeanne

Pimenova, Emiliia Kirillovna – (1855 – 1935)
Russian journalist and writer
Emiliia Pimenova attended the Women’s Medical Courses from 1873 when by Imperial decree women were first permitted to enroll there. She worked for several notable Russian periodicals during the 1880’s, and became a prominent reviewer of foreign literature. Emiliia Pimenova herself wrote several volumes concerning her own travels at home and abroad. She produced her own autobiography Dni minuvshie (Bygone Days) prior to 1904, in which she provides an account of prominent literary figures whom she met during her journalistic career.

Pimiko (Himiko) – (c190 – 247 AD)
Japanese ruler
Pimiko was queen and ruler of Yamatai and is traditionally stated to have been the daughter of the emperor Suinin. She established herself as ruler over the Yamato tribe and controlled the regions at the eastern end of the Inland Sea. Pimiko made the first official overtures to China by sending an ambassador (239 AD), which treaty was accepted by a gold seal. Pimiko became involved in a war with the ruler of Kyushu, but China refused her assistance. At her death, which occured either in battle, or as the result of a miltary revolt, her brother illegally usurped the throne, defying the testablished radition of female inheritance. Japan was devasted by civil war, and finally her daughter Iyo was reinstated as queen, to procure peace.

Pinchot, Cornelia Elizabeth Bryce – (1881 – 1960)
American suffragist and politician
Cornelia Bryce was born (Aug 26, 1881) in Newport, Rhode Island, the younger daughter of Congressman Lloyd Bryce, the adviser to Theodore Roosevelt. Cornelia was married (1914) to Gifford Pinchot to whom she bore an only son. She became secretary of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association (1918 – 1919). She became the state of Pennsylvania’s first lady when her husband was twice elected governor (1923 – 1927) and (1931 – 1935). She tried three times unsuccessfully to win the congessional nomination, and likewise failed in her attempt to follow her husband in office as governor (1934).

A confident, but blunt public speaker, she advocated minimum wage laws to cover women and children, and urged women to join unions to protect themselves. Pinchot represented the USA at the International Women’s Conference in Paris (1945). Widowed in 1946, Cornelia Pinchot was then elected to the board of the Americans for Democratic Action committee (1947). Cornelia Bryce Pinchot died (Sept 9, 1960) aged seventy-nine, in Washington, D.C.

Pinckney, Eliza Lucas – (1723 – 1793)
American colonial pioneer, feminist, letter writer, and plantation manager
Elizabeth Lucas was born in Antigua in the West Indies, the daughter of George Lucas, governor of Antigua, and was sent to England for her education. Eliza was married to Charles Pinckney, chief justice of South Carolina (1752) and speaker in the House of Assembly, and was the mother of Thomas Pinckney, later appointed as governor of South Carolina (1787). She is especially remembered for her successful introduction and cultivation of indigo. Her private correspondence was later edited and published as the Journal and Letters of Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1850).

Pinckney, Josephine – (1895 – 1957)
American poet and author
Born Josephine Lyons Scott Pinckney (Jan 25, 1895) in Charleston, South Carolina, she was co-founder of the South Carolina Poetry Society (1920) and was author of a collection of verse entitled Sea-Drinking Cities (1927). However, she received recognition with her historical novel Hilton Head (1941). Josephine Pinckney died (Oct 4, 1957) aged sixty-two, in New York.

Pincus, Lily – (1898 – 1981)
Czech-Anglo familial relations specialist and author
Lily Pincus was born in Czechoslavakia, and later immigrated to Britain, where she became a citizen. Pincus was the co-founder of the Institute of Marital Studies in London, and was the author of Death and the Family (1974).

Pinelli, Antonia – (1590 – 1644)
Italian painter
Antonia Pinelli was originally a student of Ludovico Caracci (1555 – 1619), and worked almost exclusively from his own designs. Such was her personal modesty that Pinelli never accepted a commission without consulting Caracci. She married Giovanni Battista Bertusi. She produced the altar piece of St John the Baptist (1613) in which she was portrayed wearing a feathered hat.

Pinelli, Felicite Louise Cadet de Gassicourt, Contessa – (1822 – 1893)
French-Italian aristocrat
Felicite Louise Cadet de Gassicourt was born (May 8, 1822) the elder daughter of the physician Charles Louis Felix Cadet de Gassicourt, and his wife Clementine Dubois, the daughter of Baron Antoine Dubois and his wife Clementine Olivier de Corancez. Through her father she was the illegitimate great-granddaughter of Louis XV, King of France (1715 – 1774) and his mistress Therese Boisselet. Her brother Charles Cadet de Gassicourt (1826 – 1900) was a doctor as was Felicite’s first husband (1840) Francois Gorre. After her first husband’s death (1855) Madame Gorre was remarried (1859) to the Italian nobleman Conte Giovanni Pinelli. Contessa Pinelli died (May 5, 1893) aged seventy, two weeks after the death of her second husband. The contessa’s nephew Felix Cadet de Gassicourt (1871 – 1953) was the administrator of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

Piney-Luxembourg, Madeleine Charlotte de Clermont-Tonnerre, Duchesse de – (1635 – 1701)
French heiress and peeress (1697 – 1701)
Madeleine de Clermont-Tonnerre was born in Paris (Aug 14, 1635), the daughter of Charles Henri de Clermont-Tonnerre, Duc de Luxembourg and Piney, and his wife Margeurite Charlotte de Luxemburg, Comtesse de Ligny. When her half-brother, the Duc de Luxembourg-Piney decided to become a priest, he renounced his titles and became the abbe de Luxembourg. This made Madeleine Charlotte the duchesse de Luxembourg and Piney, princesse de Tingry, comtesse de Ligny and baronne du Dangu. She was married (1661) to Francois Henri de Luxembourg, Comte de Bouteville and de Luxe (1628 – 1695), who became known as the Duc de Luxembourg-Piney in her right. The duchesse survived her husband seven years. The Duchese de Piney-Luxembourg died (Aug 21, 1701) aged sixty-six. She was interred with her husband buried at Ligny.

Pingaud, Pierette   see   Favart, Pierette

Ping-Ying, Hsieh    see    Bingying, Xie

Pinkerton, Kathrene Sutherland – (1887 – 1967) 
American author
Kathrene Pinkerton spent the early part of her life living as a pioneer with her family in the Canadian North Woods. She wrote stories for both adults and children which reflected her childhood adventures. She was best remembered as the author of Wilderness Wife (1939).

Pinkham, Lydia Estes – (1819 – 1883)
American herbalist and manufacturer
Lydia Estes was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of a shoemaker, and had been trained as a schoolteacher. She was married (1843) to Isaac Pinkham, to whom she bore several children, and was a founding member of the Female Anti-Slavery Society in Lynn. Lydia Pinkham became the manufacturer of a popular and wide-selling medicinal compound, which she had produced after her husband had sufferred bankruptcy (1873) and the family needed financial assistance. She first produced her ‘vegetable compound’ in her own kitchen (1875), and it was a mixture of roots including Aletris farinosa and Asclepius tuberosa, with eighteen per cent alcohol as a preservative. She patented the ‘medicine’ (1876) and her portrait adorned the medicine labels. Lydia Pinkham conducted correspondence with many of her customers.

Pinkney, Fayette – (1948 – 2009)
Black American popular vocalist
Pinkney attended secondary school at Overbrook in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her friends Linda Turner and Shirley Poole. Whilst all three were still students they formed the singing group known as the Three Degrees. When they made the debut single Gee Baby I’m Sorry, Pinkney was the lead singer, and Turner and Poole had been replaced by Janet Harmon and Helen Scott. The group obtained national acclaim for their album Maybe (1970) which reached number four on the charts.
This success was followed by the songs I Do Take You and You’re the One, and producer William Friedkin arranged for the group to performe the Jimmy Webb song Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon in his film The French Connection. (1971). With the Philadelphia International studio band the Three Degrees recorded The Sound of Philadelphia (1973) which became the theme music for the popular television music program Soul Train, and became a great hit. However their most famous and commercially successful hit was When Will I See You Again (1974) which sold over two million copies, and the group later performed before Charles, Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace in London for his thirtieth birthday celebrations (1978).
Pinkney left the Three Degrees and produced the solo album One Degree (1979), after which she decided to continue her education. She studied psychology and human services at university and was then appointed as the education co-ordinator at the Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania. Fayette Pinkney died aged sixty-one.

Pinney, Eunice – (1770 – 1849)
American primitive painter
Eunice Pinney was best known for her Two Women (1815) and the water colour Mrs Clarke The Yorke Magnet (1821), which was based upon a portrait of Mary Anne Clarke, the scandalous mistress of Prince Edward, Duke of York, which is preserved in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection.

Pinsent, Dame Ellen Frances – (1866 – 1949) 
British pioneer of health care for the mentally ill
Ellen Parker was born (March 25, 1866) at Claxby, Lincolnshire, the youngest child of an Anglican clergyman, Richard Parker, and was the sister to Lord John Parker. She was married (1888) to a solicitor, Hume Chancellor Pinsent, and bore him three children, including Dame Hester Agnes Adrian, the wife of Lord Adrian. Ellen Pinsent became involved with the cause of the mentally handicapped and served as chairman of the Birmingham special schools committee in Lancashire (1901 – 1913). She was the only woman to serve on the Royal Commission on the Feeble-Minded and was then elected as the first female member of the Birmingham City Council (1911 – 1913). She was later a member of the Feversham Committee on the Voluntary Mental Health Service (1936 – 1939). In recognition of her valuable work Pinsent was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by King George VI (1937). Dame Ellen Pinsent died (Oct 10, 1949) aged eighty-three, at Boar’s Hill, Oxford.

Pintasilgo, Maria de Lourdes – (1930 – 2004)
Portugese politican and campaigner for women’s rights
Maria Pintasilgo was born (Jan 18, 1930) in Abrantes. She was trained as achemical engineer, but later entered politics as an independent before joining the Socialist Party. Maria de Lourdes served as a member of the Corporate Chamber of the Department of Politics and General Administration (1969 – 1974), and was then chairman of the National Committee on the status and rights of women (1970 – 1974). With the 1974 revolution, she was appointed as minister for Social Affairs and then as the Portugese ambassador to UNESCO (1976 – 1979). Pintasilgo was the first Portugese woman to serve as caretaker prime minister (1979 – 1980) as the successor to Carlos da Mota Pinto, and was employed as a presidential adviser. Pintasilgo later ran unsuccessfully for the presidency (1986) and was appointed to serve in the European Parliament (1987 – 1989). Her published works included Les nouveaux feminismes (1980) and Dimensao de mudanca (1985). Maria remained unmarried. Maria Pintasilgo died (July 10, 2004) aged seventy-four, at Lisbon.

Pinto, Julia – (fl. 1779 – after 1806)
British actress and vocalist
Julia Pinto was the daughter of the violinist Thomas Pinto, and his first wife, the opera singer Sibilla Gronamon. Her stepmother was the vocalist Charlotte Brent, who later assisted with the upbringing of Julia’s son. Julia made her stage debut asUrganda in Cymon at the Smock Alley theatre in Dublin (1779) and then joined the company of James Whitley at Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge and Derby. She sang at Sadler’s Wells from 1781 – 1785, and appears to have retired from the stage (1785) after her marriage with a man named Sanders. Julia was the mother of the talented sonata composer George Frederick Pinto (1786 – 1806) who took the surname of his maternal grandfather.

Pinyin    see   Xi Shi

Pio, Clelia, Lady of Sassuolo    see   Farnese, Clelia

Pio de Sassuolo, Benedetta – (c1565 – after 1617)
Italian noblewoman and prisoner
Benedetta became the wife (c1582) of Girolamo Sanvitale (1567 – 1612), Conte di Sala and was the mother of Gianfrancesco Sanvitale (1590 – 1612), Marquis di San Severino and of Giberto Sanvitale (c1596 – 1631). A woman of retiring nature but of strong moral character the contessa abhorred her son’s illicit relationship with Agnese del Caretto, Marchesa di Grana, who was older even than her, and she had masses said continually for the benefit of his soul, and confiscated the love letters that passed between the two of them.
During the famous scandal of the arrest of her mother-in-law Barbara di Colorno, Benedetta was arrested with her husband and imprisoned within the convent of Santa Clara in Busseto. Girolamo and his mother were executed (May 19, 1612) but Contess Benedetta was spared though she remained a prisoner. The last record of her appears as a footnote in the registry records at Rochetta (Sept 17, 1617) which recorded that ‘Benedetta Pio Sanvitale will not be sentenced until new orders are issued; another prisoner should be made to keep her company.’ Her exclusion from execution gave rise to various rumours. It was said that the Queen of France and the Duchess of Parma has asked for her to be spared, whilst more malicious gossip whispered that being an attractive woman Countess Benedetta had been spared by Duke Ranuccio for his own pleasure. The truth seems to be that she spared due to the power and influence of her kinsman Cardinal Pio. She was not released after Ranuccio’s death (1622) so must have died prior to this date.

Piozzi, Hester     see    Thrale, Hester Lynch

Pipara (Pipa) – (c242 – 268 AD)
German barbarian princess and Imperial concubine
Pipara was the daughter of King Attalus (Attalus Publius Licinius), the leader of the West German Marcomanni tribe. The emperor Gallienus, son and co-ruler of Valerian I, obtained her as a concubine, in return for a large expanse of Pannonian territory west of the Danube River. Pipara was contracted to Gallienus in a secondary form of marriage (259 AD), which was against Roman custom, but she did not threaten the position of the Empress Salonina, the emperor’s legal wife. Pipara accompanied the emperor and his wife on several military campaigns throughout the empire, and was killed with Gallienus and his wife after the fall of the city of Milan in Lombardy, to the usurper Aureolus.

Piper, Jane – (1915 – 1991)
American painter
Jane Piper studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and pursued further study under the guidance of Arthur B. Carles, a student of Henri Matisse. Jane was married to Digby Baltzell, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Piper produced mainly still-life works, which were much admired by the critic Walter Thompson. Examples of her work are preserved in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Academy of Design, and the Brooklyn Museum. Jane Piper died (Aug 8, 1991) aged seventy-four, in Philadelphia.

Piper, Myfanwy – (1911 – 1997)
British art critic and opera librettist
Mary Myfanwy Evans was born at Hampstead in London, the daughter of a chemist. She was educated at the North London Collegiate School and then attended St Hugh’s College at Oxford where she studied art and literature. She visited Paris after graduating where she founded and became editor of the Axis magazine which promoted the work of French and British avant-garde artists. She was married (1935) to the abstract painter John Piper (died 1992) and was the mother of rhe painter and photographer Edward Piper (1938 – 1990). She adapted such famous novels as The Turn of the Screw (1954) and Death in Venice (1971) into opera liberatti for Benjamin Britten, and produced the libretto for Malcolm Williamson’s Easter. Piper wrote a biography of the painter Frances Hodgkinson and edited the volume of essays The Painter’s Object. Myfanwy Piper died (Jan 18, 1997) aged eighty-five, at Fawly Bottom near Henley.

Piper, Sophie – (1757 – 1816)
Swedish noblewoman
Countess Sophie von Fersen was born (March 30, 1757) the younger daughter of Count Frederik Axel von Fersen, the famous statesman, and his wife Countess Hedvig Catharina de La Gardie, the daughter of Count Magnus Julius de La Gardie. Her elder brother was the famous Count Hans Axel von Fersen, famous for his association with the ill-fated French queen Marie Antoinette. She attended the court of Gustavus III and his wife Sophia of Denmark and became one of the reigning beauties of the court. She received a proposal of marriage from Prince Frederik Adolf, the king’s brother, but her father refused to sanction such an alliance, rumour said the real reason was Sophie’s personal dislike of the prince. Sophie was married instead (1777) to the royal chamberlain Adolf Ludwig Piper.
Madame Piper was appointed to serve at court as chief lady-in-waiting (hofmeisterin) (1786) to the duchess Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, who later became the queen consort of Sweden. The two ladies became close friends and their personal correspondence has survived. Letters to and from her brother Axel also survive. She later incurred the hatred of the same Swedes who brutally killed her brother believing him responsible for the death of Crown Prince Karl August (1810). Madame Piper retired from public life to reside as castle Lofstad, near Norrkoping, where she died (Feb 2, 1816) aged fifty-eight.

Pirckheimer, Caritas – (1467 – 1532)
German Clarissan nun and patron of humanist learning
Caritas was sister to the noted humanist Willibald Pirckheimer and she educated by the nuns of St Clara in Nuremburg from the age of twelve (1479) and joined the order as a nun, being later elected as abbess of the community (1503). Recognized by her contemporaries as a great patron of education and learning she edited the Chronicle of the history of the Clarissan Order in Europe since its inception over three hundred years earlier. She corresponded with such learned and scholarly humanist figures as Conrad Celtis and Sixtus Tucher. She resisted the efforts of Lutheranism to pervade her convent, using her won political connections and knowledge of theological law to maintain her house as a spiritual retreat for women.

Pirie, Julia – (1918 – 2008)
British secret agent and Communist secretary
Elizabeth Mary Julia Pirie was born (July 8, 1918) at Hanbury in Warwickshire. She became determined to be of use to the war effort after WW II was declared. She worked with the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) in France and Germany, where she was amongst the first Allied soldiers to enter the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and witnessed the horros perpetrated there. She later worked as a personal assistant before joining the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. Pirie was employed by the International Maritime Organization when she approached by the British government to work as an agent.
Julia Pirie was recruited and trained to work as a covert government agent and spent two decades working undercover within the Communist Party as an operative for the MI5 organization from the 1950’s. She began as a typist and then succeeded in becoming the personal assistant to the general secretary of the communist Party and her cover was never exposed. Small and middle aged she remained unassuming in appearance but was possessed of razor sharp intelligence. When she resigned from her Party post in the 1970’s Pirie worked for the government to garner evidence against the Provisional IRA and the Catalan terrorist group Terra Lliure in Europe, remaining completely anonymous as an elderly English tourist. She remained unmarried. Julia Pirie died (Sept 2, 2008) aged ninety.

Pirmina   see   Irmina of Neustria

Piroska of Hungary    see   Irene of Hungary

Pisan, Christine de – (1364 – 1430)
Italian-French intellectual, feminist and author
Christine de Pisan advocated the education of women through improved teaching methods, and maintained their right to such learning in her work Le livre des trois vertus. Born in Venice, Italy, her father joined the court of Charles V of France as physician and astrologer, and she came to Paris with her mother (1369). Residing at the Valois court, she was married (1379) to Etienne de Castel, whose early death (1389) left Christine with three children and few resources. Christine decided to write to support them, and began composing ballads mourning her late husband. Christine then began to diversify, and her work became highly popular, gaining her important and valuable patrons such as Philip, Duke of Burgundy and the English earl of Salisbury, apart from members of the French royal family.
Besides popular verses on the theme of courtly love, Christine produced historical, poetic and philosophical works including a biography of Charles V entitled Le livre des faitz et bonnes moments du sage Roy Charles (1405) and Dit de la Rose (1401) considered the first identifiable feminist work. Christine also wrote a collection of vignettes concerning celebrated historical women entitled Cite des Dames (City of Ladies), and her own authobiography Avision Christine (1406) which was a defence of her own position and writing. With the French defeat at Agincourt (1415) Christine retired from the court of Charles VI and Queen Isabeau, and entered a convent at Poissy, near Paris, where she died. Her last recorded work was lyrics written in honour of St Jeanne d’Arc (1429).

Pisseleu, Anne de – (1508 – 1580)
French courtier and political player
The mistress of King Francis I, Anne de Pisseleu was born in Picardy the daughter of Guillaume d’Heilly, Seigneur de Pisseleu and his first wife Isabeau de Josne de Contay, the daughter of Louis de Josne, seigneur de Contay, and his wife Jacqueline de Nesle. Beautiful and intelligent, Anne became lady-in-waiting to the king’s mother Louise of Savoy, in 1526, and the king’s mistress soon after. Anne attained great power and influence at the court, and her attraction for Francis, which lasted till his death in 1547, was noted by foreign observers.
A patron of the humanists, the king arranged her marriage in 1533 with Jean IV de Brosse (c1505 – 1569), Duc d’Etampes and governor of Brittany. The chateaux of La Muette and Challau were built for her use by the king, but at his death the duchess retired to her own estates at Limours. A quarrel between Anne and her hated enemy Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II, saw Anne exiled from the court and deprived of her duchy in 1553. Catherine de Medici later restored her titles and estates in 1562, but she remained in retirement at Etampes until her death. The duchesse was painted by Corneille de Lyon and drawn by Francois Clouet.

Pitcairn, Pamela    see   Fitzgerald, Lady Pamela

Pitcher, Molly    see    McCauley, Mary Ludwig Hays

Pitel, Anne – (1651 – 1737)
French actress
Anne Pitel was the elder sister of Francoise Pitel. She was born at Rouen, Normandy, the daughter of actor and theatrical manager Henri Pitel, sometimes called Longchamp, and his wife Charlotte Legrand Pitel. She was married (1667) to the actor Michel Du Rieu, to whom she bore four sons. Having performed with her father’s company, Anne later joined the Dauphin’s troupe and performed with that company at Rouen (1677) and in London, England (1677 – 1678). She and her husband performed together with the joint Conde-Dauphin company, and Anne made her debut at the Comedie Francaise (1684). She was later granted a pension (1700) the year before the death of her husband (1701). Anne Pitel survived her husband almost forty years.

Pitel, Charlotte Legrand – (1634 – after 1687)
French actress
Charlotte Legrand was the daughter of the actor Henri Legrand, popularly known as Turlupin. She was also known as Charlotte Belleville, as her father used that name. She married (c1647) the comic actor and theatrical manager Henri Pitel, to whom she bore a large family of ten children, and who was sometimes known as M. Longchamp. Originally attached to the troupe of La Grande Madamoiselle, cousin to Louis XIV, Charlotte and her husband, and later her children worked for various aristocratic theatrical groups, including the Conde Company at Saint-Jean-de-Luz (1660) before her husband formed their own troupe (1664). They still performed with the Conde Company, travelling around France, and the couple, with several of their childre, visited London where they performed (1677 – 1678). Charlotte’s last recorded stage performance was in the comedy Le Voleur at the Comedie Francaise (Nov, 1687), where her husband Henri was employed at treasurer (1691). Her two daughters were the actresses Anne and Fanchon Pitel.

Pitel, Fanchon – (c1661 – 1721)
French actress
Francoise Pitel was the younger sister of Anne Pitel, and was the daughter of the actor and dance troupe manager Henri Pitel, sometimes called M. Longchamp, and his wife Charlotte Legrand Pitel. Fanchon accompanied her family, including her elder sister Anne, to England and then joined the company at the Hotel de Bourgogne in Paris after her return (1679). In the same year she married the actor Jean Baptiste Raisin.
Fanchon later performed at the Comedie Francaise, appearing in roles such as Aricie in Phedre, Thamire in Sertorius, Iole in Hercules, Albiane in Othon, Camille in Virginie, Isabelle in Dom Pertrand, and Lucresse in Amant indiscret. With the death of her husband (1693) she became involved in a liasion with the Grand Dauphin, the son of Louis XUV. Fanchon bore the prince a child and was granted a pension which was later withdrawn at the Dauphin’s death (1711). Fanchon Pitel died (Sept 30, 1721) in Paris, from injuries sustained in a carriage accident.

Pithias, Aelia – (fl. c40 – c70 AD)
Roman patrician
Aelia Pithias was the wife of the consul suffect Tiberius Claudius Hermias, and the mother of the consul Tiberius Claudius Draco, and of two daughters, Claudia Sosipatra and Claudia Theonidis. The family who were prominent at the Imperial court during the reigns of the emperors Claudius I (41 – 54 AD) and Nero (54 – 68 AD) are attested by a surviving public inscription put up to honour them at Rhodes in Greece, by Marcus Claudius Caninius Severus, who was Pithias’ maternal cousin. The family was also attested by a second surviving inscription from Ephesus which is preserved in the British Museum. Pithias was also related to an attested Claudia Caninia Severa who was either daughter or sister of Caninius Severus.

Pithvithiers, Aloyse de – (fl. c970 – c1000)
French medieval heiress
Aloyse de Pithvithiers was the second wife of Reinard, seigneur de Nogent, and was heiress of the seigneurie of Pithvithiers, which estate she brought to her husband at their marriage. Aloyse was the mother of Adelme, Bishop of Orleans who inherited Pithvithiers from his mother. At his death Adelme left the fief to his half-brother, Isembard, Seigneur de Nogent-Pithvithiers from whom it descended to the family of the seigneurs of Broyes.

Pitman, Janetta – (fl. 1880 – 1901)
British painter
Janetta Pitman resided at Basford, in Nottingham, and specialized in flower, still-life and genre paintings. Her work was exhibited continually at the Royal Academy over a twenty years period, as well as with the New Water Colour Society and the Grosvenor Gallery. She was later elected a member of the Royal Academy. Her best known work was Dead Wood Pigeons.

Pitot, Genevieve – (1909 – 1980)
American dance composer
Genevieve Pitot was originally trained as a classical pianist. She was taught dance by Martha Graham and composed music for dance sequences in such Broadway musicals as Kiss Me, Kate, Call Me Madam, Destry Rides Again and Li’l Abner. She composed two ballet scores for Donald Saddler.

Pitt, Ann – (1720 – 1799)
British actress, vocalist, and dancer
Ann Pitt was the sister of a London drygoods merchant. She made her stage debut at the Drury Lane Theatre, London in the role of Angelica in The Anatomist (1745), and then performed in the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin (1747 – 1748) before settling more or less permanently at Covent Garden Theatre. Ann also performed with Foote’s company at Haymarket Theatre (1768) and at Jacob’s Wells Theatre at Bristol, and at Liverpool and Manchester (1792). Her last performance was at Covent Garden in the role of the Spanish Lady in Barataria (June 2, 1792).
Ann spent her last years residing in the household of her daughter, the actress Harriet Pitt, at Islington. She died in London (Dec 18, 1799) and left an illegitimate daughter, fathered by the landscape painter John Inigo Richards (d. 1810). Pitt was especially successful in roles such as Dame Pliant in The Alchemist, the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, the title role in The Duenna, and Lady Bountiful in Beaux Stratagem. The roles of Mrs Carlton in The Man of Business, a comedy by George Colman, and Margery in the masque The Sirens by Edward Thompson, were created specifically for her, as were many others.

Pitt, Dame Edith Maud – (1906 – 1966)
British civil servant
Edith Pitt was born (Oct 14, 1906) in Birmingham, Lancashire and attended the council school there. She attended evening classes and trained as an industrial welfare officer. She became involved in local politics and served for two terms with the Birmingham City Council (1941 – 1945) and (1947 – 1954). Pitt served as vice-chairman of the Birmingham Conservative Association (1950 – 1953) and twice contested for seats in general elections. Miss Pitt was later appointed as joint parliamentary secretary at the ministry of Pensions (1955 – 1959) and was then parliamentary secretary for the Ministry of Health (1959 – 1962). She remained unmarried and was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) in recognition of her lifelong service by Queen Elizabeth Ii (1962). Dame Edith Pitt died (Jan 27, 1966) aged fifty-nine.

Pitt, Frances – (1888 – 1964)
British animal psychologist and author
Frances Pitt was born (Jan 25, 1888) and remained unmarried. She became a student of animal psychology and behaviour, gave lectures and produced colour nature films. Miss Pitt was a member of the committee of enquiry on Cruelty to Wild Animals (1949 – 1951). And was master of the Wheatland Hounds (1935 – 1952. Her published work included Wild Creatures of Garden and Hedgerow (1920), Waterside Creatures (1925), Animal Mind (1927), The Intelligence of Animals (1931) and Birds by the Sea (1935). She edited such works as Wild Animals in Britain (1939), Birds in Britain (1948) and Hounds, Horses and Hunting (1948). Frances Pitt died (March 9, 1964) aged seventy-six.

Pitt, Hester – (1720 – 1803)
British Hanoverian political wife and hostess, and peeress
The Hon. (Honourable) Hester Grenville was born (Nov 8, 1720) and baptized at the Church of St James in Westminster, the only daughter of Richard Grenville of Wotton Hall, Buckinghamshire and his wife Hester Temple (1690 – 1762), Countess Temple and Viscountess Cobham, the daughter of sir Richard Temple 91634 – 1697), third baronet. She was sister of Richard Grenville, second Earl Temple and of George Grenville (1712 – 1770) the famous Whig politician who served as prime minister (1763 – 1765). Her brothers, together with their cousin George Lyttelton, formed the famous ‘Cobham cousinhood.’ Her attraction to William Pitt the elder (1708 – 1778) began from her early teenage years but they did not marry until she was aged well over thirty (1754).
Their marriage was a singularly happy and congenial one and when he was appointed as Secretary of State (1757 – 1761) she stood solidly behind his political ambitions and used her own powerful Grenville family connections as a means of furthering his career. When first offered a peerage by George III he asked that it might instead be given to his wife in gratitude of her help to him. The king agreed and Mrs Pitt was created Baroness Chatham of Chatham (1761), with the remainder to the male heirs of her body and was received at court by Queen Charlotte as a peeress in her own right. She also received an annual pension of three thousand pounds annually for life. When Pitt was created first Earl of Chatham by George III (1766) Hester became the Countess of Chatham. When his health broke soon afterwards it was Lady Hester who acted as his confidante and private nurse, and was given power of attorney in order to manage his affairs. With her husband’s death she became the Dowager Countess of Chatham (1778 – 1803). She lived to see her son William Pitt the younger become prime minister. Lady Chatham died (April 2, 1803) aged eighty-two, at Burton Pynsett, Somersetshire. She was interred within Westminster Abbey, London. Her children were,

• Lady Hester Pitt (1755 – 1780). She married Charles Stanhope (1753 – 1816), Viscount Mahon (later third Earl of Stanhope) as his first wife and left issue. She was mother of the famous
  traveller and eccentric Lady Hester Stanhope (1776 – 1839).
• John Pitt (1756 – 1835). He succeeded his father as second and last Earl of Chatham (1778 – 1835) and his mother as second Baron Chatham of Chatham (1803 – 1835). He was married to
  Maria Elizabeth Townshend (1762 – 1821) but died without issue.
• Lady Harriet Pitt (1758 – 1786). She became the wife of Hon. Edward James Eliot (1758 – 1797) and left issue.
• Hon. (Honourable) William Pitt the younger (1759 – 1806).
• Captain Hon. Charles Pitt (1761 – 1781). He was a captain in the Royal Navy.

Pitter, Ruth – (1897 – 1992)
British poet
Ruth Pitter was born (Nov 7, 1897) at Ilford in Essex, the daughter of a schoolmaster. She received the Hawthornden Prize for her collection of verses entitled A Trophy of Arms (1936), and was the first woman to ever be awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry (1955). Her Collected Poems (1990) were published shortly before her death. Her other published works included A Trophy of Arms (1936) for which she was awarded the Hawthornden Prize (1937), The Bridge (1945), Pitter on Cats (1946), The Ermine (1953) and End of Drought (1975).

Pitt-Rivers, Rosalind Venetia – (1907 – 1990)
British biochemist and medical researcher
Born Rosalind Henley (March 4, 1907) in London, she studied at Bedford College there. Rosalind was married (1931) to George Pitt-Rivers (died 1966). Rosalind Pitt-Rivers worked with Charles Harington at the National Institute for Medical Research from 1942 and was later appointed as head of the Chemistry Division there (1969 – 1972). Her particular field of research was the thyroid gland, and Pitt-Rivers discovered the thyroid hormone triodothyronine. Rosalind Pitt-Rivers was elected a fellow of the Royal Society (1954). She died (Jan 14, 1990) aged eighty-two.

Pitts, Zasu – (1898 – 1963)
American stage and film actress, and comedienne
Zasu Pitts was born (Jan 3, 1898) in Parsons, Kansas. She was raised in Santa Cruz, California, and made a name for herself as the lead actress in the films Greed (1924) and The Wedding March (1928), directed by Erich von Stroheim (1885 – 1957). She also appeared in Ludwig Berger’s Sins of the Fathers (1928). Apart from two reeler comedies in which she appeared with Thelma Todd in the 1930’s, Pitts made many films, one of her last screen appearances being in It’s a Mad, Mad Mad Mad World (1963). She also worked in television appearing in the popular program Oh Susanna (1956 – 1959). Her second husband (1933) was the tennis champion, John Edward Woodall. ZaSu Pitts died (June 7, 1963) of cancer, aged sixty-five, in Los Angleles, California.

Pix, Mary – (1666 – c1720) 
British dramatist, novelist, and author
Born Mary Griffiths in Oxfordshire, she was the daughter of a clergyman. She was married (1684) to a London merchant, George Pix. Their only child died in infancy. Despite being fluent in English and French literature, Mary Pix had little formal education. Her first play Ibrahim, the Thirteenth Emperour of the Turks (1696) was quickly followed by the novel The Inhuman Cardinal, the comic success The Spanish Wives and Adventures in Madrid (1706). Her plays were produced at the Drury Lane and other theatres in London. With Catherine Trotter she worked with the famous William Congreve, and she was satirized in The Female Wits (1697) as ‘Mrs Wellfed’ a rather artless allusion to her love of good food and wine.

Piyihia – (fl.c 1380 – c1340 BC)
Egyptian princess
Piyihia was the daughter of King Tuthmosis IV and half-sister to King Amenhotep III of the XVIIIth Dynasty (1491 – 1348 BC) and bore the title of ‘King’s Daughter.’ No husband is recorded for her, and she was later rebured at Sheikh el-Qurna during the XXIst Dynasty, probably due to the deprivations of tomb robbers.

Pizarnik, Alejandra – (1936 – 1972)
Argentinian poet
Her work was characterized by mystery and surrealism. The most prominent themes throughout her work are those of death and the loss of innocence. Now regarded as one of the foremost female Latin-American poets of the twentieth century, her best known work was El deseo de la palabra (Desire of the Word) (1975). Alejandra Pizarnik committed suicide.

Pla, Josefina – (1909 – 1999)
Paraguayan pottery specialist and writer
Pla was born at Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands and produced poetic verse, essays and short stories. Her works included El precio de los suenos (1934), Aqui no ha pasado nada (1942), Historia de un numero (1969), Tiempo y tiniebla (1982), Cambiar suenos por sombras (1984) and La muralla robada (1989). Josefina Pla died in Asuncion.

Place, Martha – (1848 – 1899)
American murderess
Martha was born in New Jersey. With the death of her first husband, Savercool, she supported herself as a successful dressmaker. She became the housekeeper and second wife of William Place in New York. She was resented by her stepdaughter Ida, and was not accepted by the Place family. Of an avaricious nature, she was careful to keep her own finances separate and under her own scrutiny. Martha attacked her stepdaughter in her bedroom with carbolic acid and finished her off with an axe several hours later (Feb 7, 1898), sending their maid out on errands so that she would not realize what was afoot. When her husband returned from work that evening she doused the lights and attacked him with the same axe. She then tried to gas herself but was revived, those who found her at first believing her to be a victim as well. However, her husband survived long enough to implicate Martha, who feigned illness in order to remain in hospital before being sent to trial for the double murder. Theodore Roosevelt, the governor of New York, refused her petition for clemency, and she was sentenced to death in Auburn Prison, becoming the first woman ever to be killed in the electric chair (March 20, 1899).

Placencia – (c1050 – after 1088)
Queen consort of Navarre
Her family antecedents remain completely unknown. Placencia was married (c1069) to Sancho IV (1039 – 1076), King of Navarre (1054 – 1076) and bore him two children. The royal couple, styled Sancius rex … cum uxore mee Placentie regine, made several grants of land (1070) and (1071) to the abbey of San Millan de la Cogolla, and to the abbeys of san Miguel de Excelsis, los Santos Cosme y Damian (1074), and San Martin de Albelda (1075). In this same year a surviving charter records that the king and queen jointly granted certains rights to several towns in the Urranci region.
King Sancho was murdered (June 4, 1076) at Penalen, by his brother the Infante Ramon el Fratricida and his sister Ermengarda of Navarre, who literally pushed the king to his death over a cliff. Placencia then became the queen mother of Navarre. Her elder son the Infante Garcia Sanchez had died in infancy, and her younger son Garcia Sanchez was proclaimed the titular king of Navarre. However, Garcia was soon displaced from the throne by Sancho I of Aragon who became king of Navarre in his stead as Sancho V. The former King Garcia was living in Toledo fifteen years afterwards (1091) but left no recorded issue. Queen Placencia appears to have been treated with consideration by the new king and as Placencia regina (April 14, 1088) she confirmed a grant to the monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla.

Placida, Cornelia – (fl. c140 – c170 AD)
Roman patrician
Placida was the daughter of Lucis Stertinius Quintilianus Acilius Strabo Cornelius Rusticus Apronius Senecius Proculus, consul seffect (146 AD) during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138 – 161 AD). She was the sister of an attested Cornelia Procula and of Quintus Cornelius Senecius Proculus, the praetorian legate to Africa. She is attested by a surviving amphora which bears her name and the style clarissima femina.

Placide, Charlotte Sophia – (c1780 – 1823)
British actress
Charlotte Wrighten was the daughter of James Wrighten, a prompter at the Drury Lane Theatre, and his wife the actress and vocalist, Mary Ann Matthews. Charlotte appeared on stage at Drury Lane (1794), and she sang with her sister Mary, beofre they joined their mother in Charleston, South Carolina, in America (1795), where her talent as a singer gained Charlotte some recognition.
Charlotte was married (1796) to the rope dancer and theatrical agent Alexandre Placide (1750 – 1812). The marriage created much sensation at the time, and shock was popularly said to have caused the deaths of both Charlotte’s mother and her sister Mary who both died very soon afterwards. She bore him six children.
Prominent in theatrical circles in Charleston for the next decade, she appeared in roles such as Lady Grace in The Provok’d Husband, Laura in The Musical Surprise, and Lubin in The Bird Catcher, her husband’s own pantomime. Other roles included Maria in The Spoiled Child, Sigismunda in Tancred and Sigismunda, and Colombine in Harlequin Gentlman. Widowed at Long Island (1812), Charlotte continued to sing and perform, and remarried (c1818) the French musician J.C. La Folle, who sometimes conducted her performances. From 1819 Charlotte performed at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Charlotte Placide died (Jan 26, 1823).

Placidia, Aelia Galla      see    Galla Placidia, Aelia

Placidia, Anicia – (442 – after 493 AD)
Roman Augusta (472 AD)
Anicia Placidia was the younger daughter of the emperor Valentinian III (421 – 455 AD) and his wife Licinia Eudoxia, the daughter of the Eastern emperor Theodosius II (408 – 450 AD).
With her widowed mother and elder sister she was taken into captivity by the Vandals, and shared their captivity in Carthage, Africa until they were finally released and permitted to retire to Rome. There she was married to the senator Olybrius, who was elected emperor in 472 AD. He ruled only a few weeks, and Placidia never remarried. She was confirmed in her property as an Imperial widow by Theodosius the Great (493 AD) and died in affluent obscurity. Her only child, Anicia Juliana (463 AD – 528) became the wife of the Byzantine nobleman and officer, Areobindus, who was himself emperor for a single day (512).

Placidina (1) – (fl. 515 – c527)
Gallo-Roman patrician
Placidina was born (c463 AD) and became the wife (c480 AD) of Apollinaris (died 515), who held important office under the Visigothic king Alaric II, and was the daughter-in-law of Sidonius Apollinaris. She was the mother of a son Arcadius. With the aid of her sister-in-law Alcima, Placidina secured the election of her husband as Bishop of Clermont (515), but he died not long afterwards. A decade afterwards her son revolted against Theuderic I, the Merovingian king of Austrasia, and tried to surrender the city of Clermont to the king’s uncle, King Childebert. As a result Theuderic caused Placidina and Alcima to be arrested. Gregory of Tours recorded in his Historia Francorum that their estates were confiscated and the two women exiled.

Placidina (2) – (c520 – c580)
Gallo-Roman patrician
Placidina was born in Auvergne into a senatorial family, the daughter of Arcadius. She was the paternal granddaughter of Apollinaris, Bishop of Clermonr and his wife Placidina, a descendant of the Roman emperor Eparchius Avitus. She became the wife of Leontius (c515 – c570) who was appointed as Bishop of Bordeaux (c545). After this the couple lived as brother and sister, and shared in the building work and restoration work on churches in the diocese. Placidina survived her husband. She was mentioned in the Carmina of the poet Venantius Fortunatus who styled her clarissima femina and praised her for her eloquence. One of his poems was addressed to her.

Placzek, Joyce     see     Struther, Jan

Plaidy, Jean – (1906 – 1993)
British historical novelist
Born Eleanor Hibbert in London, she was educated privately and published her works under various pseudonyms such as ‘Jean Plaidy’ by which she is best known, as well as Philippa Carr and Victoria Holt. Examples of her work include Murder Most Royal (1949), the story of Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, and the highly dramatized life of Mary, Queen of Scots in The Royal Road to Fotheringhay (1955) and Mistress of Mellyn (1960) written as Victoria Holt. She also published the historical trilogy The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition (1959), The Growth of the Spanish Inquisition (1960) and The End of the Spanish Inquisition (1961). Other published works included The Legend of the Seventh Virgin (1965) and The Queen’s Confession (1968) concerning Marie Antoinette, and My Enemy the Queen (1978) which dealt with the rivalry between Elizabeth I and her cousin Lettice Knollys, who ultimately married Robert Dudley, all published under the name Victoria Holt.

Plaisance of Antioch – (1233 – 1261)
Queen consort and regent of Cyprus
Plaisance was the daughter of Bohemond V, Prince of Antioch and his second wife Lucienne di Segni. She became the third wife (1251) of Henry I, King of Cyprus, at whose death (1253) Plaisance was left as regent of Cyprus for their infant son Hugh II (1252 – 1267). The Haute Cour (High Court) of Cyprus confirmed the queen mother in her position, and as the guardian of her son, but the barons of Jerusalem demanded her prescence in person before they would recognize her as titular regent of Jerusalem. By way of arranging this, the queen contemplated remarriage with the powerful Ibelin family, but this was prevented by papal interference (1255).
Queen Plaisance then sent an embassy to the court of Henry III of England proposing a double alliance, that she should marry his second son Edmund, whilst her son Hugh II should marry one of Edmund’s sisters, but these negotiations came to nothing. Queen Plaisance travelled to Acre in Palestine with her son (1258) and saw him officially recognized as heir to the kingdom of Jerusalem, despite the claims of Conradin of Hohenstaufen, and she herself received the baillage of the kingdom. A woman highly esteemed and regarded her early death was much regretted. Her son died ultimately childless (1267) and the throne passed to his cousin Hugh of Antioch.

Plaisance, Sophie de Marbois, Duchesse de – (1785 – 1854)
French-Italian society figure
The duchesse was a noted salon hostess in Naples, where she received such famous persons as the noted British traveller and diarist, Lady Blessington, the Russian amabassadress Princess Lieven, the Prussian statesman Field-Marshall Count Haugwitz, and the French poet and satirist, Jean Francois Casimir Delavigne, amongst others. Known for her unusual and eccentric personality, the duchesse spent the latter part of her life in Athens, Greece. She began building a summer palace on the slopes of Mt Pendeli, which was constructed in the Gothic style. It remained unfinished at her death, and was completed in the 1960’s by the Greek royal family. Her palazzo in Athens was later transformed into the Byzantine Museum.

Plaiz, Margaret de – (1366 – 1391)
English Plantagenet peeress
Margaret was the daughter and heiress of Sir John Plaiz, fifth Baron Plaiz. She became the first wife of Sir John Howard (c1361 – 1438). Lady Margaret became the sixth holder of the feudal barony of Plaiz (1389 – 1391) and at her death (Aug 10/14, 1391) it was inherited by her son John Howard (1384 – 1409) seventh Baron Plaiz who left issue an only daughter, Elizabeth Howard, Countess of Oxford.

Plamnikova, Franciska – (1875 – 1942) 
Czech educator, school inspector and campaigner for women’s rights
Franciska Plamnikova was trained as a schoolteacher and was employed by the government as an inspector of schools before being elected to the city council of Prague in Bohemia (1918). Plamnikova was an avid campaigner for the rights of women and was appointed as vice-chairman of the International Council of Women. Her career in politics continued and she was ultimately elected to the senate (1929). She travelled to Britain (1939) in attempt to get aid for her country against the Nazis, but upon her return she was arrested and interned in concentration camp, where she died.

Plancina, Munatia – (c25 BC – 33 AD)
Roman Imperial courtier and diplomatic figure
Munatia Plancina was either the daughter of granddaughter of Munatius Plancus, consul (42 BC) and sister to Plamcus, consul (13 AD). She became the wife (c8 BC) of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (44 BC – 20 AD), the friend of the emperor Tiberius, and bore him two sons, Lucius Calpurnius Piso (c6 BC – after 57 AD) and Marcus Piso.Her husband disliked Germanicus, the stepson of Tiberius, and viewed his Syrian appointment (17 AD) as an Imperial measure to check that prince’s ambitions, whilst Plancina was the rival of Germanicus’ wife, the elder Agrippina, whose behaviour Plancina emulated by attending parades and cavalry exercises. Her friendship with Livia, the mother of Tiberius is recorded by Tacitus in his Annales. The Parthian prince Vonones enlisted Piso’s aid for his cause and made lavish gifts to Plancina (18 AD), but this resulted in Germanicus having Vonones exiled to Pompeiopolis on the coast of Syria.
With the death of Germanicus (19 AD), his widow Agrippina accused Piso and Plancina of having conspired to murder him, with the assistance of the notorious poisoner Martina, who had visited their house. After the prince’s funeral Martina was arrested on a charge of complicity and was sent to Rome whilst a case for murder was being arranged. When Piso was first brought to trial Plancina stood by him, but when it became clear that all was lost, she deserted him and threw herself upon the mercy of Livia, and asked that her trial be conducted seperately from Piso. Her own trial lasted two days and Tiberius interceded on her behalf, stating that he did so at the request of his mother. Piso committed suicide shortly afterwards (20 AD) and completely exonerated his sons. Plancina survived for another thirteen years, but the death of Livia (29 AD) followed by that of Agrippina (33 AD) left her exposed and friendless and she was finally forced to commit suicide. As Tacitus recorded ‘Now that her patroness and her enemy (Agrippina) were both gone, justice prevailed. Charged with her notorious offences, Plancina met by her own hand her well-deserved, overdue end.’

Plangon – (c404 – c350 BC)
Greek patrician matron
Plangon was the daughter of Pamphilus, a wealthy citizen and general of Athens. She was married to a nobleman named Minas with a substantial dowry. When her father was disgraced because of embezzlement, the family was ruined and Minas divorced her (388 BC), shortly before, or soon after, the birth of a child. Plangon was left destitute as Minas refused to either acknowledge their infant son Biotus, or hand back any of her dowry, though some may have been confiscated along with her father’s estates. Despite this, after Minas was remarried, Plangon returned to him as his mistress, and bore him a second son, Pamphilus. When he refused to acknowlege this child also, Plangon instituted legal proceedings on behalf of her sons. After a time she offerred Minas a settlement, which included the payment of a decent allowance to her her, whilst their sons would be formally adopted by her own brother. However during the court proceedings, she refused to deny Minas was the father of her sons, and he finally agreed, fearing embarassing repercussions to his political career if the suit should be prolonged. Both of Plangon’s sons thus became citizens of Athens and became heirs to a wealthy estate.

Plania – (fl. c40 – c30 BC)
Roman literary muse
Plania was the mistress of the elegiac poet Tibullus. She inspired sections of his Amores under the pseudonym ‘Delia.’

Planissolles, Beatrice de – (c1279 – after 1321)
French heretic
The chatellain of the town of Montaillou, she was married as young woman to a young lord but was left a widow without children prior to 1308. She then became the mistress of the village priest with the connivance of her maidservant, and she fornicated with the priest on the altar of the church. This relationship went on for some time before the priest removed his attentions to other female members of his flock. When the Inquisitors investigated Catharism in the town Beatrice was summoned before them to explain her heresy. She pleaded innocence and was released in order to reappear. She was apprehended with her maid as they were attempting to flee the town and a more stringent interrogation took place. Beatrice admitted to her relationship with the priest and it was deemed that he had led her into heresy and lewd behaviour. The Inquisitor ordered Beatrice and her servant to be kept in prison for a year on a diet of bread and water before being released, and they had to wear the yellow cross as a sign of their heresy.

Planta, Margaret (Peggy) – (1744 – 1827)  
British courtier
Margaret Planta was the daughter of Andreas Planta, a London clergyman. With the death of her elder sister Frederica (1778), Margaret succeeded her as governess to the daughters of George III, a post she retained for over thirty years. Margaret Planta received mention in the letters of her royal charges, and in the correspondence of the Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent. Planta resigned her post due to age (1811) and was granted a pension of one hundred pounds annually from Queen Charlotte. During her later years she resided in the household of Princess Augusta at Frogmore.

Plantagenet, Anne    see   Anne of York

Plantagenet, Antigone – (d. after 1450)
English aristocrat
Antigone Plantagenet was the illegitimate daughter of Prince Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and was thus the granddaughter of Henry IV (1399 – 1413). Her father’s mistress, Eleanor de Cobham, who later became his second wife, has sometimes been stated to have been Antigone’s mother, but this identification is false. For the sum of eight hundred pounds, Duke Humphrey was granted control (1424) of the marital arrangements for Henry Grey (1419 – 1450), Earl of Tancarville, whom the duke married to Antigone in the same year.
Her personal coats of arms consisted of ‘Quarterly, France and Modern and England within a bordure agent over all a bastian azure,’ impaled with those of her husband, whose arms were ‘Gules, a lion rampart within a bordure engraved agent.’ Antigone bore her husband an only son, Sir Richard Grey (c1437 – 1466), who did not inherit the earldom of Tancarville. He was married to Margaret Audley and left descendants. Antigone was remarried to a French lord, Jean d’Amancier, but no further details of her life are recorded.

Plantagenet, Catherine – (1470 – 1484)
English Yorkist royal
Catherine Plantagenet was born (April 1, 1470) at Nottingham Castle, the illegitimate daughter of Richard of York, Duke of Gloucester and an unknown mistress. She was the granddaughter of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and his wife Cecilia Neville, and was niece to Edward IV and Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. Catherine and her brother John of Pontefract (died c1499) were raised at Sherriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire. When the Duke of Gloucester assumed the protectorship for the young Edward V (May, 1483) Catherine was brought to London by Richard’s wife Anne Neville, where Richard publicly acknowledged Catherine and John as his natural children.
Catherine became the second wife of Sir William Herbert (1460 – 1492), Earl of Huntingdon, whose first wife had been Mary Woodville, sister to Queen Elizabeth Woodville. Lord Huntingdon had contracted to marry ‘Dame Catherine Plantagenet’ (Feb 29, 1484) promising to provide her with a jointure in lands to the sum of two hundred pounds annually, whilst her father, now King Richard III, promised to settle towns and lordships upon them to the value of one thousand marks and the heirs male of their bodies, receiving this stipend from the lordships of Newport, Brackneck and Haliz. They were married (after March 3) but the young countess had died (before Dec, 1484) aged only fourteen. Sources which name Catherine as the legitimate daughter of Richard III and Queen Anne Neville are incorrect.

Plantagenet, Frances – (c1516 – before 1598)
English Tudor noblewoman
Frances Plantagenet was the eldest daughter of Sir Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, and his first wife Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle of Kingston Lisle. The letter writer Honor Greville, Lady Lisle was her stepmother. Through her father Frances was the granddaughter of King Edward IV and his mistress Elizabeth Lucy. Frances was married firstly to John Basset (1518 – 1541), the son of her stepmother by her first marriage with Sir John Basset of Devonshire. Frances bore Basset two children, Sir Arthur Basset (1541 – 1586) whom she survived, and a daughter. Through her second marriage with Thomas Monk, of Potheridge, Devon, Frances was the great-grandmother of George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, the famous Royalist general and supporter of King Charles II. Of her two younger sisters, Elizabeth Plantagenet (died before 1598) became the wife of Sir Francis Jobson and left issue, whilst Bridget Plantagenet (died after 1559) became the wife of William Carden, of Kent.

Plantagenet, Honor    see   Lisle, Honor Grenville, Lady

Plante, Ada May – (1875 – 1950)
New Zealand-Australian painter
Ada Plante came to Melbourne, Victoria as a child, and later studied art at the National Gallery School there. She travelled to England and Paris for further artistic instruction, and her own post-impressionist style was influenced by that of the Australian painter William Frater. Plante was a co-founder of the Melbourne Contemporary Art Group (1932) and later shared a home with fellow painter Christina Asquith Baker, at Research in Victoria. Examples of her work were preserved in the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Queensland Art Gallery.

Platen, Clara Elizabeth von Meisenburg, Countess von – (1648 – 1700)
German courtier and royal mistress
Countess Clara von Meisenburg was born (Jan 14, 1648) in France, the daughter of Karl Philipp, Count von Meisenburg. She attended the court of Louis XIV, and in the family later attached themselves to the service of the ducal court of Hanover (1672). At Hanover Clara married (1674) Franz Ernst von Platen (1631 – 1709) councillor to duke Ernst Augustus, whilst she became a dame du palais (lady-in-waiting) to his wife Sophia. Quickly becoming the duke’s mistress, Clara retained her position as the official mistress till the duke’s death (1698). Unpopular and politically powerful, Clara was much feared at the court of Hanover. During the state visit of the Russian tsar Peter the Great and his entourage, the countess was much admired by him and his courtiers. She was involved with the disgrace of the Crown princess Sophie Dorothea, and the death of her lover Count Philip von Konigsmarck (1694). Clara was considered responsible for the count’s mysterious disappearance and death. With the death of the elector, his son George Louis (George I) forced Clara to retire from the court to her palace of Monplaisir in Hanover. Before her death there (Jan 30, 1700) at the age of fifty-two, which was reputedly caused by syphilis, she became blind. Countess von Platen was rather magnificently portrayed in the film Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) by Dame Flora Robson.

Platen, Sophia Caroline Eva Antoinette von Offeln, Countess von – (1669 – 1726)
German courtier and royal mistress
Sophia Eva von Offeln was the daughter of Jobst Moritz von Offeln, and official and nobleman of the Hanoverian court, and his wife Anna Sabina von Schilder. She was married (1697) to Ernst Augustus, Count von Platen, the illegitimate half-brother of the elector George Louis of Hanover. Her husband’s sister, Charlotte Sophia von Kielsmansegg was the mistress of the elector, as did Countess Platen after the divorce of the prince from his wife. This countess von Platen is not to be confused with the Countess Clara von Platen who was mistress of the Elector Ernst Augustus, who was also mistress to Count von Konigmarck, the two women shared the same name, nothing more. The countess remained the prince’s mistress, but when he became George I of England (1714) she refused to accompany him to London. As a Roman Catholic, she was well aware of the feelings of the British towards popery, she decided to remain at the court in Hanover. There she entertained the king during his many periodic visits to his former court. She predeceased her royal lover by six months. Countess von Platen died (Jan 23, 1726) aged fifty-six.

Plater, Emilija – (1806 – 1831) 
Lithuanian solder
Emilija Plater was born in Vilnius. Emilija learned how to handle weapons at an early age. She plotted to seize the garrison town of Daugavpils in Latvia from the Russians, but was defeated and she then joined a rebel guerilla unit and was present at the siege of Ukmerge. Plater was appointed as captain of her own military regiment, and narrowly escaped capture at the battle of Kaunas. After sufferring another defeat at Siaulenai she attempted to reach Poland disguised as a peasant woman, but died of illness at Justinava, near Kapciamiestis.

Plath, Sylvia – (1932 – 1963) 
American poet and dramatist
Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts (Oct 27, 1932), the daughter of a German immigrant biologist, and was educated at Smith College, where she won a Fulbright scholarship which enabled her to study at Newnham College at Cambridge University in England. There she was married (1956) to the poet Ted Hughes (1930 – 1988). The couple later seperated (1962) and Sylvia committed suicide (Feb 11, 1963) at the age of thirty, by placing her head in a gas oven. Their daughter was Frieda Hughes (born 1960) the children’s author and poet, whilst their son Nicholas Hughes (1961 – 2009) who became a noted ecologist and marine biologist and academic at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, later suffered from depression and committed suicide.
Plath’s work is remarkable for the personal and emotional pain which is revealed, and included such works as The Colossus (1960) and Ariel (1965) which was published posthumously and contained the poem ‘Nick and the Candlesticks’ written for her infant son. Her Collected Poems (1981) won her a posthumous Pulitzer Prize. Sylvia Plath produced the autobiographical novel The Bell Jar (1963) shortly before her death, which was published under the pseudonym of Victoria Lucas. Her Collected Poems (1981) were published posthumously by Ted Hughes and were awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1982).

Plathane – (fl. c400 – c370 BC)
Greek matron
Plathane was married firstly to the sophist, Hippias of Elis, to whom she bore three sons. With his early death, she was remarried to the famous Attic orator, Isokrates (436 – 338 BC). When the family lost their wealth due to the exigencies of the Peloponnesian War, Isokrates supported them all, and later formally adopted Plathane’s second son Aphareus, who became a poet.

Plato, Ann – (fl. c1841) 
Black American essayist and poet
Ann Plato was born free and resided in Hartford, Connecticut, and her literary efforts were supported by James Pennington, a physician and a former slave himself. Her collection of poems and and essays was only the second volume of verse to be published by a coloured woman in the USA.

Plato, Dana – (1964 – 1999)
American child actress
Dana Plato was born in Maywood, California. She appeared in two early television films Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975) and Return to Boggy Creek (1977) before gaining her best remembered role as Kimberley Drummond in the popular television comedy Diff’rent Strokes (1978 – 1984). However, her early success did not continue and though she made several more feature films, she never again regained her former childhood success. Plato later appeared in the media after committing a video store robbery and forging medical prescriptions. She committed suicide by taking an overdose.

Platonis, Aelia – (fl. c130 – c160 AD) 
Roman patrician
Aelia Platonis was the wife of Tiberius Claudius Agrippinus, who served as a senator during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (117 – 138 AD), and then held public office under Antoninus Pius (138 – 161 AD). Platonis was related to Aelius Aristodemus, the son of Licinnius Marcius Thoantianus Longus, who held the civic office of lysiarch (127 AD). She and her husband are commemorated by a surviving inscription from the family mausoleum in Rhodiopolitana, and by a second inscription from Lycia. Platonis was the mother of Tiberius Claudius Dryantianus Antoninus, and of a daughter, Claudia Ammiana Dryantilla, who became the wife of Sulpicius Pollio. Through her daughter, she was the great-grandmother of Sulpicia Dryantilla, the wife of the Emperor Regalianus.

Plautia Quinctilia    see   Quinctilia, Plautia

Plautia Urgulanilla    see   Urgulanilla, Plautia

Plautilla – (fl. c250 – 257 AD)
Roman Christian sympathizer
Plautilla was not a Christian but was moved by their courage and bravery. She claimed the corpses and arranged for proper burial be given for the sister martyrs Rufina and Secunda, daughter of senator Asterius, during the persecution of the emperor Valerian I in the mid-third century. Plautilla, perhaps a relative of the women, had them interred along the Via Aurelia outside Rome. Pope Julius I later caused the church of Sante Rufina e Secunda to be erected over their tomb.

Plautilla, Publia Fulvia – (c188 – 212 AD)
Roman Augusta (202 – 205 AD)
Publia Fulvia Plautilla was the daughter of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, praetorian prefect under the Emperor Septimius Severus (193 – 211 AD). Through the intrigues of her father she was married to Carcalla, the emperor’s son (202 AD) as part of the decennalia celebrations of that year, when the couple were accorded the Imperial title, she being represnted by surviving coinage. Carcalla however, hated Plautilla as low-born and dissolute, and their marriage remained unconsummated. Herodian stated that Carcalla refused to sleep, or even eat with her. Her father was eventually murdered in the Imperial place by Caracalla (Jan, 205 AD), and only the emperor’s intervention saved Plautilla’s life. She and her brother were banished to the island of Liprona. Her statues were destroyed and her name erased form public monuments. With the accession of Caracalla, he had them both put to death.

Player, Mary Josephine – (1857 – 1924)
New Zealand welfare worker and social reformer
Mary Crampton was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, the daughter of a shoesmith. She possessed only rudimentary Catholic education and arrived in Wellington aboard the Woodlark as an indentured servant (1874). She was married to Edward Player (1877), an English Protestant, to whom she bore six children who were raised as Catholic. Mrs Player worked as a midwife and became a member of the Wellington Ladies’ Christian Association. She founded the WSPL (Women’s Social and Political League) (1894) and served as the first president of that organization. She spoke publicly concerning educational and financial matters and was closely concerned with the welfare of domestic servants.
Mrs Player reported the activites of the WSPL in the Daybreak publication in Wellington but rivalries within the WSPL soon caused her to resign as president (1895). Left in straitened circumstances at the death of her husband (1905) Mrs Player was then employed as an invalid nurse in order to provide for her children. Mary Josephine Player later committed suicided by drowning (Jan 5, 1924) aged sixty-six, at Atawhai near Nelson.

Pleasant, Mary Ellen – (1814 – 1904)
Black American slave and business entrepreneur
Popularly known as ‘Mammy Pleasant,’ she was born into a slave family in the South, but had gained her freedom, and was a wealthy widow when she made her first appearance in California (1850). Pleasant established herself as the owner-manager of a boarding house, and invested her money wisely, making great profits from this, by lending cash at rather exhorbitant rates, and by providing financial advice for other investors. She is said to have made the enormous contribution of thirty thousand dollars towards John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry (1859). When she was refused the right to use the public streetcars in San Francisco because she was coloured, Mammy successfully sued the company (1864). Her success however, invited envy, and throughout her career she was plagued by ill-founded rumours that she dabbled in black magic and poison.

Plectrude – (c659 – after 717)
Carolingian ruler
Plectrudis was the daughter of the Austrasian count Hugobert, and his wife Irmina, the granddaughter of the Merovingian king Dagobert I. She married (c675) to the Arnulfing Pepin II of Heristal, to whom she bore two sons, Grimoald and Drogo, and to which family she brought a large dowry. Pepin had an illegitimate son, Charles Martel, born to him through a liasion with a concubine (676) and Plectrude spent decades poisoning Pepin’s mind against Charles, in order to protect the dynastic succession of her own, legitimate, male offspring.
With Pepin’s death (714) Plectrude ruled briefly as regent in the name of her young grandson Theudebald, whom she had persuaded Pepin to name as his successor on his deathbed. She took possession of Pepin’s treasure as a means of establishing her position and financing her dynastic schemes. However, the fact of her sex, combined with her own rather harsh and domineering manner made Plectrude a highly unpopular ruler, and her more popular and strongly supported stepson Charles was quickly able to undermine her position.  The kingdom of Neustria refused outright to acknowledge her rule, and she was forced to relinquish power to Charles (717).
Plectrude remained unharmed, but was forced to retire from the court to the Abbey of St Marie, at Chelles, near Paris, where she died very soon afterwards. With her late husband Plectrude had richly endowed (706) the church of Echternach, in Luxemburg, founded by St Willibrord, and the couple had jointly granted (714) to Willibrord the monastery and estate of Suestra.

Pledge, Sarah – (c1710 – 1752)
British murderess
Sarah Plege was a widow resident in Horsham who took in one James Whale and his young wife Anne as lodgers. She made sexual advances to Whale which he rebuffed, but then formed a lesbian relationship with Mrs Whale. The two women planned James Whale’s death, and after placing dead and roasted spiders in his beer, which only made him ill, they poisoned him with arsenic. Both women were arrested, Anne Whale confessing to the crime, whilst Mrs Pledge refused and was dragged screaming imprecations from the courtroom. She repented her crime before the two women were publicly hanged at Horsham (Aug 14, 1752).

Plelo, Louise Francoise Phelypaux, Comtesse de – (1708 – 1737)
French courtier
A member of the court of Louis XV at Versailles, Louise Phelypaux was married to Louis Robert de Brehan, Comte de Plelo (1699 – 1734), whom she briefly survived. The comtesse is mentioned in the correpondence of the English antiquarian, Horace Walpole, who met her and her husband in Parisian society. Her daughter Elisabeth de Brehan Plelo, became the wife of Emanuel Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, fifth Duc d’Aigullon (1720 – 1788).

Plender, Mabel Agnes Laurie, Lady – (1887 – 1970)
British volunteer activist
Mabel Laurie was the daughter of Peter Laurie, of Brentwood, Essex. She was married firslty (1910) to George Stevens (died 1932), of London, and secondly (1932) to the first Baron Plender.
During the Great War Mrs Stevens served with the volunteer nursing brigade and received the Order of Mercy and was appointed DG.St.J (Dame of Grace of St John of Jerusalem) in recognition of that service. Her husband died in 1946, but Lady Plender continued to be involved with various worthy causes, such as the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) and was a member of the council of Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund as well as the vice-president of the Royal Society of St George. Lady Plender died (June 12, 1970) in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Pleshette, Suzanne – (1937 – 2008)
American atage, film and television actress
Suzanne Pleshette was born (Jan 31, 1937) in New York, the daughter of a stage manager and the dancer and artist Geraldine Rivers. She attended school in Manhattan before studying at Syracuse University, where she trained as a method actress. Pleshette appeared on stage in several productions, but most notably in the role of Anne Sullivan, the teacher of the blind Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1959), successfully replacing Anne Bancroft in that role. She made several film appearances such the librarian in Rome Adventure (1962), the unfortunate schoolteacher in The Birds (1963) by Alfred Hitchcock, the nymphomaniac in A Rage to Live (1965), and appeared in Nevada Smith (1966) opposite Steve McQueen.
Suzanne Pleshette made appearances in several television shows and was especially popular as Emily Hartley in The Bob Newhart Show (1972 – 1978), for which she was nominated four times for Emmy Awards. She later famously portrayed the notorious hotelier, Leona Helmsley in The Queen of Mean (1990). Her first husband (1964) was the actor Troy Donahue (1936 – 2001) and her third (2001) was the actor and comedian Tom Poston (1927 – 2007). Suzanne Pleshette died (Jan 19, 2008) aged seventy, in Los Angeles, California.

Pless, Daisy Cornwallis-West, Princess von – (1873 – 1943)
Anglo-German courtier and memoirist
Born Mary Theresa Cornwallis-West (June 28, 1873), at Ruthin Castle, in Denbighshire, she was the elder daughter of William Cornwallis-West (1835 – 1917), and his wife Mary Fitzpatrick (1856 – 1920), the granddaughter of Thomas Taylour, first Marquess of Headfort. Her brother was George Cornwallis-West (1874 – 1951) who became the second husband of the American heiress Jennie Jerome, the widow of Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill, and stepfather to the future prime minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Popularly known as Daisy, she was married (1891) in London, to a German prince, Hans Heinrich XV, Prince von Pless (1861 – 1938), to whom she bore several children including Hans Heinrich XVII (1900 – 1984), fourth Prince of Pless, and Alexander (1905 – 1984), who briefly succeeded his brother as fifth Prince. Princess Daisy was a friend to the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) and Princess Alexandra, and attended the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II in Berlin. The Kaiser admired her hour-glass figure but not her habit of writing about court life. During WW I she worked as a military nurse, and used her influence at court to try and mediate to achieve peace. She was divorced from her husband (1923) and left several volumes of personal memoirs including From My Private Diary (1926), Princess Daisy of Pless by Herself (1929) and What I Left Unsaid (1936). Her diaries are interesting but also somewhat vapid and inaccurate. Princess Daisy von Pless died (June 29, 1943) the day after her seventieth birthday.

Plesseys-Gassault, Eremburge du – (fl. 1275)
French nun
Eremburge became a nun at the Abbey of Maubuisson in Normady. Finding herself unsuited to such a life she decided to leave the religious life maintinaing that it was her fear of man that had made her take her original vows and not because of religious piety. The religious authorities maintained that she had been of legal age to make such a decision but Eremnurge countered that her youth at the time should be considered. Eventually a compromise was agreed upon and the abbey retained a portion of her dower whilst Eremburge was free to depart with the rest of her property (1275).

Plessis, Alphonsine – (1824 – 1847) 
French courtesan and literary figure
Born Marie Duplessis to a poor family at Saint-Germain-de-Clairfeuille in Normandy, she was the daughter of a drunkard. She was variously employed as a domestic servant, a laundress and a child prostitute. Marie Plessis later gained diplomats and aristocrats as her patrons and became a member of the fashionable society in Paris (1842). She established her own salon in Paris, which attended by Lola Montez and the composer Franz Liszt amongst other literary figures. She was later married to the Comte de Perregaux in Kensington, London (1846), who loved her, and died of tuberculosis the following year (Feb, 1847). Famous for always wearing a corsage of camellias, her life formed the basis of the character Margeurite Gauthier ‘La Dame aux Camelias’ created by Alexandre Dumas the younger (1852). Her career was also the inspiration for Giuseppe Verdi’s libretto for the famous opera La Traviata (1853).

Plessis-Belliere, Suzanne de Bruc de Monplaisir, Marquise du – (1608 – 1705)
French courtier and society figure
Suzanne de Bruc was the wife of the noted soldier, Jacques de Rouge (1602 – 1654), Marquis du Plessis-Belliere. She enjoyed the protection of Cardinal Mazarin, and established her own salon at Charenton. The marquise established her famous salon in Paris and entertained both artists and statesmen. She founded the chivalric order known as the ‘Etat incarnadin’ of which Nicolas Fouquet (1615 – 1680), the famous minister of Louis XIV, served as lieutenant-general, and with whom she had a close relationship with Fouquet.Well over two dozen rhymes and verses were written to console the duchesse after the death of her favourite pet parrot. With Fouquet’s arrest the duchesse was placed under house arrest for several years (1661 – 1665). The character of Elise in Alexandre Dumas’ novel Le Vicomte de Bragelonne (1850) was based on Madame du Plessis-Belliere’s life.

Plessis-Guenegaud, Elisabeth de Choiseul-Praslin, Comtesse de – (c1623 – 1677)
French salonniere
Elisabeth de Choiseul-Praslin was the daughter of the Marechal de Praslin and cousin to the Bishop of Comminges. Elisabeth was married (1642) to Comte Henri du Plessis-Guenegaud (1609 – 1676), who served as secretary of State under Louis XIV. Madame du Plessis-Guenegaud established a popular salon at her Paris home, the Hotel de Nevers, and also at their country estates at Fresnes, which had been designed by the architect, Francois Mansard (the chateau no longer exists).
The comtesse was a supporter of the Jansensists of the abbey of Port-Royal, and was a close friend of the Abbe Testu. She was a close friend of Simon Arnaud, marquis de Pomponne (1618 – 1699), and the two corresponded whilst he was serving as French ambassador at the Swedish court (1665 – 1669) and at The Hague (1669 – 1671). Beautiful, elegant, and intelligent, her salon attracted many famous contemporary figures such as the Duc de La Rochefoucauld, the Comtesse de Lafayette, Madame de Sable, and the Marquise de Sevigne, amongst others. Madamoiselle de Scudery gave her poetic name ‘Clelie’ and Cardinal Mazarin is said to have sent a messanger to the comtesse (1660), asking her to refrain from undermining his position through her political and social connections.

Pleurre, Adelaide de – (c1115 – after 1164)
French heiress
Also called Alix in some sources, Adelaide de Pleurre was the daughter of Manasses de Pleurre, seigneur of Arcis-sur-Aube in Champagne, and of his unnamed wife, heiress of that seigneurie, the daughter if Jean, vicomte de Mareuil. Adelaide was married twice, firstly (c1130) to Elie, seigneur de Montmirail, to whom she bore children, and secondly (c1140), to Anseric I, Seigneur de Montreal (c1115 – c1180), the seneschal of Burgundy. Both her husbands held Arcis-sur-Aube in her right. Adelaide appears in surviving charters with her second husband in 1160 and 1164, together with their two eldest sons and their daughter. The historian Alberic de Trois-Fontaines in his Chronica calls Adelaide the ancestress of the seigneurs of Pleurs, Montmirail, Montreal, and Arcis-sur-Aube. With her death Arcis passed to Jean de Montreal, her grandson by her second husband.

Plewman, Eliane – (1917 – 1944)
French-Anglo special agent and Resistance heroine
Born Eliane Bronwe-Batroli in Marseilles, she was educated in England, after which she worked for an import company in Leicester. With the outbreak of WW II she was employed by the British embassies in Madrid and in Lisbon before returning to England where she worked in the Spanish section of the Minitry of Information. She was married to Tom Plewman, a British military officer. Eliane Plewman joined the SOE (Special Operations Executive) and was parachuted into France to join the Resistance movement there. When the group was betrayed to the Germans Plewman was arrested (March, 1944). She was interrogated by the Gestapo and then sent to the prison of Fresnes. Two months later she and three other female agents were sent to Karlsbad in Germany, and from there to the prison camp at Dachau. Eliane Plewman was shot dead there by the Nazis (Sept 11, 1944).

Pleydell-Bouverie, Katherine – (1895 – 1985) 
British pottery specialist and designer
Katherine studied design in London at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and then at St Ives in Cornwall with the noted potter Bernard Leach (1887 – 1979). Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie produced stoneware at her own pottery which she established at Coleshill, Wiltshire and experimented with various types of ash glaze. She later established an oil-fired kiln at Kilmington, near Warminster (1946).

Pleyel, Marie Felicite Denise – (1811 – 1875)
French concert pianist and composer
Born Marie Moke in Paris (July 4, 1811), she studied music under Jacques Herz and Frederic Kalkbrenner. Marie appeared as a soloist in Brussels at the age of fourteen (1825), and toured Germany, Austria, Belgium, and Russia, with great success in the following year. Hector Berlioz fell in love with her, but she married instead to the pianist, composer and piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel (1788 – 1855). The couple seperated in 1835 and Marie made a second financially successful European tour. Madame Pleyel was a professor of piano at the Brussels Conservatory for nearly twenty-five years (1848 – 1872). Marie Pleyel died (March 30, 1875) aged sixty-three, at St-Josse-ten-Noode, near Brussels.

Plievier, Hildegard – (1900 – 1970)
German actress and author
Hildegard was born (Feb 8, 1900) at Konigschutte. She was married firstly to Ernst Piscator, a theatre manager in Berlin, and secondly to the author Theodor Plievier (1892 – 1955). Plievier published the novel Meine Hunde und ich (My Dogs and I) (1957) and published her autobiography Flucht nach Tashkent (Fleeing to Taschkent) (1960). Hildegard Plievier died (April 23, 1970) aged seventy, at Munich, Bavaria.

Plinia Caecilia Secunda – (c40 – c90 AD)
Roman patrician
Plinia Caecilia Secunda was a member of the noble Plinii gens, who owned estates and property in the district of Novum Comum (Como) in Cisalpine Gaul. She became the wife of Lucius Caecilius Cilo of Comum, and was the mother of the famous courtier, diplomat and letter writer, Gaius Plinius Lucius Secundus (61 – 113 AD), better known to history as Pliny the Younger.
From the fact that Pliny mentions nothing about his father, and from information gleaned from a surviving inscription, which records his father’s bequests to two sons and a concubine, Lutulla, it can be inferred that Plinia and Lucius seperated and that their son resided with her, until her husband’s death (71 AD), when Verginius Rufus became his guardian.
During the famous eruption of Mt Vesuvius (79 AD), Plinia and her son were residing at Misenum, on the Bay of Naples, where Plinia’s brother, the elder Pliny, was in command of the fleet. The elder Pliny was killed when tried to get close to observe the phenomenon, but Plinia and her son escaped the town on foot. At one stage she felt she could go no further, and begged her son to leave her behind, and save his own life, but Pliny refused to abandon his mother, and eventually brought her to safety. His uncle’s death during the catastrophe left the younger Pliny as his sole heir, he being adopted by will as the latter’s son.

Plisson, Marie Prudence – (1727 – 1788)
French poet and writer
Marie Plisson was born in Chartres and was mainly self-educated. She studied midwifery and established her own practice in Paris. She wrote the two short stories La Promenade de province (Provincial Walk) and Les Voyages d’Oromasis (The Travels of Oromasis) both published in 1783. Marie Plisson produced a collection of moralist maxims and essays concerning illegitimacy and childbirth, as well as two volumes of verse entitled Ode sur la vie champetre (Ode to Country Life) (1750) and Stances a une amie (Stanzas to a Friend) (1753).

Plochl, Anna Maria Josephine – (1804 – 1885)
Austrian courtier and morganatic royal
Anna Plochl was born (Jan 9, 1804) at Bad Ausee, the daughter of Jakob Plochl, the postmaster of that town, and his wife Maria Anna Pilz. She attracted the attention of the Hapsburg Archduke Johann Baptist (1782 – 1859) and he desired to marry her.  They were married secretly (Sept 3, 1823) and when it became known to the Imperial family several years they were remarried at Brandhof, near Mariazell (Feb 18, 1827) to ensure the legality of the union in law. The Imperial family did not recognize the marriage and it was regarded as morganatic.
The Emperor Franz II created Anna the Baroness von Brandhofen (1834) and his successor Ferdinand I created her Countess von Meran (1844). Her only son Franz Ludwig Johann Baptist (1839 – 1891) bore the joint titles of Count von Meran and Baron von Brandhofen and served as an Imperial Privy Councillor and Chamberlain. Widowed in 1859 Anna survived the archduke for over twenty-five years. Anna Plochl died (Aug 5, 1885) aged eighty-one, at Bad Ausee.

Plonnies, Luise von – (1803 – 1872)
German writer, lyricist, and translator
Luise von Plonnies was born in Hanau, and was raised in the home of her maternal grandfather at Darmstadt, in Hesse, after the early deaths of her parents. Well educated in languages, her particular talent lay in the translation of English lyric works. Plonnies joined the Catholic literary circle of Eduard Duller in Darmstadt, and her religious faith is reflected in her written works.
Her work concerning the Flemish culture Die Sagen Belgiens (The Sages of Belgium) (1846) led to her being named a member of the Royal Academy in Brussels, and those of Ghent and Antwerp.
Her written works included Die Kinder in Walde, nach dem Englischen frei bearbeitet (1838), Abalard und Heloise, Ein Sonetten kranz (1849), Neue Gedichte (1851), Maryken von Nymwegen (1853), Die heilige Elizabeth (1870) and Sagen und Legenden nebst einem Anhang vermischter Gedichte (1874). Luise von Plonnies (Jan 22, 1872) aged sixty-eight, at Darmstadt.

Plotina, Pompeia – (c59 – 123 AD)
Roman Augusta
Pompeia Plotina may have been a native of Nemausus in Gaul, or a relative of Pompeius Planta, governor of Egypt (98 AD). She was married (c78 AD) to Trajan (53 – 117 AD), who became emperor on the death of Nerva (98 AD). They remained childless.Plotina accompanied her husband to Rome from Germany whn he received the Imperial title from the Senate (99 AD) and was considered a model of the womanly virtues. She refused the title of Augusta when it was first offerred (100 AD), but later accepted it, as did her sister-in-law, Marciana.
During Trajan’s absence to queel a revolt in Dacia (100 – 103 AD), the empress remained in Rome. She was honoured on the coinage from 112 AD and later accompanied him on his Parthian campaign (117 AD). Trajan sufferred a stroke and died in Syria (Aug 9, 117 AD). The empress kept his death secret until the accession of the emperor’s nephew, Hadrian, could be safely accomplished then returned to Rome with her husband’s ashes. Dio Cassius and Spartianus accuse Plotina of being in love with Hadrian. Plotina was consecrated as a goddess at her death, and was honoured with at least two temples, one in the Forum, and the other at Nimes (Nemausus). She was represented on surviving coinage.

Ploutogenia – (fl. c290 – 298 AD)
Graceo-Roman letter writer
Ploutogenia resided at Philadelphia in the Fayum district in Egypt with her husband Paniskos and daughter Heliodora. An archive discovered there revealed seven letters written by Paniskos to Ploutogenia during his six-month absence from Philadelphia, on a trip to Koptos in the Thebaid, perhaps for military or business reasons. Ploutogenia’s daughter, their only child, was named for her own mother who was still living, and her husband in one of his letters, advises her of a visit he made to her sister and family in Koptos whilst he was away. In another letter Paniskos advises Ploutogenia to come to him and bring his military accoutrements (June, 297 BC) but it remains unlikely that this request was carried out. One of the seven letters was written by Ploutogenia herself, though probably dictated to a scribe, and is addressed to her mother, whilst she herself has been on an extended trip to Alexandria. The letter indicates a domestic rift between the two women, perhaps due to a projected marriage for one of Ploutogenia’s sisters, and she complains that her mother has not returned her letter sfor eight months.

Plowden, Alison Margaret Chichele – (1931 – 2007)
British historian, biographer and author
Alison Plowden was born (Dec 18, 1931) at Quetta in India, and was employed as a scriptwriter and editor for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), and received the Writers’ Guild Award for her television biopic Mistress of Hardwick (1972) which dealt with the life of Bess Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury. Plowden later gave up her career at the BBC in order to devote herself to writing. Her published works included The House of Tudor (1976), The Young Elizabeth (1971), Danger to Elizabeth (1973) and Two Queens in One Isle (1984) which concerned the relationship between Elizabeth Tudor and Mary Stuart. Other works included Stuart Princesses (1996) and Women all on Fire: The Women of the English Civil War (1998). She also published biographies of Queen Henrietta Maria (2001), the wife of Charles I, and of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (2008), which was published posthumously. She remained unmarried. Alison Plowden died (Aug 17, 2007) aged seventy-five.

Plowden, Bridget Horatia Richmond, Lady – (1907 – 2000)
British educator
Bridget Richmond was the second daughter of Admiral Sir Henry Richmond, and his wife Elsa Bell. She was educated at Downe House, and was later married (1933) to Edwin Noel Plowden, who was created a life peer as Baron Plowden of Plowden (1959), to whom she bore four children. Lady Plowden was the first woman to act as chairman for the Central advisory Council for Education (1963 – 1966) and was later chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (1975 – 1980). She was author of the report which dealt with the relationship between primary school children and their own social backgrounds, Children and Their Primary Schools (1967).
For over four decades (1945 – 1988) Lady Plowden served as the chairman of the Mary Feilding Guild, which was formerly the Working Ladies Guild. Lady Bridget served on the board of governors of various schools and educational facilities such as the Philippa Fawcett College of Education (1967 – 1976) and the Robert Montefiore Comprehensive School (1968 – 1978). In recognition of her contribution to education she was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1972). Her son William Plowden (born 1935) was appointed as director of the Harkness Fellowships in New York (1988). Lady Plowden died (Sept 29, 2000) aged ninety-three.

Plowden, Dorothea – (c1765 – 1827)
British writer
Dorothea Phillips was the daughter of George Griffith Phillips, of Curaegwillinag, Carmarthenshire. She became the wife of the writer Francis Peter Plowden (1749 – 1829), to whom she bore three children. Mrs Plowden wrote the comic opera Virginia (1800) which was performed at the Drury Lane Theatre and was condemned a failure on opening night. She resided for some time with her husband in France but died (July, 1827) at the home of her son-in-law Lord Dundonald. Her son Captain Plowden was shot in a duel in Jamaica whilst serving as aide-de-camp to General Churchill. Her two daughters were,

• Anna Maria Plowden (died 1822). She became the third wife (1819) of Archibald Cochrane, ninth Earl of Dundonald.
• Mary Plowden. She became the wife of John Morrough, of Cork.

Plumer, Eleanor Mary – (1885 – 1967)
British educator
The Hon. (Honourable) Eleanor Plumer was born (July 22, 1885) the eldest daughter of the first Viscount Plumer and sister to the second Viscount (died 1944) with whom the title became extinct due to lack of male heirs. She chose a career in education and remained unmarried. Miss Plumer was appointed as tutor to women’s students at King’s College (1919) and was later made the warden of the Mary Ward Settlement (1924) and warden of St Andrew’s Hall, Reading (1927 – 1931). She served for over a decade as principal of St Anne’s College (1940 – 1953). Eleanor Plumer died (June 29, 1967) aged eighty-one.

Plummer, Beatrice Lapsker, Lady – (1903 – 1972)
British volunteer activist
Beatrice Lapsker was born (April 14, 1903) the daughter of Mayer Lapsker (1871 – 1950), of Kiev, Ukraine, Russia, and his second wife Zelda Koslov. She immigrated to England with her family at the time of the Revolution (1917) and attended the St George’s in the East School. Beatrice was married (1923) to Leslie Arthur Plummer (1901 – 1963), who was later knighted (1949). There were no children. Beatrice Plummer was appointed to serve as a Justice of the Peace for Essex (1947) and was a member of the ITA (Independent Television Authority) from 1966. She was created a life peer by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her public service, as Baroness Plummer of Toppesfield, Essex (1965).

Plummer, Clare Emsley – (1912 – 1980)
British novelist
Plummer was born (Sept 23, 1912) at Coventry in Warwickshire. Her best known works included A Nurse’s Sacrifice (1962) which she published as ‘Clare Emsley’ and Awakening of Nurse Grant (1967). Clare Plummer died (April 12, 1980) aged sixty-seven.

Plumpton, Agnes Gascoigne, Lady – (c1461 – 1504) 
English letter writer
Agnes Gascoigne was the daughter of Sir William Gascoigne of Gawthorpe, near Harewood, Yorkshire and his wife Joan Neville, the granddaughter of Sir Robert Neville. Agnes became the first wife (1478) Sir Robert Plumpton (1453 – 1523), of Plumpton, York, and bore him thirteen children. When in 1502 a legal suit over a family inheritance went against him, Sir Robert ordered Agnes to ‘see that the manor and the place of Plompton bee surely and steadfastly kept’ during his absence. Agnes and their son William played prominent roles in preventing other family members from gaining control of the disputed estates. The surviving correspondence of Lady Plumpton dates from this period (1502 – 1504), and is preserved in the voluminous Plumpton collection of letters. Lady Agnes herself died (shortly after April 13 in 1504).

Plunket, Emmeline Mary – (1835 – 1924)
Irish writer
The Hon. (Honourable) Emmeline Plunket was the daughter of the third Baron Plunket. She remained unmarried. Miss Plunket was author of such works as Merry Games in Rhyme from the Olden Time (1886), Very Short Stories in Very Short Words (1887) and Ancient Calendars and Constellations (1903). Emmeline Plunket died (April 6, 1924).

Plunket, Frederica Louisa Edith – (1804 – 1886)
Irish traveller and author
Frederica Plunket and her sister visited the Swiss-Austrian Alps to conduct mountaineering expeditions. These trips resulted in the publication of Here and There Against the Alps (1875).

Plunkett, Elizabeth – (1725 – 1744)
Irish violinist
Elizabeth Plunkett was born in Dublin and studied music under the famous Irish violinist Matthew Dubourg. Elizabeth made her professional debut at the Crow Street Music Hall in Dublin at the age of fifteen (1740). Elizabeth then gave recitals at the Fishhamble Street Music Hall (1742) and was then taken to London to showcase her musical talent. Accompanied by her father, Elizabeth played at the Haymarket Theatre in London and in the spring of that year she married a man named Devenish. Elizabeth Plunkett died young (June 8, 1744) at East Acton.

Plunkett, Mattie Drunetta – (1864 – 1919)
Southern American educator, librarian and author
Mattie Plunkett was born (Dec 24, 1864) in Carthage, Mississippi and attended college and trained as a schoolteacher. She remained unmarried and was appointed as the State librarian of Mississippi (1900 – 1915). Miss Plunkett compiled and published the Catalogue of the Mississippi State Library (1902).

Plutynska, Eleonora – (1886 – 1969) 
Polish textile artist
Plutynska was born in Vienna, Austria. Having studied under Olga Boznanska (1912 – 1913) by 1926 she was successfully promoting the use of Polish art, reviving the traditional process of Kilim weaving, and making experiments with vegetable dyes. She studied folk weaving in order to learn how to compose directly upon the loom without a cartoon, and even managed to reconstruct double-weaving techniques from the Grodno region. Eleonora’s work is known for her motifs of animals and flowers enclosed with a decorated boarder. Her work was exhibited internationally, notably in Stockholm, Sweden, Berlin, Prussia, and in New York (1939). She was later appointed professor at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (1956). Eleonora Plutynska died in Warsaw.

Po, Teresa del – (1649 – 1716)
Italian painter
Teresa del Po was the daughter of the artist Pietro del Po, and sister to the painters andrea and Giacomo del Po, with whom she was taught to paint by their father. She later married and produced a daughter who also became a painter. Teresa specialized in classical mythological works such as her portrait of Apollo and Daphne. Teresa del Po was later to the Academy of St Luke in Rome (1675).

Pocci, Countess Maria Elisabeth von – (1835 – 1912)
German figure painter and portraitist
Countess Maria Elisabeth von Pocci she was born (May 1, 1835) in Munich, Bavaria, the daughter of Count Franz von Pocci (1807 – 1876), the noted writer and composer. Maria Elisabeth was taught painting and drawing under Alexander von Liezen-Mayer, and copied the masters, producing such famous works as Germanische Priesterin and Palmsonntag. She was decorated with the Prussian and Bavarian Cross of Merit for her volunteer work during the Franco-Prussian War (1870 – 1871). Countess von Pocci died (July 26, 1912) aged seventy-seven, at the Ammerland Palace, Lake Starnberg.

Pocahontas (Pocohontas) – (1596 – 1617)
American Indian princess
Pocahontas was the favourite daughter of the important Algonquin chief Powhatan. According to the story of English captain and adventurer John Smith (1580 – 1631) Pocahontas saved his life on two separate occasions, when he was at the mercy of her tribe, one one occasion interposing her own head between Smith and his executioner. Likewise, Pocohontas is said to have assisted the colonists at Jamestown by informing them of her father’s military plans. Taken hostage by the English (1612), in an effort to ensure the good behaviour of the Indian tribes, she converted to Christianity (1614) and took the name of Rebecca at her baptism. She later married Englishman John Rolfe (1585 – 1622), to whom she bore a son Thomas in 1615, and sailed with him an her son to England (1616), where she was received at court by James I and his queen, Anne of Denmark. She there renewed her acquaintance with Captain Smith, and attended the Twelfth Night Masque in the company of Queen Anne (1617). Whilst embarking on the return voyage to Virginia, Pocohontas fell ill and died aboard ship off Gravesend. Several old Virginian families claim descent from her. The poet Ben Jonson introduced Pocohontas into his Staple of News (1625). The romantic incident of her rescue of John Smith is depicted in stone a relief upon the Capitol, in Washington. Her portrait was engraved by Simon de Passe.

Pochhammer, Margarete – (1858 – 1926)
German writer
Born Margarete Cauer (Aug 5, 1858), in Breslau, Silesia, she was the daughter if a minor school official. She was married to the military officer and librarian, Paul Pochhammer (1841 – 1916). Her published works included Mode und Bildung (1898) and the novel, Eine Geldheirat (c1914). She sometimes used the pseudonym ‘Margarete Tellmar.’ Margaret Pochhammer died (March 16, 1926) aged sixty-seven, in Berlin.

Poch-Kalous, Margarethe – (1915 – 1974)
Austrian art historian
Margarethe Kalous was born (Jan 9, 1915) in Vienna, the daughter of the painter Josef Kalous. Margarethe conducted classes at the Master School for Art Education at the Vienna Academy (1941 – 1947). She was later appointed director of the Academy of Fine Arts (1957 – 1974). Margarethe Poch-Kalous died (Dec 23, 1974) aged fifty-nine, in Vienna.

Podber, Dorothy – (1932 – 2008)
American performance and avante-garde artist
Dorothy Podber was born in the Bronx in New York, the daughter of a blind newspaper stand operator. Her entire life was filled with alcoholism, drug abuse, and clashes with the law. She became a member of the avante-garde set that included the famous poet Allen Ginsburg (born 1926) and Jasper Johns (born 1930), the noted sculptor and printmaker, amongst others. Podber assisted with the running of the Nonagon Gallery in Manhattan, which promoted the works of Yoko Ono, the second wife of John Lennon, amongst others. However, she was particularly remembered for publicly shooting a bullet hrough several Marilyn Monroe silk-screen paintings produced by Andy Warhol. Later known as the ‘shot Marilyns,’ at the time of her death these vandalized portraits were valued at seventeen million dollars apiece. Dorothy Podber died (Feb 9, 2008) aged seventy-five.

Podendorf, Illa – (1903 – 1983)
American educator and author
Podendorf worked with the Ideal School Supplies manufacturer to design new teaching aids such as films and equipment for teachers which encouraged students to solve problems themselves.
She served as chairman of the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago (1954 – 1968) and her work was publicly recognized by the National Society of Science Teachers (1977). Her published work included The True Book of Space and Plant and Animal Ways. Illa Podendorf died (June 22, 1983) aged eighty, in Onawa, Iowa.

Podesta, Auguste – (1827 – 1902)
German vocalist
She was born Kunigunde Auguste Ernestine Molendo (Dec 27, 1827) in Bayreuth. She became a successful soubrette at the Kassel Court Theatre in Hesse (1845 – 1851). Augusta later worked at the Kassel Court Opera (1862 – 1867). Auguste Podesta died (Dec 29, 1902) aged seventy-five, in Kassel.

Podewils-Juncker-Bigatto, Sophie Dorothee von Stirschberg, Countess von – (1909 – 1979)
German poet and writer
Sophie von Sitrschberg was born (Feb 16, 1909) at Bamberg. She studied painting in Brussels and Paris, and was married to Count Clemens von Podewils-Juncker-Bigatto (1905 – 1978), the journalist and author. The countess was also an essayist and translator, and wrote the novels Wanderschaft (1948) and Schattengang (1982). Countess von Podewils died (Oct 5, 1979) aged seventy, at Starnberg.

Podhorsky, Katharina – (1807 – 1889)
German coloratura soprano and mezzo-soprano
Katharina Podhorsky was born (Nov 8, 1807) in Prague, Bohemia, the daughter of a bookbinder. She made her stage debut in Prague as Annette in Boieldieu’s Le Petit Chaperon rouge (1819). Podhorsky worked as prima donna in Prague for three decades (1821 – 1849) and then taught singing. Katharina Podhorsky died (Nov 28, 1889) aged eighty-two, in Prague.

Poe, Elizabeth Arnold – (1787 – 1811)
Anglo-American actress and vocalist
Elizabeth Arnold was the daughter of minor actor, Henry Arnold, and his wife Elizabeth Smith Arnold, actress and vocalist. Her first recorded stage appearance was at Birmingham, with her mother, at the age of seven (1795). The same year Elizabeth accompanied her mother to America, and they arrived in Boston aboard the Outram (Jan, 1796). She was employed with her mother at the Federal Street Theatre there, and made her stage debut singing ‘The Market Lass’ between act of the play The Mysteries of the Castle (April, 1796). After this, mother and daughter toured New England, performing with Joseph Harper’s company, Elizabeth singing in Portland. She continued to perform with her mother and her new husband, the actor Charles Tubbs, notably with the company of John Sollee at the John Street Theatre, in New York, before playing in Charleston.
Her mother and stepfather both probably perished in a yellow fever epidemic, and Elizabeth continued to work as an actress in Virginia, Washington, and Philadelphia (1799 – 1803), where she married a comedian named Hopkins (1802). With his early death (1805) she remarried to David Poe, a minor actor of the Virginia Players. The couple resided in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, but her husband eventually deserted her, leaving her with two children to support, one of whom was the poet and novelist, Edgar Allan Poe. Elizabeth Arnold Poe died in abject poverty (Dec 8, 1811) aged only twenty-four, in Richmond, Virginia.

Poemenia – (fl. c380 – 390 AD)
Syrian Christian matron and traveller
Poemenia came from a highborn family, and may have been related to the Imperial family. She eventually left life in Constantinople in order to travel to Egypt and Palestine, travelling leisurely on board her own ships. Poemenia visited the famous monk and ascetic, John of Lykopolis in the Thebaid of Egypt in order to affect a cure for an illness, and later caused the church of the Ascension to be built in Jerusalem. She also destroyed pagan idols on Mt Garzim in Samaria. During a trip to Alexandria in the company of Bishop Dionysus, Poemenia was grossly insulted, her crew attacked, and some killed, whilst Dionysus was thrown into the river, when her party set ashore at Nikioupolis.

Pohlmann, Olga – (1880 – 1969)
German writer and editor
Pohlmann was born (April 21, 1880) in Kitzingen. She wrote poems and literary sketches for newspapers and magazines and became the editor with the Frankischer Kurier. Pohlmann published the historical novels Kathe Hallerin (1919) and Niklas Muffel (1922). Olga Pohlmann died (May 17, 1969) aged eighty-nine, in Nuremburg.

Poinsard, Jeanne Marie Fabienne    see    Hericourt, Jenny d’

Pointer, June – (1953 – 2006)
Black American vocalist
June Antoinette Pointer was born (Nov 30, 1953), the daughter of a clergyman from Oakland, California, and was the youngest member of the popular singing group, The Pointer Sisters, who achieved great success during the decade of the 1980’s with such popular hits as ‘Automatic,’ ‘Slow Hand,’ ‘Jump,’ and ‘I’m So Excited.’ June made her singing debut with her sisters (1973), and they jointly received a Grammy Award for their son ‘Fairytale’ (1974). She later left the group and pursued a solo career, but her the rest of her life was dogged by drug scandals, and her former fame and popularity was never repeated. June Pointer died of cancer (April 11, 2006) aged fifty-two, in Los Angeles, California.

Pointon, Robert    see   Rooke, Daphne Marie

Poisson, Jeanne Antoinette     see   Pompadour, Marquise de

Poitiers, Alienor de – (fl. 1456 – 1491) 
French author
Alienor was a courtier at the magnificent thirteenth century courts in Burgundy during the reigns of Philip II and Charles the Bold (1467 – 1477). Her survivng work Les honneurs la Cour concerned the details of court etiquette and ceremonial.

Poitiers, Diane de – (1499 – 1566)
French courtier
The famous mistress of Henry II, Diane de Poitiers was born (Sept 3, 1499) the daughter of Jean de Poitiers, Comte de Saint-Vallier and his wife Jeanne de Bastarny. She was married (1515) to Louis de Breze, Comte de Maulevrier (1459 – 1531) to whom she bore two daughters. With the death of her husband Diane was appointed a sort of foster-mother to Prince Henry, younder son of Francis I, who, with his brother, the Dauphin Francis, had recently returned to France after several years’ captivity in Spain. She became his mistress (1538), and the liasion lasted until Henry’s death, despite the fact that Diane was twenty years his senior.
Famous for her great beauty, energy and remarkable health, she ruled the court during Henry’s reign (1547 – 1559) as queen in all but name, completely overshadowing the legitimate queen, Catherine de Medici. The friend and patron of poets and artists like Pierre de Ronsard, Philibert de L’ Orme, Jean Gaujon, Jean Cousin, Germain and Primaticcio, some of her letters survive. It was in her honour that Gaujon executed the statue of Diana, now in the Louvre. Henry granted her the duchy and title of Valentinois (1548), and though she has been accused of fostering persecutions against the Huguenots, in reality Diane concerned herself with augmenting her family’s fortune and position. After Henry’s death, caused by a tragic jousting accident, Queen Catherine ordered Diane to return all the jewels that Henry had given her, forced her to accept the chateau of Chaumont in exchange for that of Chenonceaux, and ordered her to retire from court to her own magnificent Chateau d’Anet, on the Eure River, near the border of Normandy. Diane de Poitiers died (Sept 22, 1566) aged sixty-seven at Anet.

Poitiers, Jaucerande de – (c1210 – c1251)
French mediaeval heiress
Jaucerande was the daughter of Aymar II de Poitiers, Comte de Valentinois (died c1250) and his wife Philippa de Fay, Dame de Clerieu. She became the frist wife of Pierre Bermond VII (c1200 – c1254), Seigneur d’Anduze, bringing as her dowry the seigneuries of Boffres, Chaneac and Pierregourde. Her five sons included Guillaume d’Anduze (c1230 – 1300), Seigneur d’Hierle and Roger d’Anduze (c1235 – c1302), Seigneur de La Voulte, both of whom left descendants. Her elder daughter Marie d’Anduze was married to Arnaldo III (died 1256), Vicomte de Lomagne, whilst her younger daughter Philippa d’Anduze, Dame de Sommieres became the wife of Amalric IV (c1205 – 1270), Vicomte of Narbonne. Both women left descendants.

Poiters, Polie de – (1302 – 1347)
French medieval heiress
Polie de Poitiers was the daughter of Aymar V de Poitiers, Comte de Valentinois and Diois, and his wife Sibylla de Baux, Dame de Bouzols, the daughter of Bernard de Baux, Comte d’Avellino. Polie was married firstly (c1318) to Rainald III de Trie (c1292 – 1327), Comte de Dammartin, but this union remained childless. With Rainald’s death the comtesse remarried (after 1332) to Guillaume-Armand VII, Seigneur de Randan and vicomte de Polignac. To her second husband she bore a daughter, Margeurite de Polignac, who became the wife of Louis, Seigneur de Montlaur. Her grandson, Armand de Montlaur (died c1440) was defeated in his attempts to gain control of the viscounty of Polignac. She was ancestress of the counts de Montlaur and of the d’Ornano family which married into the semi-royal house of Lorraine-Guise.

Poitiers, Semnoresse de     see    Semnoresse de Poitiers

Poix, Anne Louise Marie de Beauvau-Craon, Princesse de – (1750 – 1834)
French society leader and courtier
A prominent figure at the courts of of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Versailles, Anne de Beauvau-Craon was married to Louis Philippe Marc Antoine de Noailles (1752 – 1819), Duc de Mouchy and Prince de Poix, and was the mother of Antonin Juste de Noailles, Prince de Poix (1777 – 1846). Her biography was written by her daughter-in-law, Melanie de Talleyrand-Perigord, and she is mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian, Sir Horace Walpole. With the Bourbon Restoration (1814) Madame de Poix attended the court of Louis XVIII.

Poix, Melanie de Talleyrand-Perigord, Princesse de – (1785 – 1863)
French courtier and biographer
Melanie de Talleyrand-Perigord was born (Sept 18, 1785) the daughter of Archambaud, Comte and Duc de Talleyrand-Perigord, and his wife Sabine Madeleine Olivier de Senozan. She was the sister of Edmond de Talleyrand-Perigord, Duc de Dino. Melanie lost her mother during the Terror (1794), but her father and siblings survived. She was married (1803) to Vicomte Antonin Juste de Noailles (1777 – 1846), later Prince de Poix, by whom she was the mother of Charles Philippe de Noailles, Duc de Mouchy (1808 – 1854), who left descendants. She was the author of a biography of her mother-in-law Anne Louise Marie de Noailles (1750 – 1834) entitled Life of the Princesse de Poix, nee Beauvau. Madame de Poix died (Feb 19, 1863) aged seventy-seven.

Polak, Milena    see   Jesenska, Milena

Polastron, Louise d’Esparbes de Lussan, Comtesse de – (1764 – 1804)
French courtier
A prominent member of the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at Versailles, Louise d’Esparbes de Lussan was born (Oct 19, 1764) the daughter of Louis Francois d’Esparbes, Marquis de Lussan, from Armagnac, and his wife Marie Catherine Julie Rougeot. She was married to Comte Denis de Polastron (1758 – 1821), the half-brother of the Duchesse de Polignac, the favourite of Marie Antoinette. The comtesse was appointed as lady-in-waiting (dame du palais) to the queen at Versailles and became involved in a romantic liasion with the king’s brother, the Comte d’Artois (later Charles X) which endured until her own death. With the advent of the revolution (1789) the comtesse emigrated abroad as her connection with the Polignac family made that advisable, and thus survived the ensuing horrors. The Comtesse de Polastron died of tuberculosis (March 27, 1804) aged thirty-nine. The Comte d’Artois was so stricken with grief that he made a vow of chastity which he kept till his death

Poldowska, Irene Regine – (1879 – 1932)
Polish-Anglo composer
Irene Wienarska was born in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of Henryk Wienawski, of Warsaw, Poland, a violinist and composer, and a British mother, and was niece to the pianist Josef Wienawski (1837 – 1912). Irene studied music at the Brussels Conservatoire with Francois Gevaert, and then in London with Percy Pitt. She then took additional courses in musical composition with Andre Gedalge and Vincent d’Indy in Paris, and began writing songs in the French Impressionistic style. Professionally she assumed the pseudonym of Poldowska.

Irene set nearly thirty poems to music, including over twenty written by Paul Verlaine. Her own compositions included Caledonian Market, a suite of eight pieces for the piano Suite miniatures de chansons a’danser, for woodwind instruments, Nocturnes and Tenements, symphonic sketches and one operetta Laughter. Madamoiselle Poldowska was married (1901) to Sir Aubrey Edward Henry Dean Paul, of Rodburgh, Gloucester (1869 – 1961) to whom she bore three children, including Sir Brian Dean Paul (1904 – 1972), sixth and last Baronet (1961 – 1972).

Pole, Elizabeth – (1589 – 1654)
Anglo-American colonial founder
Elizabeth Pole was born in England, and immigrated to Massachusetts, America (1635), where she became the owner of two farm properties, Littleworth and Shute, besides founding the local parish church, and the local iron foundry. A monument erected in 1771 named Elizabeth as the founder of the town of Taunton, Massachusetts.

Pole, Margaret – (1473 – 1541)
English Plantagenet princess
Princess Margaret Plantagenet was born (Aug 14, 1473) at Castle Farley, near Bath in Somserset, the only surviving daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, brother to Edward IV and Richard III, by his wife Isabella Neville. The Duke of Clarence was imprisoned and attained and died in the Tower of London soon afterwards in mysterious circumstances (1478). Margaret and her brother Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick shared their father’s attainder and were raised in the household of their paternal grandmother the Dowager Duchess of York. She was married (1491) to Sir Richard Pole, chief gentleman of the chamber to Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII, to whom she bore five children. Her brother the Earl of Warwick was later executed by Henry VII (1499) due to his closeness to the throne.
With the accession of Henry VIII (1509) he wished to atone for the death of her brother and Lady Pole was granted an annuity of one hundred pounds a year (1509). Margaret was then created Countess of Salisbury (1513) and in the following Parliament (1514) full restitution was made of the rights of her family. She possessed considerable property in Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Essex and was later appointed as governess (1520 – 1529) to Princess Mary (Mary I), his only child by Catherine of Aragon. When the princess’s household was disbanded after the divorce of her parents (1533) the countess offerred to serve the princess at her own expense but was dismissed (Dec, 1533) when she refused to hand over the princess’s jewels to the King’s messenger. She returned to court after the death of Anne Boleyn and King Henry’s remarriage with Jane Seymour, but her position there became dangerous after the publication of Of the Unity of the Church (1536), by her son Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500 – 1558), an unveiled attack on Henry VIII and his religious policies. She wrote a letter of reproof to Reginald and denounced him to her servants, but her real feelings were probably quite different.
With the death of Queen Jane Seymour she retired from court to her manor of Warblington. A spy was placed in her household by Thomas Cromwell and the countess was arrested. She was interrogated by Lord Southampton and the Bishop of Ely but admitted nothing. The countess was then placed under house arrest at Cowdry and her goods were confiscated. Several monthas afterwards she was imprisoned in the Tower of London (1539), where it was hoped that the cold and dismal surroundings would lead to a natural death. Her need for clothing and such became so bad that eventually Queen Catharine Howard interceded on her behalf in this matter, and the countess was supplied with the necessary items (1540). An act of attainder was passed against the countess in parliament (May, 1539) but the risings in Yorkshire (1541) under Sir John Neville were used as an excuse to remove her. Margaret was clumsily and brutally beheaded (May 27, 1541) aged sixty-six, on Tower Hill, London. She refused to place her head upon the block and was chased by the executioner who brutally hacked her to death. The Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys reported to the emperor that the countess, “ when informed of her sentence she found it very strange, not knowing her crime, but walked to the space in front of the Tower, where there was no scaffold but onlya small block. She there commended her soul to God and desired those present to pray for the King, Queen, Prince and Princess. The ordinary executioner being absent, a blundering ‘garconneau’ was chosen who hacked her head and shoulders to pieces.”
The countess was interred nearby within the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, together with queens Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, and Lady Rochford. Her only surviving daughter Ursula Pole (1503 – 1570) became the wife of Henry, first Baron Stafford and left descendants. Lady Salisbury was portrayed by actress Kate O’Toole in the series The Tudors (2007 – 2008) with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII and Maria Doyle Kennedy as Catherine of Aragon.

Polemokraetia – (c80 – after 42 BC)
Greek queen consort of Thrace
Polemokraetia was the wife of King Sadala, whom she survived for some time as queen mother. Polemokraetia was the mother of the next three reigning kings, Kotys (died c16 BC), Rhoematakles II (died 12 BC), and Rheskuporis II (died 19 BC). Her daughter-in-law was the famous Queen Antonia Tryphaena.

Polenta, Francesca da – (c1267 – 1288) 
Italian tragedy figure
Francesca da Polenta was the daughter of Guido da Polenta of Ravenna, Lombardy. She was married by her family to the hunchback Gianciotto di Malatesta of Rimini. In time Gianciotto’s younger and more handsome brother Paolo became Francesca’s lover. Gianciotto discovered the liasion and killed them both (1288). The lovers’ romance and death was immortalized by Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy. Their saga was also the focus of many other works, both literary and artistic, as well as being the subject for Tchaikovsky’s symphonic poem.

Polignac, Diane de Francoise Zephyrine de – (1740 – 1818) 
French courtier
Diane de Polignac was the daughter of Hercule Louis, Vicomte de Polignac (1717 – 1802) and his first wife, Diane de Mazarin (1719 – 1755), and was the sister of Comte (later Duc and Prince) de Polignac, and sister-in-law to the famous Duchesse Gabrielle de Polignac, favourite of Marie Antoinette, and attended her at the court of Versailles, where she was granted apartments. Though entitled to be called a comtesse, Diane never married and was appointed a canoness of the abbey of Remriemont in Lorraine. With the outbreak of the Revolution she accompanied her family into exile to Austria, where she died, and later produced a volume of rather unreliable memoirs. She was mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Sir Horace Walpole.

Polignac, Gabrielle Yolande Claude Martine de Polastron, Duchesse de – (1749 – 1793)
French courtier
Gabrielle de Polastron was the daughter of Jean Francois Gabriel, Comte de Polastron and his wife Jeanne Charlotte Herault. She was married (1767) to Jules Francois Armand, Comte and first Duc de Polignac (1745 – 1817) and was the mother of the statesman, Jules Marie Heracle, Duc de Polignac (1771 – 1847). Beautiful and graceful, Gabrielle bore her husband several children but was accompanied in society by her lover, the notoriously ugly Joseph Hyacinthe de Rigaud, Comte de Vaudreuil (1740 – 1817). She attracted the attention of Queen Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, at a masked ball at Fontainebleau (1775) and the two becme firm friends. The comte was soon appointed first equerry to the king, and the couple provided with magnificent apartments at Versailles. Mme de Polignac was not herself of a greedy or avaricious nature, but she could not deny her lover anything, and was constantly surrounded by a horde of self-seeking relatives who manipulated her real friendship with the queen to their own advantage, and ultimately, to Gabrielle’s own detriment.
Her husband was created a duke and Gabrielle was granted the coveted right of tabouret, an armchair in the royal prescence. Finally (1782) the duchesse received the extremely well paid appointment as governess to the royal children. Mme de Campan, likewise a friend and supporter of Marie Antoinette, considered Mme de Polignac’s character above reproach, and convincingly argued that Gabrielle never desired anything for herself, and that she was as incapable of seeing through the veneer of her rapacious relatives, as was the queen herself. It was due to the intrigues of the king’s brother, the Comte d’Artois and his supporters that ridiculous rumours were spread claiming that a sexual relationship existed between the duchesse and Marie Antoinette. The fall of the Bastille (1789) placed the entire Polignac clan in real danger. Gabrielle refused to leave France, despite the queen’s urgings, and eventually, the king himself ordered her to join the other emigres for her own safety. The duchesse left Versailles at midnight, disguised as a chambermaid, sitting on top of the carriage like a servant. At Sens, the duc and duchesse were recognized by a postillion, but he kept their secret and the group reached Switzerland and safety. Mme de Polignac attended the court of Frederick William II of Prussia in Berlin, and was received there by Count Valentin Esterhazy. She later removed to the Imperial court in Vienna.
Madame de Polignac died of grief (Dec 9, 1793) in Vienna, six weeks after receiving the news of the execution of her former friend. The famous friendship of the duchesse and the ill-fated queen brought universal odium to the name of Marie Antoinette, while the duchesse was accused by the revolutionaries of every conceivable vice, and of the most sordid crimes. She was long thought to have been the queen’s evil genius, and the public generally believed that the duchesse and the queen were not friends, but lovers. Her sins, mostly imagined and fabricated, stood long in the mind of almost every Frenchman, for all the errors and vices of the ancien regime. Madame de Polignac was portrayed by actress Rose Byrne in the film Marie Antoinette (2006), produced by Sofia Coppola, with Kirsten Dunst in the title role.

Polignac, Jacqueline Grimoard de Beauvoir, Vicomtesse de – (1641 – 1721)
French courtier
Jacqueline Grimoard de Beauvoir was the daughter of Louis Pierre Scipion de Grimoard, Comte de Roure and his wife Claude Marie Du Gast d’Artigny. She was married (1658) to Louis Armand, Vicomte de Polignac (1608 – 1692) and was the mother of Scipion Sidoine, Marquis de Polignac (1660 – 1739) who left descendants. The vicomtesse was a great beauty and attended the court of Louis XIV at Versailles where she became a member of the coterie that surrounded his reigning mistresses Louise de La Valliere and Madame de Montespan.
Madame de Polignac was implicated in the notorious ‘Affair of the Poisons’ (1679 – 1681) where it was revealed that she had resorted to magic potions and philters in an effort to make herself the king’s mistress. It was also revealed that the Marquis de Polignac not only knew of his wife’s activities but approved of them. Unknown to him she had consulted the magician Lesage in a bid to remove her husband and to poison the Louise de La Valliere in order to encompass her design. A warrant was issued for her arrest (Jan, 1680) whilst she was residing in the Auvergne and a detachment of royal guards were sent to escort her to Paris for questioning. Warned by friends she fled abroad into exile, though the contents of her house were confiscated despite the protests of the Marquis who had remained in France. She later returned to Paris (1686) in order to make arrangements for the marriage of her eldest son but the king’s anger at her temerity remained undiminished and she was unable to return to France until the king’s death (1715). She survived her husband for three decades into the Regency period as the Dowager Vicomtesse de Polignac (1692 – 1721). Madame de Polignac died (Nov 7, 1721) aged eighty.

Polini, Emelie Adeline – (1881 – 1927)
Anglo-Australian actress
Emelie Polini was born (March 24, 1881) at Steyning, Sussex, the daughter of the theatrical manager, Giovanni Maria Polini and an English mother. She first appeared on stage at the Marlborough Theatre in London, where she became increasingly popular. This led to her visiting the USA, where she appeared in Yes or No ? on Broadway in New York. She then travelled to Australia, where she appeared in Melbourne in such plays as Eyes of Youth and My Lady’s Dress (1919 – 1920). She was married (1918) to a serviceman, Harold Willis Ellis, to whom she bore a daughter, and who then lost all her money. This marriage ended in seperation. Her financial situation caused Emelie to return to the stage, where she worked for J.C. Williamson, and appeared with success in The Flaw and a revival of Eyes of Youth. She later returned to England (1924), as her husband had contested custody of their child, who had remained there with her mother-in-law. She then travelled to the USA to continue her stage work. Emelie Polini died of cancer (July 31, 1927) aged forty-six, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Polissena of Savoy – (1746 – 1762)
Italian princess
Polissena was born (Oct 31, 1746) the third daughter of Luigi Vittorio of Savoy, the reigning Prince of Carignano (1741 – 1778) and his wife Landgravine Christina Henrietta, the daughter of Ernst Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinsfels-Rothenburg. She died unmarried (Dec 20, 1762) aged sixteen.

Polissena Cristina Giovanna – (1706 – 1735)
Queen consort of Sardinia (1730 – 1735)
Princess Polyxena Christina Johanna of Hesses-Rheinsfels was born (Sept 6, 1706) the eldest daughter of Ernst, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinsfels-Rothemburg (1725 – 1749), and his wife Countess Eleonore von Lowenstein-Wertheim, and sister to Konstantin, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinsfels-Rothemburg, Wanfried, and Eschwege (1749 – 1778). Polyxena was married (1724) at Thonon, to Carlo Emanuele of Savoy (1701 – 1773) who became king of Sardinia as Carlo Emanuele III (1730), as his second wife. The Italians called her Polissena. Queen Polissena died (Jan 13, 1735) aged twenty-eight. She was buried firstly in Turin Cathedral, but her remains were later transferred to the abbey of Superga. Apart from three children who died young, she was the mother of four surviving children,

• Vittorio Amadeo III of Savoy (1726 – 1796). He succeeded his father as king of Sardinia (1773 – 1796). He married athe Spanish infanta Maria Antonietta (1729 0 1796) and left descendants.
• Eleonora Theresa of Savoy, Princess of Sardinia (1728 – 1781). She died unmarried.
• Maria Luisa of Savoy, Princess of Sardinia – (1729 – 1767). She died unmarried.
• Maria Felicitas of Savoy, Princess of Sardinia (1730 – 1801). She died unmarried.

Polk, Sarah Childress – (1803 – 1891)
American First Lady and society hostess
Sarah Childress was the wife of James Knox Polk (1795 – 1849), the eleventh President of the United States (1845 – 1849). Mrs Polk survived her husband forty years. Her personal correspondence has survived.

Polla, Argentaria – (c45 – after 98 AD)
Roman patrician and literary figure
Argentaria Polla was thought to be the daughter of granddaughter of Marcus Argentarius, a rhetorician and epigrammatist of Greek ancestry residing in Rome, though there is a possibility that she had Spanish origins. She became the wife of the poet Lucan (39 – 65 AD) (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus). Her husband was forced to commit suicide because of his involvement in the conspiracy of Piso (65 AD) against the Emperor Nero (54 – 68 AD) and Polla mourned his death for the remainder of her life, practicing that form of ostentatious widowhood that became fashionable during the early Empire period.
Modern historians have connected Lucan’s widow with the Polla who was the wife of Pollius Felix and was mentioned in the Silvae of Publius Papinius Statius (93 AD) who refers to her as ‘Polla Argentaria’ regarding his poem Genethliacon Lucani (Lucan’s Birthday Ode). Sidonius Apollinaris refers to Polla Argentaria as having been married twice. She was also a patron of the poet Martial who addresses her in literary style as his regina (queen) in one of his epigrams (98 AD).

Polla, Nonia – (fl. 37 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Nonia Polla was the daughter of Lucius Nonius Asprenas, consul suffect (36 BC). She became the wife of Lucius Volusius Saturninus (c70 – 20 BC), consul (30 BC). Polla was attested by a surviving inscription from Pergamum in Asia Minor, and was the mother of Lucius Volusius Saturninus (37 BC – 56 AD), consul suffect (3 AD), and of Volusia Saturnina, the wife of Marcus Lollius, through whom Nonia Polla was the grandmother of the Empress Lollia Paullina, wife of Gaius Caligula.

Polla, Septimia – (c120 – c165 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Septimia Polla was the daughter of Lucius Septimius Severus, and was the sister of Publius Septimius Geta, the father of her nephew, the future Emperor Septimius Severus (193 – 211 AD). Polla apparently died unmarried, a considerably wealthy woman, and her brother commemorated her death, which took place in her home city of Lepcis, in Tripolitana, Africa, with an expensive silver statue.

Polla, Vipsania – (fl. c50 – c7 BC)
Roman Republican and Imperial patrician
Vipsania Polla was the sister of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63 – 12 BC), the famous general of the emperor Augustus, and was the paternal aunt of the princes Gaius and Lucius Caesar.
Her parentage, and the the indentity of any husband or issue remain unknown. The historian Dio Cassius records that Polla was responsible for the construction of the portico of the Campus Agrippae in Rome, and that she also financed the adornment of the public racecourse.

Pollard, Josephine – (1834 – 1892)
American poet, naturalist, and author
Josephine Pollard was born in New York. She produced several volumes of verse such as the six volume Gypsy series (1873 – 1874). Her other published work included A Piece of Silver (1876) and Vagrant Verses (1886).

Pollard, Marjorie – (1899 – 1982)
British hockey player and sportswoman
Marjorie Pollard played for England twice (1921 – 1928) and (1931 – 1936), and was considered a remarkably talented goal scorer. Marjorie played against Germany, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and South Africa, and founded the North Northants team. Pollard was elected as president of the All-England Women’s Hockey Association, and she wrote sports articles for various newspapers such as The Times. Marjorie Pollard was editor of the Hockey Field journal for over two decades (1946 – 1970).

Polle, Ursula – (1790 – 1861)
German courtier and morganatic royal
Ursula Polle was born (Sept 19, 1790) in Bonn. She became the mistress and then secret wife of Prince Friedrich of Waldeck (1790 – 1828). The royal family did not recognize the union and regarded it as morganatic. Ursula was later granted the title of Countess von Waldeck, and her children were styled counts and countesses von Waldeck. She long survived her royal husband. The Countess von Waldeck died (Jan 17, 1861) aged seventy, at Arolsen. Her first child was a daughter born and died at Landau (1818). Ursula’s surviving children were,

• Countess Maria von Waldeck (1819 – 1898). She became the wife of a physician Friedrich Drake (1805 – 1882).
• Count Friedrich von Waldeck (1822 – 1885). He was married twice and left descendants.
• Count Gustav von Waldeck (1825 – 1892). He was married to Maria von Kuster (1841 – 1895) and left issue.

Pollitzer, Anita Lily – (1894 – 1975)
American suffragist, feminist and equal rights advocate
Anita Pollitzer was born (Oct 31, 1894) in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of a cotton exporter. She trained at the Teachers College at Columbia University. Pollitzer joined Alice Paul as a member of the NWP (National Woman’s Party) and was an active campaigner for civil rights and proposed the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) be placed before the Congress. She was the US delegate at the United Nations conference in San Francisco (1945) and was elected as NWP chairman (1945 – 1949). She wrote an unpublished biography of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Anita Pollitzer died (July 3, 1975) aged eighty, in Queens, New York.

Pollock, Alice – (1868 – 1971)
British memoirist
Born Alice Wykeham-Martin, she was the granddaughter of John Rolls. She was raised on the Isle of Wight, in Wiltshire, and in Leeds Castle, Kent, and studied botany and natural history. Alice was formally presented to Queen Elizabeth II (1968) and was the author of personal memoirs entitled Portrait of My Victorian Youth (1971), at the age of one hundred and two years.

Pollock, Lee Krasner – (1908 – 1984)
American artist and leading exponent of the Abstract Expressionist style
Leonore Krasner was born in Brooklyn, New York the daughter of Jewish-Russian emigrants and studied classical art at the Women’s Art School of Cooper Union, and then attended the National Academy of design (1929 – 1932). Lee Krasner (as she was known) studied under the Abstract Expressionist master Hans Hofmann, and began exhibiting her work with the avant-garde abstract artists of Greenwich Village (1940). She became friends with artist Jackson Pollock whom she introduced to her circle, and the couple later married (1945). She held her first one-person show at the Betty Parsons Gallery (1951), her style including the daring and innovative use of colour, geometric compositions and collages.
With Pollock’s death (1956) she became the guardian of his work and public reputation, arranging for his work to be distributed to institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Her own work gradually bcame t be more appreciated with the rise of the feminist movement, and she did further exhibitions in New York such as ‘Krasner/Pollock: A Working Relationship’ (1981). Lee Krasner Pollock died aged seventy-five, in New York.

Pollock, Mary     see   Blyton, Enid Mary

Polonskaia, Elisaveta Grigorievna – (1890 – 1969) 
Russian socialist, poet and translator
Elisaveta Polonskaia was born in Warsaw, Poland and was from very early in her career involved with the Russian Socialist party. From 1906 – 1908 Elisaveta wrote political propaganda for the Socialists, aimed against the Tsarist regime. She studied medicine at the Sorbonne, in Paris (1907 – 1914) in order to avoid arrest in St Petersburg for her revolutionary proclivities. Elisaveta later returned to Moscow (1915), and her first work, a collection of poems entitled Znaemen’ia (1921) dealt with the events and results achieved by the Russian revolution.
Her second work Pod Kamennym dozhdem (Under a Rain of Stones) (1923) continued these themes. Elisaveta travelled extensively, in her role as political correspondent attached to the Leningradskaia Pravda. Her 1934 work Liudi Soretskix budnei (Workaday Soviet Peoples) is an informative account of these travels. Apart from translating the works of western writers such as Moliere, Victor Hugo, Garcia Lorcia, Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, and others, she also left memoirs. Her poetry for children included Zaichata (Baby Rabbits) (1923) and Chasy (Hours) (1925). Elisaveta Polonskaia died in St Petersburg.

Polwarth, Anne Patterson, Lady – (1756 – 1822)
Scottish peeress (1794 – 1822)
Anne Patterson was the only child and heiress of Sir John Patterson, third baronet and his wife Lady Anne Hume Campbell, the eldest daughter and heiress of Hugh Hume (1708 – 1794), the third and last Earl of Marchmont. She was married (1778) to Philip Anstruther (1752 – 1808). There were no children. With the death of her maternal grandfather the earldom of Marchmont became extinct but the rights to the barony of Polwarth devolved upon Mrs Anstruther who became Baroness Polwarth in her own right. Her husband took the additional surname of Patterson and inherited a baronetcy becoming Sir Philip Anstruther Patterson, third baronet (1799 – 1808). When Lady Polwarth died (March 11, 1822), the barony devolved upon her aunt Diana, Lady Scott of Harden.

Polwhele, Elizabeth – (c1651 – 1691) 
English Stuart dramatist and author
Elizabeth was probably the daughter of Theodore Polwhele at Tiverton, a nonconformist divine. She was married to another nonconformist clergyman, the influential Stephen Lobb, and bore him five children. She wrote several comic plays such as The Faithfull Virgins (c1670) and The Frolicks, or The Lawyer Cheated (1671).

Polwhele, Mary     see     Fitton, Mary

Polyanskaia, Elizaveta   see   Vorontzova, Elizaveta Romanovna

Polykoff, Shirley – (1908 – 1998)
American advertising pioneer
Polykoff was born in Brooklyn, New York, and produced the ‘Does She … or Doesn’t She? And How She Did It‘ advertising campaign for the Clairol cosmetic company. Overnight the slogan became a national catch-phrase. Becoming the advertising agency female executive vice-president, Polykoff was voted the 1967 Advertising Woman of the Year. Shirley Polykoff died (June 4, 1998) aged ninety, in Manhattan.

Polykraetia – (c237 – 209 BC)
Macedonian queen
Polykraetia was the daughter of Polykrates, King of Argos. She was married firstly (219 BC) to Aratus, the son of Aratus of Sikyon. She was residing in Achaia with her husband (214 BC), when they received Philip V (238 – 177 BC), King of Macedon on the return jounrey of his victorious Messenian campaign. The king used his position as a guest to seduce Polykraetia in her husband’s own house. He then carried her off to Macedon, where he married her and accorded her the rank of queen (213 BC). Polykraetia bore Philip three children, a son and heir, the ill-fated Perseus (213 – 165 BC), the last independent ruler of Macedonia, Philip of Macedon (c211 – c165 BC), who died in Roman captivity, like his elder brother, and Apama, the wife of Prusias II, king of Bithynia in Asia Minor. Queen Polykraetia died from the effects of childbirth.

Polyxena Christina Johanna    see   Polissena Cristina Giovanna

Pomare, Hariata – (c1840 – c1868)
New Zealand Maori traveller
She was a member of the Nga Puhi tribe and was a native of Te Ahuahu near Ohaeawai. She became the wife of Hare Pomare with whom she visited England (1863) with a Weslyan minister named William Jenkins. They were presented to the Prince and Princess of Wales and attended the opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre and were taken on tours of London whilst gave performances of Maori songs and dances. Both were then presented to Queen Victoria at Osborne House (1863) and the queen, noticing that Hariata was with child, expressed her wish to be the new infant’s godmother. Hariata and her husband were then lodged at the queen’s expense at Tottenham. Their son was named Albert Victor and is the first Maori attested to have been born in England (Oct 26, 1863). The child was baptized as a Christian and was then presented to the queen and her daughters at Windsor Castle in Berkshire. At Victoria’s request the pomare family were photographed and provided with European clothes. The family returned to Wellington aboard the Statesman (1864), the queen paying for their passage and expenses. Hare Pomare died in Wellington soon afterwards and Hariata was remarried before dying a few years later.

Pomfret, Henrietta Louisa Jeffreys, Countess of – (1695 – 1761)
British courtier and memoirist
Henrietta Jeffreys was the daughter of John, Lord Jeffreys of Shropshire and his wife Charlotte Herbert, later wife of Herbert, Viscount Windsor. She married (1720) Sir Thomas Fermor, lord Leominster (c1688 – 1753) who was created earl of Pomfret in 1721. Lady Pomfret served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Caroline, the wife of George II (1721 – 1737).  From 1738 – 1742 Lady Pomfret toured Europe with her husband, and the couple entertained Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu and Horace Walpole during their visits to Florence, Bologna, Venice, Augsburg, Frankfurt and Brussels. Lady Pomfret bought from her son George the statues which had formed part of the Arundel collection, and presented them to Oxford University, which sent her a letter of thanks, enclosed in a silver box (Feb, 1755). Her daughter Lady Charlotte Finch was appointed governess to the children of George III and Queen Charlotte, whilst her other daughter Sophia, the first wife of Lord Granville, was a famous society beauty. Her three volume work Correspondence between Frances, Countess of Hertford and Henrietta Louisa, Countess of Pomfret between 1738 and 1741, was published posthumously (1805). Lady Pomfret died (Dec 15, 1761) aged sixty-six, on the road to Bath, Somserset.

Pompadour, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de – (1721 – 1764)
French courtier and mistress of Louis XV
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was born (Dec 29, 1721) in Paris, the daughter of Francois Poisson, an army officer and financier, and his wife Louise Madeleine de La Motte. Her father was forced to flee France after financial ruin (1731) and her education paid for by a family friend, Charles Francois Le Normant de Tournehem (her mother’s lover), and she ultimately married his nephew, Charles GuillaumeLe Normant d’Etoiles (1741), to whom she bore her only child, Alexandrine (1744 – 1754).
Attracting the king’s attention and interest at the famous Ball of the Clipped Yew-Trees, she obtained a legal seperation from her husband, and was installed at Versailles as his mistress (1745) receiving the marquisate of Pompadour, which was elevated to a duchy. Due to the king’s lack of interest in public affairs, Madame de Pompadour took gradual control of the affairs of state for period of twenty years, the conspiracies hatched by members of the royal family, and other courtiers, jealous of her position. Annoyed after being lampooned by Frederick the Great of Prussia, she changed France’s traditional foreign loyalties. She filled public offices with her own friends and nominees, and appointed and removed ministers with disastrous political results for France, and was credited with being responsible for the Seven Years’ War (1756 – 1763).
Much more successful and appreciated as a patron of the arts, the marquise supported architects and painters, in which she also managed to interest the king. She founded the Ecole Militaire and the royal porcelain factory at Sevres, and was herself responsible for building developments such as the Place de la Concorde, the Petit Trianon, and the Chateau de Bellevue. Madame de Pompadour gave her interest and valuable support to such learned contemporaries such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Quesnay, Diderot and Boucher, and the authors of the Enyclopedie, but remained unable to rouse the equivalent interest in the king for literary affairs. Madame de Pompadour died (April 15, 1764) aged forty-two, at the Palace of Versailles.

Pompeia, Alma – (c475 AD – c550)
Armorican queen consort
Alma Pompeia was of Gallo-Roman background, being the daughter of Eusebius, the Roman comes (count) of Vannes in Brittany. She was married to Hoel I, king of Armorica (c470 AD – 545), the son and successor of King Budic, and was the mother of King Hoel II. Some sources call her Copagia. When Armorica was overrun by german tribes, the queen and her family are dais to have siught refuge with their kinsman, King Arthur, in Britain (c505).
With his father’s death (513) Hoel returned and managed to reclaim his kingdom. Hoel and Pompeia and their children later resided for many years in England, and Hoel died England three decades afterwards, by which time the queen had spent more than half her life in that country, and two of her sons had been borne and raised there. As a widow, she returned to Armorica with three of her children and seventy-two monks, and was queen mother at the court of her son. Queen Pompeia then retired from the world and became a nun at Labineau, Leon with her daughter Seva. Her son Tugdual became a monk and abbot, and Pompeia was venerated as a saint though the date of her feast is now lost.

Pompeia Agrippinilla – (fl. c150 – c170 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Pompeia Agrippinilla was the sister of Marcus Pompeius Macrinus Theophanes, and was related to Marcus Pompeius Macrinus, consul (164 AD). She became the wife of Marcus Gavius Squilla Gallicanus, consul (150 AD) during the reign of emperor Antoninus Pius. She is attested by a surviving inscription from Tusculum, which revealed she was the mother of Marcus Gavius Cornelius Cethegus, consul ord. (170 AD) and of Gavia Cornelia Cethegilla.

Pompeia Appia Cincia Agathoclia – (fl. c300 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Pompeia Appia Cincia Agathoclia was probably the daughter of Pompeius Faustinus and his wife Appia Alexandra, the daughter of the Imperial procurator and decurion Appius Alexander. She was the sister of Pompeius Appius Faustinus, who served as urban prefect (300 AD). Pompeia and her mother were attested by a surviving inscription from Thuggensis.

Pompeia Magna – (c78 – c40 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Pompeia Magna was the daughter of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnud (Pompey the Great) and his third wife Mucia Tertia, the daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, consul (117 BC). Pomepia Magna was married firstly (c65 BC) to Gaius Memmius, tribune (66 BC). She was then betrothed to Faustus Sulla, but this arrangement was broken and she was betrothed instead (59 BC) to Quintus Servilius Caepio. However Caepio appears to have died young and Pompeia was married to her former betrothed Faustus Sulla (88 – 46 BC), the son of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Faustus Sulla served as quaestor (54 BC).
When Julius Caesar wished to divorce his last wife Calpurnia for political and dynastic reasons (53 BC), he wanted to marry Pompeia who was still married to Sulla, but her father rejected this proposal. Pompeia bore Sulla two children before his death in the African war (46 BC). Pomponius Atticus then suggested Pompeia as a possible bride for his friend Cicero, but Cicero showed little enthusiasm for the idea. Finally Pompeia remarried to Lucius Cornelius Cinna, consul suffect (32 BC), to whom she bore two more children. As her brother Sextus Pompeius survived her, she must have died sometime prior to 36 BC, probably from the effects of childbirth. By Faustus Sulla Pompeia Magna was the mother of Cornelius Sulla, whose great-grandson, Faustus Sulla Felix was married to Antonia, the eldest legitimate daughter of the emperor Claudius I (41 – 54 AD). Pompeia’s daughter Cornelia Sulla was married to Quintus Lepidus, and left descendants. She bore her last husband Cinna two children also, Lucius Cinna Magnus (c45 BC – after 15 AD), consul (5 AD), and Cornelia Pompeia Magna, usually called Pompeia Magna, the wife of Lucius Scribonius Libo, who also left descendants.

Pompeia Magna, Cornelia – (fl. c30 – c10 BC)
Roman Imperial patrician
Cornelia Pompeia Magna was the daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, praetor (44 BC), and was sister to Lucius Cornelius Cinna, consul suffect (32 BC), whose wife Pompeia Magna was the widow of Faustus Sulla, and daughter of Pompey the Great. Pompeia’s name was revealed by a surviving inscription from Vernonensis (Verona), which remains the sole testimony for her existence. Modern research conducted by Ronald Syme identified her as the wife of Lucius Scribonius Libo she was the mother of two sons, Lucius Scribonius Libo, who left descendants, and Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus, who conspired against the emperor Tiberius and committed suicide (16 AD).

Pompeia Magna Pia – (fl. 39 – 36 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Pompeia Magna Pia was the daughter of Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius and his wife Scribonia, the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo, consul (34 BC), and was the granddaughter of Pompey the Great. After the peace of Misenum (39 BC) Pompeia was betrothed to Claudius Marcellus, the nephew of Octavia (later the emperor Augustus) was never married him. She later accompanied her father on his flight to Asia (36 BC) when he was captured and executed. Sources which erroneously state that she became the wife of Lucius Scribonius Libo confuse her with Cornelia Pompeia Magna, the daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, praetor (44 BC). Pomepia Magna Pia disappears completely from historical record after her father’s death, and most probably died young.

Pompeiana (Pomponiana) – (fl. 591 – 603)
Italian religious founder and benefactress
Pompeiana was a member of a senatorial family from Cagliari (Caralis) in Sardinia, and was the mother of Matrona, wife of Epiphanius, lector of the church of Cagliari. Pompeiana is mentioned in a surviving letter from Pope Gregory I, preserved in his Epistolarum Registrum. By June, 591 she had built a monastery for nuns on her own estates in Cagliari, probably the monastery of St Hermas which was mentioned in Gregory’s later letter (603). She caused some not inconsiderable legal wrangles by transferring some of her nuns to a site next to the house formerly owned by her son-in-law Epiphanius, which created difficulties in fulfilling his own wishes that a monastery for monks be established on that same site.
By 600 however, Pompeiana had apparently removed her nuns back to their former house, and intended herself to found a monastery for men on her son-in-law’s property. Pope Gregory in a letter of 603 reported that Pompeiana had complained to him that Januarius, Bishop of Cagliari, and Vitalis, a church official, ahd illegally seized property belonging to her daughter Matrona. The pope, who referred to Pomepiana as religiosa femina, also refers to a proposed visit to Rome, in a letter dated May, 593, of Pompeiana and Theodosia, the wife of Stephanus, and instructed his official Sabinus to help make arrangements for their journey.

Pompeia Paullina    see   Paullina, Pompeia

Pompeia Plotina     see    Plotina, Pompeia

Pompeia Rufa – (fl. c68 – 61 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Pompeia Rufa was the daughter of Quintus Pompeius and the granddaughter of Quintus Pompeius Rufus. Her mother Cornelia was the eldest daughter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Pompeia was married to the famous dictator Julius Caesar (100 – 44 BC) as his third wife, but the marriage remained childless. He later divorced her (61 BC) on suspicion of adultery with Publius Clodius. This had been due to persistent rumours that Clodius had disguised himself as a woman in order to seduce Pompeia at the celebration of the Bona Dea (Good goddess), from whose rites all men were excluded. The senate ordered a judicial enquiry into the desecration of this important religious rite. Evidence provided by Aurelia, Caesar’s mother, Julia Caesaris, his sister, and other noble ladies present, made it clear that Pompeia herself was innocent of any crime, but Caesar still divorced her ‘because I cannot have members of my household accused or even suspected.’ This statement was later altered to the well known quote that ‘Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.’ Nothing is known of her subsequent life.

Pompeia Sosia Falconilla    see    Sosia Falconilla, Pompeia

Pompeia Strabo – (c97 – after 54 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Pompeia Straba was the daughter of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, consul (89 BC) and his wife Lucilia, and was sister to Pompey the Great (Pompeius Magnus). She was married firstly (81 BC) to Gaius Memmius, who served as quaestor and was killed in the war against Sertorius in Spain (75 BC). Pompeia remarried to Publius Sulla, who also served as quaestor (75 BC), and was later attested by inscription as the stepfather of her son, A. Memmius. Through her second marriage Pompeia was the grandmother of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, consul (5 BC) under the Emperor Augustus, who was possibly the father of the Cornelius Sulla who was expelled from Rome by the emperor Tiberius (17 AD).

Pomponia Urbica – (fl. c350 – c370 AD)
Gallo-Roman patrician
Pomponia Urbica was the wife of Severus Censor Julianus. Her son Thalassius served as proconsul of Africa (c377 – 378 AD) and married the daughter of the poet Ausonius (c310 – c394 AD). Ausonius recorded in his Parentalia that Pomponia survived her husband.

Pomposa – (c830 – 853)
Spanish virgin martyr
Pomposa was the daughter of a wealthy family of Cordova, who sold their possessions and estates and built a double monatery outside the city at Pillemellar. Pomposa and several relatives and companions then entered the abbey and took up the religious life under vows of chastity. Pomposa was later taken from her convent and publicly beheaded by order of the Muslim governor after she spoke out against his religion. Pomposa was honoured as a saint (Sept 19).

Ponder, Eleanor Fox – (1883 – 1964)
American novelist and poet
Eleanor Fox was born near Brandon in Mississippi. She attended the University of Texas and was trained as a school teacher. She worked in the public school system in Mississippi and Georgia. She was married to a clergyman, Owen Ponder, and then worked for over two decades as a teacher in Houston, Texas, where she died (May 7, 1964). She was the author of the Southern novel Plantation Shadows (1949) which dealt with the fortunes and vicissitudes of the noble Foxblood family of Mississippi. Mrs Ponder published two volumnes of verse including Glimpses of Heights and Depths (1963).

Poniatwoska, Louise Le Hon, Princess – (1838 – 1931)
French courtier of the Second Empire period
Louise Le Hon was born in Paris (July 15, 1838) the natural daughter of Charles, Duc de Morny and his mistress Francoise de Mosselman. Louise was half-niece to the Emperor Napoleon III, and was a prominent figure at the court of the Empress Eugenie. She was married to the Polish peer, Prince Poniatowski. Princess Poniatowska died (Feb 9, 1931) aged ninety, two, in Paris.

Ponomareva, Sofia – (fl. c1810 – 1830)
Russian salonniere
Madame Ponomareva established a glittering salon in St Petersburg where she received the progressive intellectuals in Russian society durimg the reigns of Tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I.
Praised by Alexander Pushkin for her impressive educational and poetic graces, Sofia was the inspiration behind the works of the poets Alexander Delvig and Alexander Izmailov. The literary journal Poliarnoia zvezda (The North Star), which became the voice of the Decembrist political group, evolved in Madame Ponomareva’s salon.

Pons, Adelaide de – (c945 – 1011)
French ruler and countess of Carcassone
Adelaide de Pons was the sister of Baldwin de Pons. With the death of her first husband, Comte Roger I of Comminges, Adelaide remarried (970) to Roger I of Carcassone, the nephew of her first husband. The countess possessed many important fiefs and estates, and surviving charter evidence inidcates that she had the direct rule of Carcassone during her lifetime. Adelaide died (shortly after April, 1011) and left two children from her second marriage, Raymond Roger I (c970 – c1030), Count of Carcassone, and Ermesinde of Carcassone, the famous wife of Ramon Borrell (972 – 1018), Count of Barcelona.

Pons, Antoinette de – (c1555 – 1632)
French Valois courtier and heiress
Antoinette de Pons was a prominent and respected figure at the court of the last Valois rulers. She was married firstly to Henri de La Roche-Guyon, Marquis de Guercheville, to whom she bore a son Francois (died 1628) who was created Duc de La Roche-Guyon. Considered a great beauty but possessed of high moral standards she skillfully eluded the unwanted attentions of Henry IV whilst retaining his regard. Antoinette was then married to Charles III du Plessis-Liancourt, Comte de Liancourt (died 1620) who was created Duc de Liancourt. She bore her second husband a son Roger (died 1674), Duc de La Roche-Guyon and de Liancourt who left descendants and, Gabrielle du Plessis-Liancourt the wife of Francois V, de La Rochefoucald and mother of the famous Francois VI de La Rochefoucald (1613 – 1680) author of Maxims (1665). The fief of Beaumont-sur-Oise was later inherited by Antoinette (1583) who retained control of it for over forty-five years until she sold it to her son Roger and his wife Jeanne de Schomberg (1630).

Pons, Augustine Eleonore de – (1775 – 1843)
French courtier and memoirist
Augustine Eleonore de Pons was the daughter-in-law of Francois de Sourches, Marquis de Tourzel, and his wife Louise Felicite Josephine de Croy-Havre, later duchesse de Tourzel, and governess to the children of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. She was sister-in-law to Pauline, comtesse de Bearn, who accompanied the royal family on their abortive escape to Varenne (1792). During the revolution Augustine was arrested and imprisoned with other aristocrats at the chateau de Chantilly (Sept, 1793 – Oct, 1794). She survived the Terror and was released after the death of Robespierre. She then married Charles Louis Pons Marie du Bouchet de Sourches, marquis de Tourzel, and their daughter Emilie Leonie du Bouchet de Sourches (1802 – 1844) was married to Emeric de Durfort-Civrac, third Duc de Lorge (1802 – 1879) and left descendants. Augustine left memoirs of the early period in her life attached to the court entitled Un episode du temps de la Terreur (1857), which was published posthumously.

Pons, Lily – (1898 – 1976) 
French-American coloratura soprano
Alice Josephine Pons was born (April 16, 1898) at Draguinan, near Cannes. She studied singing at the Paris Conservatory and under Alberti De Gorostiaga.  She made her stage debut in the opera Louise (1928) and then performed in the opera Lakme, written by Clement Philibert Delibes (1836 – 1891). Lily Pons made her international debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1931) as Lucia, and performed with the Met with extraordinary success for three decades. She appeared in several films such as I Dream Too Much (1935), Hitting a New High (1937) and Carnegie Hall (1947), amongst others.

Pons, Maria Antonieta – (1922 – 2004)
Cuban dancer and film actress
Pons was born (July 11, 1922) in Havana. Her husband was the actor and director Juan Orol (1897 – 1988). Pons became famous for her frantic rumba dancing scenes set in seedy nightclubs, which earned her the nickname of ‘Tropical Queen.’ Her film credits included Noche de ronda (1943), Casa de perdicion (House of Perdition) (1956), Las Mil y una noches (A Thousand and One Nights) (1958), Las Cuatro milpas (The Four Corn Patches) (1960) and Viva Jalisco que es mi tierra (Long Live Jalisco, My Natal Land) (1961). Her last film appearance was in Cana brava (1966). Maria Antonieta Pons died (Aug 20, 2004) aged eighty-two, in Mexico City.

Pons, Simona    see   Gay, Simona

Ponselle, Carmen – (1888 – 1977)
American operatic mezzo-soprano
Born Carmela Ponzillo, and was the elder sister to Rosa Ponselle. She performed with her sister in vaudeville on the Keith Circuit as the Ponzillo Sisters or ‘Those Tailored Italian Girls,’ singing arias and ballads. Carmela later studied singing in New York with William Thorner, and performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and in concert and on radio.

Ponselle, Rosa – (1897 – 1981) 
Ittalian-American dramatic soprano
Born Rose Melba Ponzillo (Jan 22, 1897) in Meriden, Connecticut, she was the daughter of Italian immigrants, and was the younger sister to Carmen Ponselle. With little formal vocal training, Rosa worked as a vaudeville performer with her sister before receiving operatic instruction from William Thorner and Romano Romani. Rosa made her stage debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi’s Forza del Destino (1918), with the support of the famous tenor, Enrico Caruso. She went on to appear as Santuzza in, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Rezia in Carl Weber’s Oberon, and gave many concerts and recitals in her homeland and abroad in Europe, as well as in Covent Garden in London. Rosa Ponselle’s greatest and most admired role was in the title role of Bellini’s Norma. Another popular role was Carmen, and she had particular success in Italy as Violetta. Rosa Ponselle died (May 25, 1981) aged eighty-three.

Ponsonby, Elizabeth – (1900 – 1940)
British aristocrat and literary figure
The Hon. Elizabeth Ponsonby was born (Dec 28, 1900) the surviving daughter of Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby (1871 – 1946), the first Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (1930 – 1946), and his wife Dorothea Parry, the daughter of Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, first and last baronet. She was sister to Matthew Henry Ponsonby (1904 – 1976), the second Baron Ponsonby of Shuldrede (1946 – 1976). Her marriage (1929) with John Denis Cavendish Pelly, a member of the Pelly family of baronets, ended in divorce (1933). She was the model for the character of Agatha Runcible in Evelyn Waugh’s work Vile Bodies (1930). Elizabeth Ponsonby died (July 31, 1940) aged thirty-nine.

Ponsonby, Sarah – (1755 – 1831)
British recluse and journal writer
Sarah Ponsonby was the cousin and companion of Lady Eleanor Butler, with whom she resided for many years in a cottage at Plasnewydd in the vale of Llangollen in Wales, together with their servant, Mary Caryll. They were popularly referred to as the ‘Ladies of Llangollen.’

Pontalby, Marie Elisabeth de – (1777 – 1867)
French aristocrat, émigré, and diarist
Marie de Montalby was a student and then a teacher at the school for young ladies established by Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon at Saint-Cyr. This was closed by the revolutionaries, and Madamoiselle Pontalby survived these events by over seven decades. She left memoirs entitled Souvenirs de Mme de Pontalby, derniere survivante des demoiselles de la maison royale de Saint-Louis de Saint-Cyr (1869) which were published posthumously.

Pontchartrain, Eleonore Christine de La Rochefoucald, Comtesse de – (1681 – 1708)
French aristocrat and courtier
Known as Madamoiselle de Chefboutonne she was the twelfth and youngest child of Frederic Charles de La Rochefoucald, Comte de Roye and de Roucy, and his wife Elsiabeth de Durfort de Duras, the daughter of Guy Aldonce de Durfort, Marquis de Duras. Eleonore became the first wife (1697) of Jerome Phelypaux (1674 – 1747), Comte de Maurepas and Pontchartrain, the chancellor of France. The comtesse was mentioned in the Memoires of the court chronicler the Duc de Saint-Simon. With her dearly death (June 23, 1708) the Comte purchased the barony of Chefboutonne and La Foret from Eleaonore’s brothers which lands were created into a marquisate by Louis XIV (1712). Madame de Pontchartrain left five children,

• Marie Francoise Phelypaux de Maurepas (1698 – 1701). She died in infancy.
• Louis Francois Phelypaux (1700 – 1708). He was styled Comte de Maurepas but died during childhood.
• Jean Frederic Phelypaux (1701 – 1781). He succeeded his father as Comte de Maurepas and de Pontchartrain and was married but died childless.
• Paul Jerome Phelypaux (born 1703). He was styled Marquis de Chefboutonne and appears to have died without issue.
• Charles Henry Phelypaux (1706 – 1734). He was styled Comte de Maurepas but remained unmarried.

Pontchartrain, Marie de Maupeou de Monceau, Comtesse de – (c1653 – 1714)
French philanthropist
Marie de Maupeou de Monceau was the daughter of Pierre III de Maupeou, seigneur de Monceau. She was married (1668) to Louis II de Phelypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain (1643 – 1727), chancellor of France under Louis XIV. They were the parents of Jerome de Phelypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain (1674 – 1747), who married twice and left descendants. Her marriage was considered significant, both financially and socially, as her father was not wealthy and Marie herself lacked beauty.
The Duc de Saint Simon described her thus; “It would be impossible to imagine an uglier woman, but she was stout, well-shaped, and fresh complexioned, with an imposing air, and something of refinement.” She remained devotedly supportive of her husband’s political career and Saint-Simon records that the Comte heeded her advice. Madame de Pontchartrain maintained a community for the girls of poor families at Versailles, and with her husband she established a hospital at Pontchartrain, where the couple’s wealth provided for the sick and poor. During the famine of 1709 the comtesse doubled her usual amount of charitable donations for the benefit of the starving. The Comtesse de Pontchartrain died of lung-disease (April 12, 1714) at Versailles.

Pontefract, Christiana de – (fl. 1312 – 1328)
English medieval townswoman
Christiana Graunt was a native of London. Her first husband was John Neweman, a tanner near Cripplegate, London. Her brother John Graunt was apprenticed in the same business (1312). Her husband’s death (c1322) left her with four children under age and small financial resources. Christiana later remarried to a furbisher from Ironmonger Lane. With the death of her second husband (1328) she controlled properties in cripplegate, Ironmonger Lane, and Eastcheap. The wealth accumulated through her successive marriages led Christiana to make a third, more socially prominent marriage, with William de Pontefract, an important city alderman.

Pontefract, Elena de – (fl. 1307 – 1319)
English medieval townswoman
Elena was married firstly to Geoffrey de Hounsditch. With his death (c1307) Elena was left in possession of the family home, near Bishopsgate in London, her children being little more than infants. However, when she remarried (c1310) to the skinner William de Pontefract (living 1319), though she retained the use of the house where her new husband resided with her. Her husband’s business equipment for his tanning and brewing businesses passed to their son.

Ponteves, Douceline de – (c1198 – c1256)
French medieval heiress
Douceline de Ponteves was the daughter of Fulcan, seigneur de Ponteves, and his wife Mabile de Callian. She became the wife (1213) of Isnard I, seigneur d’Agoult (c1184 – c1220) whom she survived for thirty-five years. Douceline inherited the lordship of Ponteves, which passed to her younger son Foulques and his descendants. Through Foulques, Ponteves passed to Durand d’Amalric (1477), his son taking the surname of Ponteves, as a condition of inheritance. The seigneurie finally passed to the Soubise and Bourbon-Conde families in the eighteenth century.
Her two sons were Isnard II (c1215 – c1249), who succeeded his father in Agoult and left issue, and Foulques (c1217 – after 1264), Seigneur de Ponteves. He was married to Mathilde, the daughter and heiress of Guillaume de Cotignac, seigneur de Carces, and left descendants.

Ponthieu, Agnes de – (c1072 – 1103)
Norman-Anglo heiress
Agnes de Ponthieu was the eldest daughter and coheiress of Guy I, Count of Ponthieu, and his first wife Ada. Through her father she was a descendant of Princess Gisela, the eldest daughter of Robert II the Pious, second Capetian king of France (987 – 1032) and a descendant of the Emperor Charlemagne. Agnes was married firstly (1087) to the powerful Anglo-Norman baron, Robert de Montgomery (de Belleme) (1054 – 1131), third Earl of Shrewsbury, to whom she bore an only child, William (Guillaume) II Talvas (c1095 – 1171).
At the time of her marriage Agnes was her father’s sole heir, her only brother Enguerrand had died prior to this date, whilst her sisters Maude and Ida became nuns. She was cruelly treated by her husband, who kept her under guard at the castle of Belleme in Normandy for some time. The countess eventually managed to escape, with the help of a faithful chamberlain, and fled for refuge to the court of Blois, where she was received by the Countess Adela, the daughter of William the Conqueror. She later returned to Ponthieu, but never to her husband. Despite Robert de Belleme’s treatment of Agnes, it did not prevent her father Count Guy from recognizing Robert as heir to the county of Ponthieu on his deathbed (Oct 6, 1100), which may infer a reconciliation between father and son-in-law. Robert de Belleme only actually obtained the county when Agnes died at Abbeville, before the majority of their son William. Her son later married Helie of Burgundy (1080 – 1142), the widow of Count Bertrand of Toulouse, and left many descendants.

Pontia Posthuma – (c25 – 58 AD)
Roman patrician and murder victim
Pontia was perhaps a connection of Gaius Petronius Pontius Nigrinus and was a married woman when the senator Oactavius Sagitta paid her a considerable sum of money to abandon her husband and reside with him as his mistress. They exchanged promises to marry but Pontia prevaricated, pleading her father’s opposition to their marriage. Sagitta remonstrated by Pontia refused to listen. The historian Tacitus recorded in his Annales that Sagitta beguiled her into promising to spend one last night with him, and after a passionate reconciliation, he produced a knife and stabbed the unsuspecting woman to death. He was surprised by Pontia’s maid and wounded her and fled. The maid recovered and revealed his identity. Pontia’s father caused Sagitta to be tried for murder and he was sentenced to exile. Sagitta was still living in 70 AD when he was exiled a second time by the Emperor Vespasian

Pontrelli, Bernice – (1906 – 1993) 
American costume designer
Bernice Pontrelli was born in Italy and emigrated to American with her family as a child. In the early 1930’s she began her long and distinguished career at the Western Costume Company in Hollywood. Over the years Bernice worked for several of the large studios, Paramount, Universal and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, before becoming head of the wardrobe department at RKO.
Pontrelli’s designs appeared in prestigious films such as Witness for the Prosecution (1958), which starred Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, and Elsa Lanchester. Other films she designed for were How the West Was Won, and True Grit. Bernice also designed fashions for popular television shows such as The Fugitive and Love, American Style, and created her own line of sportswear for women. She retired in 1967. Bernice Pontrelli died in Burbank, California.

Ponziani, Francesca – (1384 – 1440)
Italian founder and saint
Francesca was born into a wealthy family in the Trastevere region of Rome, the daughter of Paolo Busso and his wife Jacobella Roffreeschi. She was married (1397) to Lorenzo Ponziani (c1375 – 1436) a commander of the papal troops in Rome who was later forced to flee the city because of political considerations (1414). The couple had three children, Giovanni Battista Ponziani (1400 – after 1440) and Agnes Ponziani (1399 – 1415) and Evangelisto Ponziani (c1402 – 1413) who both died in the plague.
During her husband’s abscences Francesca and her sister-in-law Vannozza Ponziani visited the sick and tended to the poor. With the consent of her husband she founded (1425) the Oblate Congregation of Tor de’ Specchi, who worked with the poor and sick and were affiliated with the Benedictines. This order received the approval of Pope Eugene IV (1433). She nursed her husband for several months prior to his death (1436) and then she became the superior of the order. Later canonized by Pope Paul V (1608) she is also known as St Frances of Rome, and her feast was observed annually on the anniversary of her death (March 9). Her body was later exhumed and placed in a crystal sarcophagus for the veneration of the faithful (1869). Francesca was declared to be the patron saint of motorists by Pope Pius XI (1925).

Pool, Judith Graham – (1919 – 1975)
American physiologist and scientific researcher
Judith Graham was born (June 1, 1919) in Queens, New York, the daughter of an Anglo-Jewish stockbroker. Judith attended the University of Chicago and was married firstly (1938) to Ithiel de Sola Pool, a political scientist, to whom she bore several children. Judith Pool worked with her husband at William Smith College, where she was a physics instructor. She later joined the School of Medicine at Stanford University as a research fellow and here she began her research into the coagulation of blood and studied under Ralph Waldo Gerard.
Her research involved the development of Cryoprecipitate, which was used successfully in transfusions to prevent bleeding, and thus completely changed the course of treatment usually provided to treat the hereditary disease haemophilia. She wrote several treatises on the subject which were published in various prestigious medical journals, and in recognition of her work Pool received the Murray Thelin Award from the National Haemophila Foundation (1968), the Elizabeth Blackwell Award (1973), and the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Chicago (1975). Judith Pool’s first marriage ended in divorce (1953), as did her second (1972) to Maurice Sokolow, professor of medicine and haematology at the University of California in San Francisco. Judith Graham Pool died of a brain tumour (July 13, 1975) aged fifty-six.

Poole, Elizabeth – (fl. 1640 – 1653) 
English religious prophetess and radical preacher
Elizabeth was originally from Hertfordshire or Berkshire and was a member of a Baptist congregation in London. Elizabeth later split from the Baptists and was said to have had visions and other mystical revelations, for which she was questioned by the Parliamentary government at Whitehall (1648). Poole warned them against executing King Charles I, for which she sufferred some ridicule, and then denounced both the army and the parliament in a published pamphlet (1649). Elizabeth Poole was alive in London several years later (1653) but her eventual fate remains unrecorded.

Pope, Anne Hopton, Lady – (1561 – 1625)
English Tudor peeress
The daughter of Owen Hopton, Anne was married firstly to Henry, third Baron Wentworth (1558 – 1593) by whom she was the mother of Thomas, fourth Baron Wentworth (1590 – 1667) and first Earl of Cleveland (1625 – 1667) who married twice and left issue, and Jane Wentworth, the wife of Sir John Finch (1571 – 1641). Lady Clifford then became the wife of Sir William Pope (1573 – 1631) of Wroxton Abbey, near Banbury. Portraits of Sir William and Lady Anne Pope were in the possession of Lord North of Wroxton (1900). After Anne’s death Sir William was created the first Earl of Downe by Charles I (1628). Lady Anne’s second marriage produced two sons Sir William Pope (1596 – 1624), the father of Sir Thomas Pope (1622 – 1660), second Earl of Downe (1631 – 1660), who left an only daughter and heiress Elizabeth Pope, Countess of Lindsey, and Sir Thomas Pope (1598 – 1668) who succeeded his nephew as third Earl of Downe (1660 – 1668) and left issue.

Pope, Clara Maria – (c1753 – 1838) 
British painter
Clara Leigh was the daughter of artist Jared Leigh, who probably trained her. She painted flowers, fruit and miniatures. She was married firstly to Francis Wheatley, painter of the Royal Academy, and secondly to Alexander Pope. Clara did several of the paintings for the Beauties of Flora by Samuel Curtis, which appeared between 1806 and 1820. Clara also illustrated Curtis’s Monograph on the Genus Camellia (1819) and was the model for some of her first husband’s figures in his Cries of London. Clara exhibited her work at the Royal Academy, and the British Institute. Clara Maria Pope died in London.

Pope, Elizabeth – (c1744 – 1797) 
British actress
Born Elizabeth Younge, she was formerly a milliner’s apprentice before David Garrick discovered her. In 1768 she made her London debut at the Drury Lane Theatre, and she specialized in comic and tragic roles. Elizabeth remained one of Garrick’s leading female players until his retirement (1776), playing a variety of roles such as Portia, Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra and Lydia Languish. She was married (1785) to Alexander Pope, the actor. The painter Francis Wheatley famously portrayed Elizabeth Pope as Shakespeare’s Viola.

Pope, Louise Kink    see   Kink, Louise Gretchen

Pope-Hennessy, Dame Una Constance – (1876 – 1949) 
British author, biographer, and translator
Una Birch was the daughter of Sir Arthur Birch and was privately educated. She was married (1910) to an army officer, Major-General Ladislaus Pope-Hennessy, to whom she bore two sons, including the biographer James Pope-Hennessy. Her best known works included Three English Women in America (1929) a study of Fanny Kemble, Frances Trollope, and Harriet Martineau, and biographies of several famous figures including Edgar Allan Poe (1934), Agnes Strickland (1940) and Charles Dickens (1945).

Popillia – (c160 – 102 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Popillia was the wife of Sextus Caesar and was the mother of three famous sons, Lucius Julius Caesar (died 87 BC), Gaius Julius Caesar Vopsicus (died 87 BC), and Quintus Lutatius Catulus (died 87 BC). Popillia’s third son Catulus wrote her funeral oration and she is the first example of a Roman woman to be honoured in such a way. Her granddaughter Julia Caesaris became the mother of the triumvir Marcus Antonius, the general and supporter of Julius Caesar, and lover of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII.

Popiot, Edeline – (fl. 1278 – 1290)
French-Anglo courtier
Edeline Tilyet was born in Ponthieu the sister of Jean (John) Tilyet. She became the wife of Philippe Popiot, also a native of Ponthieu who served in the householf of Jeanne of Ponthieu, Dowager Queen of Castile, prior to that lady’s death (1279). Edeline’s husband and brother were left a legacy in Jeanne’s will, and she and her husband then joined the household of Queen Jeanne’s daughter Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I, King of England (1272 – 1307) by 1281, Philippe as a valet and Edeline as a chamber lady. Until 1290 she also served as governess (magistrissa) to Joan of Acre, the queen’s daughter. She became Lady Popiot when Philippe by knighted by the king (1289). With the queen’s death (1290) Sir Philippe and Lady Popiot left the royal household and probably retired to their native Ponthieu. The details of Edeline’s life were recorded in the Liber Garderobe or surviving wardrobe accounts of Queen Eleanor.

Popova, Liubov Serbeevna – (1889 – 1924) 
Russian artist and stage designer
Born Liubov Eding near Moscow, she was born into a wealthy family and studied Italy and in Paris prior to WW I. After her return to Russia she became a member of the avant-garde set and was a member of the Constructivist school, working with Alexandre Exter. Popova produced portraits and still-lifes such as Painterly Architectonic (1918), using a representational style of cubism which utilized abstract colour values. She was particularly noted for her costume and set designs and was a teacher at the Vkhutemas Art Training School, and designed for Vsevolod Meyerhold and Sergei Tretyakov. A memorial exhibition of her work was held shortly after her early death at the First State Textile Print Factory. Her photographic portrait was taken by Alexander Rodchenko.

Popp, Adelheid – (1869 – 1936)
American trade unionist
Born Adelheid Dworak at Inzendorf, near Vienna she was educated at the local secondary school. Imbued with socialist ideals from early childhood, she later became a militant trade unionist, and was the leader of striking women from several clothing factories near Vienna (1893). Popp was the editor of the Arbeiterinnen Zeitung (1893), the newspaper of the Austrian Socialist Women’s Movement, and left personal reminiscences entitled the Autobiography of a Working Woman (1912). She was later employed as a government official before the rise of the Nazi regime.

Popp, Lucia – (1939 – 1994)
Austrian soprano
Lucia Popp was born at Uhorsk Ves in Czechoslavakia. She made her stage debut in Bratislava as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflote (1963), and then joined the Vienna State Opera. Admired in male roles, she made her first appearance in Covent Garden, London as Oscar in Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (1966).

Poppa    see    Papia of Bayeux

Poppaea Sabina (1) – (c12 – 47 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Poppaea Sabina was the daughter of Poppaeus Sabinus, governor of Moesia. Poppaea Sabina was married several times, but by her first marriage with Titus Ollius, an equestrian knight, who perished as a friend of Aelius Sejanus, the favourite of the Emperor Tiberius (31 AD), she was the mother of a posthumous daughter, also named Poppaea Sabina after her mother, later the second wife of the emperor Nero. Poppaea later fell foul of the empress Messallina, wife of Claudius I, who was jealous of both her beauty, and of her relationship with the opular Greek actor, Mnester. She was driven to commit suicide.

Poppaea Sabina (2) – (31 – 65 AD)
Roman Augusta
Poppaea Sabina was the daughter of the Roman equestrian, Titus Ollius, and his wife, the elder Poppaea Sabina, a courtier of Claudius I, and mistress to the famous actor Mnester. Her father was killed as an associate of Sejanus, favourite of the emperor Tiberius (31 AD), whilst her mother, the daughter of Poppaeus Sabinus, the governor of Moesia, later perished through the jealousy of the empress Messallina. Famous for her beauty, she was the wife of the future emperor Otho when Nero became attracted to her. She was first his mistress then campaigned for the removal of the empress Octavia, who was divorced and banished to the island of Pandateria. She is said to have encouraged the assassination of her mother-in-law, Agrippina the younger. Her death was said to have been caused when her husband, angry that she chided him at being overlong at the races, kicked her when she was pregant. She was deified. Their only child was Claudia Augusta (63 AD) the infant empress.

Poppyncourt, Jane (Jeanne) – (c1490 – after 1516)
French-Anglo courtier
Jeanne Poppyncort was born in Flanders and came to England as a child in order to become the companion to the Tudor princesses Margaret and Mary, daughters of King Henry VII (1485 – 1509) and Elizabeth of York. Jane Poppyncourt became an important member of the household of Mary Tudor, and received a considerable income, and was issued mourning clothes for the death of Prince Edmund (1500). Jane performed in the revels and masques held at the court of Henry VIII and his first wife Catharine of Aragon, being appointed to serve the queen as maid-of-honour (1509). When the French Duc de Longueville came to England as a prisoner of war, Jane became his mistress. She was supposed to have accompanied Mary Tudor to France for her marriage with Louis XII, but when the English ambassador in Paris informed King Louis of Jane’s relationship with de Longueville, he angrily struck Jane’s name off the list of the queen’s attendants, saying that he wished that she be burned alive on account of her inadequate morality.
Jane remained at the English court and is thought to have briefly been Henry’s mistress in 1514, prior to his liasion with Bessie Blount. At the Twelfth Night celebrations held at Eltham Palace, Kent, in that year, Jane performed with other ladies in a masque as one of the Dutch damsels in distress, who were rescued by four knights led by the king. Jane Poppyncourt eventually returned to France (1516), King Henry providing her a parting gift of one hundred pounds. She then attended the court of Francois I (1515 – 1547) where she secured a post in the household of his first wife, Claude d’Orleans. Jane resumed her relationship with de Longueville and was installed by him in the Louvre Palace, as his official mistress (maitresse en titre). For some time after her return to France Jane kept up a correspondence with her former mistress, Queen Mary, then the wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

Porada, Edith – (1912 – 1994)
Austrian-American archaeologist and art historian
Edith Porada was born (Aug 22, 1912) in Vienna, the daughter of a landowner and studied at the University of Vienna. Porada later immigrated to the USA (1938) and became a professor of art history at Queens College at the City University in New York (1950 – 1958). Her published works included The Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library (1948) and The Art of Ancient Iran (1965). Edith Porada died (March 24, 1994) aged eighty-one, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Porcean, Princesse de    see    Catherine of Cleves

Porcean, Jacqueline de Luxembourg, Comtesse de – (c1437 – 1518)
French mediaeval courtier
Jacqueline was the daughter of Louis de Luxembourg, Comte de Ligny and de St Pol and his wife Jeanne of Bar, Comtesse of Marle and Soissons. She was attended the court of Philip III of Burgundy and his wife Isabella of Portugal. Despite her father’s resistance to her marriage, Duke Philip ordered that Jacqueline be married (1455) to Philip I de Croy (c1430 – 1511), Seigneur de Croy and d’Araines, who had been raised at the court with his son Charles the Bold. The Comte de St Pol’s objection lay with Croy’s background which he did not deem of sufficient elevation to warrant his marriage with his daughter. St Pol later demanded Jacqueline be returned to his household but Croy kept her within the city of Luxembourg and ordered the gates be closed. When St Pol’s soldiers arrived they were unable to reclaim her and Philip de Croy sent her father the message that the unionhad been consummated and therefore could not be annulled. Madame de Croy became an important personage at the Burgundian court after her husband was appointed as chamberlain to Duke Philip (1457). When Croy later deserted the Burgundian cause for that of Louis XI of France (1471) the Duke of Burgundy confiscated their estates, and the comtesse resided with her husband at Boulogne for several years after Louis appointed him as seneschal there. Her father was later executed for treason by Charles of Burgundy but her husband was pardoned (1475) and they returned to his court where their properties and estates were restored to them and croy was created Comte de Porcean. Jacqueline assisted her husband with the foundation of the Church of Chateau-Porcean at Rheims, near Paris (1493) and with the assistance of the late duke’s stepmother the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, Margaret of York she established a convent at Louvain in Brabant. Jacqueline survived Philippe as the Dowager Comtesse de Porcean (1511 – 1518). Her granddaughter and namesake, Jacqueline de Croy de Porcean (died 1550) became the wife of Anton de Glymes, Marquis de Berghes (died 1541). Madame de Porcean’s three sons were,

• Henry de Croy (1456 – 1514). He succeeded his father as Comte de Porcean (1511 – 1514) and was married to Charlotte de Chateaubriand and left issue.
• Antoine de Croy (1457 – 1495). He became a priest and was appointed as Bishop of Therouanne.
• Guillaume II de Croy (1458 – 1521). He became the Marquis d’Arschot and served as Governor of the Netherlands for the Emperor Karl V. He was created a Spanish grandee as Duque de
  Soria e de Arche and was married to Marie de Hamal (died 1540), the widow of Count Adolf von der Mark but left no issue.

Porcellet, Philippine de – (c1230 – c1300)
French hagiographer
Philippine de Porcellet was the friend and disciple of the Provencal visionary St Douceline (1214 – 1274). Philippine became a Beguine, and joined Douceline’s order at Marseilles. She is believed to have been the author of Douceline’s Vita.

Porcia Cato – (71 – 42 BC)
Roman Republican heroine
Portia Cato was the daughter of Cato Uticensis and his first wife, Atilia. She was married firstly to Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, consul (59 BC) to whom she bore two children, and secondly to the assassin of Julius Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus (85 – 42 BC), as his second wife. Porcia inherited her her father’s Republican principles and courage. She caused her husband on the night prior to Caesar’s assassination, to disclose to her all the details of the conspiracy, and is reported to have wounded herself in the thigh with a dagger, to prove that she could be trusted. With the death of Brutus after the battle of Philippi, Porcia committed suicide.

Porcia Cato Saloniana – (93 – 46 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Porcia Cato Saloniana was the daughter of M. Porcius Cato Salonianus, tribune of the plebs (99 BC), and his wife Livia Drusa, former wife of Q. Servilius Caepio, prefect 91 BC. She was sister to the famous Republican figure, M. Porcius Cato, prefect (54 BC). Porcia was married (c79 BC) to Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul (54 BC), and was the mother of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (c73 – 31 BC), consul (32 BC), who married twice and left children. Through her son she was ancestress of Nero, last emperor (54 – 68 AD) of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. Widowed at the battle of Pharsalia (48 BC) she died soon afterwards. Cicero’s epitaph, the Laudatio Porciae, refers to her.

Porcia Maxima Optata – (fl. c180 – c200 AD)
Roman patrician
Porcia Maxima Optata was the daughter of the quaestor of Baetica, Publius Porcius Optatus Flamma (living 197 AD), who was perhaps Imperial legate of Rhaetia. She is attested by a surviving inscription as a young girl, which names her brother, and styles Porcia as clarissima puella.

Porete, Margeurite de – (c1265 – 1310) 
French Beguine, religious mystic, and writer
The author of The Mirror of Simple Souls, Margeurite de Porete was born in Valencienne in Flanders and became a beguin. The council of Vienne condemned the teachings of the Beguine and the writing of religious texts in the ordinary vernacular rather than in the tradtional Latin. She refused to comply, and was arrested, tried, condemned as a heretic, and was burnt to death in the Place de Greve in Paris.

Porsteinsdottir, Torfhildur – (1845 – 1918)
Icelandic author
Tofhildur Porsteinsdotter was born (Feb 2, 1845) at Kalfafellsstaour in Austur-Skaftafellssysla, the daughter of a Lutheran clergyman. She studied English in Reykjavik and finished her education in Copenhagen. Torfhildur was married (1873) to Jakob Fredrik Holm. There were no children. With her husband’s death (1875) she resided in the colony of New Iceland in Manitoba, Canada. Porsteinsdottir resided for many years in Canada and was the first Icelander to make a living solely from writing.
Her published works included the historical novel Brynjolfur Sveinsson biskup (Bishop Brynjolfur Sveinsson) (1882), which achieved great popularity and was translated into several languages. This was followed by the anthology Sogur og aevintyri (Stories and Tales) (1884), the tragic romance novel Kjartan og Gudrun (Kjartan and Gudrun) (1886) and the novel Elding (Lightning) (1889). Torfhildur later returned to Iceland (1891) and was granted a pension by the government due to her literary fame abroad and at home. She founded and edited the annual periodical, Draupnir (1891 – 1908), in which several of her novels were published, and published the collection Barnasogur (Children’s Stories) (1890). Torfhildur Porsteindottir died (Nov 14, 1918) aged seventy-three, in Reykjavik.

Portal, Iris Mary – (1905 – 2002)
Anglo-Indian author and traveller, she was born Iris Butler (June 15, 1915) at Simla in India, the daughter of the governor of the Central Provinces. Her brother, Lord Butler, was the master of Trinity College, Oxford. She was raised in Rajasthan and Lahore, and learnt to speak the Urdu language. Iris was married to Colonel Gervase Portal, of the Bengal Lancers, and wrote several books based upon her life in India such as The Viceroy’s Wife: Letters of Alice, Countess of Reading, from India, 1921 – 1925 (1969). Her other historical works included Rule of Three, the story of Queen Anne, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Lady Masham. Iris Portal died (Nov 9, 2002) aged ninety-seven, in North Walsham, Norfolk.

Porten, Henny – (1888 – 1960)
German film actress and producer
Porten was born (April 7, 1888) in Magdeburg, the daughter of the opera performer Franz Porten. Her talent was discovered by Oskar Messter, and she made appearances in many silent films such as Apachentanz (1906), Eva (1912), Anne Boleyn (1920), Der Kaufmann von Venedig (1923) and Mutter und Kind (1924). Porten became the first German movie star and established her own production company (1914) where she produced some of the films she starred in such as Geloste Ketten (1915), Rose Bernd (1919), Mona Lisa (1922) and Violanta (1927). She later appeared in a few sound films such as Familie Buchholz (1940), Woman of the Circus (1954) and Das Fraulein Scuderi (1955).

Porter, Anna Maria – (1780 – 1832)
British novelist and poet
The younger sister of author Jane Porter, Anna Maria was born at Durham, the daughter of an army surgeon, and well educated in music and art in Edinburgh, Scotland. She remained unmarried. Anna Porter’s first written work was a selection of verse, Artless Tales, which was published anonymously when she was fifteen (1795). This was followed by the novels Walsh Colville (1797) and Octavia (1798, 3 vols). She moved to London with her family, and produced the dramatic play Fair Fugitives (1803), which was unsuccessful.
Porter’s best remembered work was the three volume novel The Hungarian Brothers (1807) which dealt with the revolutionary war, and proved highly popular, both in Britain, and in Europe, it being translated into French (1818). This was followed by the less successful Don Sebastian, or the House of Braganza (1809), in three volumes. She also produced the romance The Knight of St John (1817). Other published works included Tales of Pity (1802), The Lake of Killarney (1804, three vols), Ballads and Romances and Other Poems (1811), The Recluse of Norway (1814, 4 vols), The Village of Mariendorpt (1821, 4 vols), Honor O’Hara (1826, 3 vols) and The Barony (1830, 3 vols). Anna Porter died of typhus (Sept 21, 1832) at Montpellier, near Bristol.

Porter, Ann Russell – (1904 – 1963)
American and poet
Ann Russell was born (Oct 17, 1904) at McHenry in Mississippi, and became the wife of R.V. Porter. She was a member of the North Mississippi Poetry Society of which organization she served as president. She published the collection of verse entitled White Gold (1952) and died (June 13, 1963) aged fifty-eight, at Greenwood.

Porter, Eleanor Hodgman – (1868 – 1920)
American novelist
Eleanor Porter was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, and studied music at the New England Conservatory. She was best known for her ever popular novel Pollyanna (1913) and its sequel Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). She was also the author of two volumes of short stories entitled The Tangled Threads (1924) which was published posthumously.

Porter, Geneva   see   Stratton-Porter, Gene

Porter, Helen Kemp – (1899 – 1987) 
British biochemist and scientific researcher
Born Helen Archbold in Farnham, Surrey, she attended Bedford College in London, where she studied science. She was married twice but left no children. Helen Porter worked at the Imperial College in London (1922 – 1964), where she studied biochemistry with Elsie Widdowson and worked there for four decades. She conducted extensive and detailed research into the metabolism of plants, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy (1956) in recognition of her valuable scientific contributions.

Porter, Helen Tracy Lowe    see    Lowe-Porter, Helen Tracy

Porter, Jane – (1776 – 1850) 
British novelist and author
Jane Porter was sister to the noted traveller and painter, Sir Robert Ker Porter (1775 – 1842), and to the novelist Anna Maria Porter. She was born in Durham the daughter of an army surgeon. Her father died whilst she was a small child, and Jane was educated in Edinburgh. She wrote several historical novels such as Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803), The Hungarian Brothers (1807), which dealt with the French Revolution, and The Scottish Chiefs (1810) which dwelt on the life of the Scottish hero William Wallace. Her later works included The Pastor’s Fireside (1815) and Tales Round a Winter Hearth (1824) which was produced in conjunction with her sister Anna Maria. The fiction work Sir Edward Seaward’s Shipwreck (1831), written by Jane’s brother, William Ogilvie Porter, was edited by her.

Porter, Katherine Anne Maria Veronica Callista Russell – (1890 – 1980) 
American author and novelist
Katherine Porter was born in Indian Creek, Texas, near Austin, and brought up by her grandmother near the Texan town of Kyle. Married and divorced before the age of twenty, she worked as a journalist and reporter, as well as travelling to Mexico, where she became involved in various causes (1920 – 1922). She was married three times. Porter began writing at an early age, but would not allow anything in print until her collection of stories Flowering Judas (1928). Katherine Porter was  known for her classic, elegantly wrought tales such as Old Mortality, and the novel Hacienda (1934), and perhaps her best known work of all was the autobiographical and enormously successful Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939).
Her early examples of short fiction tales dealt with the emotional turbulence just beneath the tranquil surface, and the theme of self-betrayal remains constant throughout. Her most famous work, for which she received the Pulitzer Prize, was Ship of Fools (1962) which dealt with Nazi Germany and aroused a great deal of controversy. It was later made into a successful film by Oskar Werner (1965), and starred Simone Signoret as La Condesa, with Vivien Leigh, Jose Ferrer, Michael Dunn, George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley, and others. A volume of essays The Days Before, appeared (1952) and The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (1965) won her both the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (1966) and the National Book Award. Her last published work was The Never-Ending Wrong (1977) concerning the prosecution and execution of the supposed anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti over fifty years earlier. She retired to Georgetown, Washington (1960). Katherine Porter died in a nursing home in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Porter, Nyree Dawn – (1936 – 2001)
New Zealand stage, film and television actress
Porter was born (Jan 22, 1936) in Napier, and established herself as a creditable stage actress touring with the New Zealand Players Trust. She performed Shakespearean roles such as Jessica in The Merchant of Venice and Olivia in Twelfth Night, and also appeared in musicals and various other shows. Porter went to England after winning a talent competition for actresses arranged by the British film company Rank. She had a screen test and appeared in various films but continued to work mainly in theatre and television.
Nyree Dawn Porter’s stage successes included the roles of Connie in Neil Simon’s play Come Blow Your Horn and Anna in The King and I. Porter‘s film credits included Sentenced For Life (1960), Part-time Wife (1961), Live Now – Pay Later (1962), and Two Left Feet (1963). Miss Porter appeared as Blanche Ingram in the adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre (1971) with George C. Scott and Susannah York. She was married firstly to Byron O’Leary and secondly to Robin Halstead.
Porter was best remembered for her career in television where she appeared in such popular programs as The Forstye Saga as Irene which performance gained her a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award (1970), The Protectors as Contessa Caroline di Continiand the serial David Copperfield as Mrs Steerforth. She appeared in the title role of the daytime television serial For Maddie With Love (1980 – 1981). Nyree Dawn Porter died (April 10, 2001) aged sixty-five, in Wandsworth, London.

Porter, Persia    see    Galleghan, Lady

Porter, Sylvia – (1907 – 1991)
American economist, writer, and newspaper columnist
Born Sylvia Field in Patchogue, New York (June 18, 1907), she became an influential journalist, and was attached to the New York Post newspaper from 1935 as an editor and financial columnist. Sylvia Porter was the author of several works concerning the management of finances such as How to Make Money in Government Bonds (1939), How To Get More Money (1961), and Sylvia Porter’s Money Book (1975).

Portes, Marie Felice de Budos, Marquise de – (1628 – 1693)
French letter writer
Madame de Portes was a prominent courtier of Louis XIV at Versailles, where she held her own salon. The marquise was acquainted socially with Mme de Sevigne, Mme de La Fayette, and the Marquise de Villars. Her personal correspondence with the king’s kinsman Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, has survived. It was edited by B. Elziere, and published as La Correspondence de Marie Felice de Budos, Marquise de Portes, avec le Grande Conde (1975).

Porth, Gertrud – (1866 – 1942)
German courtier
Gertrud Porth was born (June 30, 1866). She became the wife of Prince George Friedrich Reinhard von Bentheim-Steinfurt (1851 – 1939) but the marriage was not officially recognized and remained morganatic. Gertrud was given the title of Madame (feifrau) von Althaus by royal decree (1889). The marriage remained childless. Madame von Althaus survived her royal husband (1939 – 1942) and died (Oct 16, 1942) aged seventy-six.

Porthault, Madeleine – (1906 – 1980)
French linen designer
Porthault was the driving force behind the successful linen company D. Portault Inc which had been established in 1920 as a silk lingerie manufacturing company. She and her husband Daniel Porthault began designing linen and cotton bedsheets which led to the established of the internationally famous Porthault designs, which were purchased by such people as Iranian royal family (1971) and Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy at the White House. Madame Porthault died (April 27, 1980) aged seventy-three, in Paris.

Portinari, Beatrice – (1266 – 1290)
Italian literary muse
Beatrice Portinari was the famous object of love of the author Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321). She was the daughter of Folco Portinari, a Florentine patrician. Known by the childhood diminuitive ‘Bice’ she met Dante as a child (1274). Dante wrote the prose and verse work entitled Vita Nuova (The New Life) in which he idealized his love for Beatrice until it came to mean something mystical and symbolic. She appears as the divine messenger, sent to enlighten him and all of mankind, and Dante referred to her the ‘glorious lady of my heart.’ Beatrice was married (c1282) to Simon de Bardi, a young nobleman, but died of the plague (June, 1290) aged only twenty-four. Dante’e passion for Beatrice remained unquenched until his death, and in his great poem The Divine Comedy, Beatrice is his guide through Paradise and is idealized as the embodiment of the spirit of love. His own daughter, Beatrice Alighieri, who became a nun, was named in her memory.

Portland, Dorothy Cavendish, Duchess of – (1750 – 1794)
British Hanoverian peeress and political figure
Lady Dorothy Cavendish was born (Aug 27, 1750) the only daughter of William Cavendish (1720 – 1764), fourth Duke of Devonshire and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth Boyle (1731 – 1754), sixth Baroness Clifford, who died as Marchioness of Hartington. She became the wife (1766) of William Henry Bentinck (1738 – 1809), the third Duke of Portland and was the Duchess of Portland (1766 – 1794). She became involved in contemporary politics and was one of the great beauties of the era, though her proud and disdainful nature gained her few close friends.
The Duchess of Portland died (June 3, 1794) aged forty-three, in London. She was interred at St Marylebone in London and left five children,

• William Cavendish-Bentinck (1768 – 1854). He was Marquess of Hartington prior to succeeding his father as fourth Duke of Portland (1809 – 1854). He left issue.
• Lieutenant-General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (1774 – 1839). He served as Governor-General of India (1827 – 1835) and was married but left no issue.
• Lord William Charles Augustus Cavendish-Bentinck (1780 – 1826). He was married twice and left issue.
• Lord William Frederick Cavendish-bentinck (1781 – 1820). He was married and left issue.
• Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck (died 1862). She became the wife of Charles Greville (1762 – 1832) and left issue.

Portland, Frances Stuart, Countess of – (1617 – 1694)
English Royalist heroine
Lady Frances Stuart was the wife of Jerome Weston, second Earl of Portland (1605 – 1663), and was the daughter of Esme Stuart, third Duke of Lennox and his wife Katherine, Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold. An ardent royalist, she took the side of King Charles I during the struggle of the civil war against the supporters of Oliver Cromwell. Lady Portland vowed that she would fire the cannons upon the Parliamentarians herself rather than hand over Carrisbrooke Castle to them. Under siege, royalist supporters enabled the countess to leave the castle unmolested, though Carrisbrooke was later captured. Her portrait was painted by Antony Van Dyck, and engraved by Wenceslas Hollar. Her son Charles Weston (1639 – 1665) died unmarried, being killed in a naval battle against the Dutch, and the earldom became extinct at his death. Lady Portland was interred in Westminster Abbey, London.

Portland, Ivy Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of – (1887 – 1982)
British peeress (1943 – 1977)
Ivy Gordon-Lennox was born (June 16, 1887) the only child of Lord Algernon Charles Gordon-Lennox, a younger son of the sixth Duke of Richmond, and his wife Blanche Maynard, the daughter of Colonel Charles Maynard and stepdaughter of the Earl of Rosslyn. Her maternal aunt was Lady Daisy Brooke, later the Countess of Warwick, the mistress of Edward VII (1901 – 1910). She was raised between the family estate of Broughton Castle, near Banbury and their town house in Mayfair, London. Prior to her marriage Ivy was appointed to serve at court as maid-of-honour (1912 – 1915) to Queen Dowager Alexandra, the widow of Edward VII.
Ivy Gordon-Lennox was married (1915) to William Cavendish-Bentinck (1893 – 1977), Marquess of Titchfield, the son and heir of the sixth Duke of Portland and became the Marchioness of Titchfield (1915 – 1943). During WW I Lady Titchfield was connected with the Nurses’ Clubs in France organized by Princess Victoria, sister to George V, and three portraits of her were produced by the famous painter Philip de Laszlo (1915). When her husband became a Junior Lord of the Treasury Lady Titchfield became a political hostess and was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1958) as Dame Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck. She survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Portland (1977 – 1982) and established the Harley Foundation at Welbeck Abbey (1977) to encourage the arts. The Duchess died (March 3, 1982) aged ninety-four, at Welbeck Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire. She left two daughters,

• 1) Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck (1916 – 2008). She remained unmarried.
• 2) Lady Victoria Cavendish-Bentinck (1918 – 1955). She became the wife of Gaetano Parente, Prince di Castelviscardo and left an only son.

Portland, Jane Martha Temple, Countess of – (1672 – 1751)
English Stuart and Hanoverian courtier and peeress
Jane Temple was the daughter of Sir John Temple, of East Sheen, Surrey, and his wife Jane Yarner, the daughter of Sir Abraham Yarner, of Dublin. She was married firstly to John Berkeley (1663 – 1697), the third Baron Berkeley of Stratton. With his death, she became the second wife (1700) of Hans Willem Bentinck (1649 – 1709), first Earl of Portland, the favourite of William III. The couple had many children and she survived her second husband for over forty years (1709 – 1751) as the Dowager Countess of Portland.
After her husband’s death Lady Portland served at court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne Stuart (1709 – 1714). With the accession of George I she relinquished this post, but was later appointed (1718) as lady-in-waiting to the king’s daughter-in-law, Caroline of Ansbach, Princess of Wales. Soon afterwards the countess was appointed as the state governess to the princesses Anne, Amelia, and Caroline, the eldest daughters of the Prince and Princess of Wales, at St James’s Palace. Due to the command of the king, the Princess of wales had been kept apart from her young daughters. When Princess Anne became ill with smallpox (1720) it was a letter from Lady Portland to Princess Caroline, informing her of the situation, which got the order for this seperation, on account of a family quarrel, rescinded. Lady Portland attended the coronation of George II and Queen Caroline (1728), and was later present at the queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey (Dec, 1737). Due to her service to the royal princesses, the countess had apartments at Whitehall Palace, in London, where she resided much during the later years of her life. The Countess of Portland died (May 26, 1751) aged seventy-nine, at Whitehall Palace. She was interred with her father at Mortlake in Surrey. Her children were,

• Lady Sophia Bentinck (1701 – 1748). She became the second wife of Henry Grey (1671 – 1740), Duke of Kent, and left issue.
• Lady Elizabeth Ariana Bentinck (1703 – 1765). She became the wife of Dr Henry Egerton (c1684 – 1746), Bishop of Hereford, brother of Scroop Egerton, the first Duke of Bridgewater, and left issue.
• William Bentinck (1704 – 1774). He was created a Count of the Empire as first Count Bentinck for himself and his descendants by the Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI (1732). He was married to the famous heiress and traveller, Countess Charlotte Sophia von Ahldenburg, and left issue, the Bentinck family of the Netherlands.
• Charles John Bentinck, Count Bentinck (1708 – 1779). He was married to Lady Margaret Cadogan, but died childless.
• Lady Henrietta (Harriet) Bentinck (1706 – 1792). She became the wife of James Hamilton (died 1758), first Earl of Clanbrassil, and left issue.
• Lady Barbara Bentinck (1709 – 1736). She became the wife of Francis Godolphin (1707 – 1785), the second Baron Godolphin of Helston.

Portland, Margaret Cavendish Harley, Duchess of – (1714 – 1785)
British society figure and courtier
Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley was born (Feb 11, 1714), the only daughter and heiress of Edward Harley, second Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (1689 – 1741), and his wife Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Holles, the only daughter and heiress of John Holles (1662 – 1711), first Duke of Newcastle. Margaret Harley inherited many valuable estates from her father. Lady Margaret was celebrated as a child by the poet Matthew Prior (1664 – 1721) as ‘My noble lovely little Peggy.’ She was married (1734) at Oxford Chapel, Marylebone, London, to William Bentinck (1709 – 1762), second Duke of Portland, to whom she bore several children and survived as Dowager Duchess (1762 – 1785).
The duchess is frequently mentioned in Mrs Delany’s Autobiography and Correspondence, which reveals that she resided with her husband most amicably, and described her as ‘a lovely, gifted woman, with an active mind, varied interests, and a great deal of energy…’. Her own particular hobby was ‘turning’ which she craft she carried out in ivory, jet, wood, and amber. She attended the court of Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, and her own circle of friends included Jean Jacques Rousseau, David Garrick, and Edward Young. The Duchess of Portland died (July 17, 1785) aged seventy-one, at Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire. She was buried in Westminster Abbey with her husband. Her children included,

• Lady Elizabeth Bentinck (1735 – 1825). She became the wife of Thomas Thynne (1734 – 1796), first Marquess of Bath, and left descendants.
• Lady Henrietta Bentinck (1737 – 1827). She became the wife of George Grey (1737 – 1819), fifth Earl of Stamford, and left descendants.
• William Henry Bentinck (1738 – 1809). He took the surname of Cavendish-Bentinck by Royal license (1801) and succeeded his father as third Duke of Portland. He left descendants.
• Lord Edward Charles Bentinck (1744 – 1819). He was married and left issue.

Portland, Winifred Anna Dallas-Yorke, Duchess of – (1867 – 1954)
British peeress and courtier
Winifred Dallas-Yorke was the only daughter of Thomas York Dallas-York, of Walmsgate in Lincolnshire, a Justice of the Peace. She became the wife (1889) of William John Cavendish-Bentinck (1857 – 1943), the sixth Duke of Portland and was the Duchess of Portland for over five decades (1889 – 1943). She bore him three children. The duchess was appointed to serve at court as the Mistress of the Robes (1913) to the Queen Mother Alexandra, widow of Edward VII and mother of George V. She retained this office until Queen Alexandra’s death (1925). During WW I the duchess became involved in work for the war effort and organized nursing and ambulance units and comforts for the troops to be sent to the front. In recognition of this valuable volunteer work she was created D.J.ST.J (Daughter of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem). She served as a Justice of the Peace for Nottinghamshire and was a prominent figure in local society. She was later appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) (1935) as Dame Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, though she was always known by her ducal title. She survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Portland (1943 – 1954) and died (July 30, 1954). Her children were,

• Lady Victoria Alexandrina Violet Cavendish-Bentinck (1890 – 1994). She became the wife of Captain Michael John Erskine-Wemyss (1888 – 1982) of Wemyss Castle in Fife, and left issue.
• William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (1893 – 1977). He succeeded his father as the seventh Duke of Portland (1943 – 1977) and was married but left only two surviving daughters.
• Lord Francis Morven Dalls Cavendish-Bentinck (1900 – 1950). He remained unmarried.

Portman, Emma Lascelles, Lady – (1809 – 1865)
British peeress and courtier
Lady Emma Lascelles was born (March 16, 1809) at Harewood House in Yorkshire, the third daughter of Henry Lascelles, third Earl of Harewood and his wife Henrietta Sebright, the daughter of lieutenant-General Sir John Saunders Sebright, sixth baronet. She was married (1827) to Edward Berkeley Portman (1799 – 1888), first Viscount Portman and became Viscountess Portman. Lady Portman served at court as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria (1837 – 1851). She was involved in the unfortunate Lady Flora Hastings affair (1839) and was one of those ladies who mistakenly believed she was pregnant, being a supporter of the Baroness Lehzen. Lady Portman was well liked by Queen Victoria though she never achieved any particular promienece within the royal household. After fourteen years of royal service Lady Emma semi-retired becoming an Extra Lady in Waiting. Lady Portman died (Feb 8, 1865) aged fifty-five, at her home in Bryanston Square in London. Her six children included four sons,

• William Portman (1829 – 1919). He succeeded his father as the second Viscount Portman (1888 – 1919) and was married twice and left issue.
• Hon. (Honourable) Edwin Berkeley Portman (1830 – 1921). He became a barrister and was a Member of Parliament for Dorset (1885 – 1892). He left issue.
• Hon. Maurice Berkeley Portman (1833 – 1888). He left issue.
• Hon. Reverend Walter Berkeley Portman (1836 – 1903). He became the Rector of Carton Denham at Sherborne in Dorset.

Portsmouth, Duchess of     see    Keroualle, Louise Renee de

Portsmouth, Bridget Mary Crohan, Countess of – (1909 – 1979)
British peeress
Bridget Crohan was the only daughter of Captain Patrick Bermingham Crohan of the Royal Navy. She was raised at Owlpen Old Manor at Uley in Gloucestershire. She became the second wife (1936) of Gerard Vernon Wallop (1898 – 1984), Viscount Lymington and became the Viscountess Lymington. When Lord Lymington succeeded as the ninth Earl of Portsmouth Lady Bridget became the Countess of Portsmouth (1943 – 1979). She bore him three children including Hon. (Honourable) Nicholas Valiynes Bermingham Wallop who married and left issue. During WW II Lady Portsmouth was involved in volunteer work organizing ambulance and nursing services and comforts for the troops and she was appointed O.ST.J (Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem).

Portsmouth, Elizabeth Griffin, Countess of – (1691 – 1762)
British Hanoverian heiress and peeress (1741 – 1762)
The Hon. (Honourable) Elizabeth Griffin was baptized (Nov 30, 1691) at Dingley in Northants, the elder daughter of James, second Baron Griffin of braybrooke and his wife Anne Rainsford, the daughter of Richard Rainsford of Dallington, Northants. She was married firstly to her cousin Henry Neville of Billingbear in Berkshire who assumed the surname of Grey. He died in 1740 and Mrs Neville then became the second wife (1741) of John Wallop (1690 – 1762), first Earl of Portsmouth and Elizabeth became the Countess of Portsmouth being formally presented as such at the court of George II. Lady Portsmouth inherited part of the estate of Saffron Walden in Essex which passed to her nephew John Griffin Whitwell, the fourth Baron Howard de Walden and first Baron Braybrooke. The countess died (Aug 13, 1762) three months prior to the death of Lord Portsmouth.

Portugal, Constanza Sanchez de – (1204 – 1269)
Portugese royal and nun
Constanza de Portugal was the second illegitimate daughter of Sancho I Martino, King of Portugal (1185 – 1211) and his mistress Maria Paez de Ribera, the daughter of Payo Moniz. She never married and took religious orders, becoming a nun at the abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, being joined there by her younger sister Mayora Sanchez. Dona Constanza died (Aug 8, 1269) aged sixty-five.

Poschacher, Marie Louise – (1886 – 1965)
Austrian sculptor
Poschacher was born (April 1, 1886) in Vienna, the daughter of Anton Poschacher (1841 – 1904), the noted industrialist. She studied art with Moritz Heymann and Benno Becker in Munich, Bavaria.Poschacher specialized in monuments and portrait busts, completing many commissions for the government of Java in Indonesia. Marie Louise Poschacher died (Aug 9, 1965) aged seventy-nine, at Mauthausen in Upper Austria.

Posse, Sophia Ottiliana – (1824 – 1884)
Swedish writer
Born Countess Sophia Posse of ancient lineage, she became the wife of the noted Swedish historian Emil Key (1822 – 1892). When her husband was appointed as a member of the Riksdag (parliament) the family moved to Stockholm. Her husband later lost his fortune and the family lived in rather straitened circumstances. She was the mother of the author Ellen Key (1849 – 1926).

Post, Emily – (1872 – 1960)
American socialite and writer on etiquette
Emily Price was born (Oct 27, 1872) in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Bruce Price, an architect, and was educated in New York, Beuatiful and elegant, she made her debut in society and then became the wife (1892) of Edward Post, the inventor and sportsman. Emily Post first published a collection of her letters in novel form as The Flight of a Moth (1904). She later wrote a daily newspaper column for the Bell Syndicate for almost three decades (1932 – 1960) and was the founder of the Emily Post Institute (1946).
Mrs Post was the author of several works on good manners and household management such as Purple & Fine Linen (1905), Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home (1922), which became a best-seller, over half a million copies being sold and The Emily Post Cookbook (1951). Emily Post wrote syndicated newspaper columns and appeared on the weekly radio. She also published The Personality of a House (1930), her own especial favourite, which dealt with home decoration, and Children Are People (1940). Emily Post died (Sept 26, 1960) aged eighty-eight.

Post, Marjorie Merriweather – (1887 – 1973)
American businesswoman and philanthropist
Marjorie Post was born (March 15, 1887) in Springfield, Illinois, the daughter of Charles William Post, founder of the multi-million dollar Postum Cereal Company. She was married firstly (1905) to Edward Bennett Close, a lawyer from New York, to whom she bore two daughters. With her father’s death (1914), Marjorie inherited the company. Through her deft management the Postum Company acquired the Birdseye General Food Company (1929), and her company was renamed the General Foods Corporation. This engendered much personal wealth for Post and she was a renowned society hostess at Palm Beach in Florida and at her Washington residence of Hillwood.
During WW I she generously contributed to the Red Cross, and organized a two thousand bed hospital at Savenay in France. She was a principal benefactor of Mount Vernon College, contributed to the construction of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and provided generous funds for the National Symphony Orchestra. Through her second marriage (1920 – 1935) to Edward Francis Hutton, a New York stockbroker, she was the mother of actress Dina Merrill (born 1923). Her third marriage (1935 – 1955) was with Joseph Edward Davies, the US ambassador to Russia and Belgium, and her fourth (1958 – 1964) was to Herbert Arthur May, the head of the Westinghouse Corporation. All four of her marriages ended in divorce. Marjorie Post died (Sept 12, 1973) aged eighty-six.

Postan, Eileen     see    Power, Eileen Edna de La Poer

Poston, Elizabeth – (1905 – 1987)
British pianist and composer
Elizabeth Poston was born at Highfield, Hertfordshire. She studied piano with Harold Samuel, and later took courses at the Royal Academy of Music in London. During WW II she was placed in charge of music in the European service of the BBC in London. Elizabeth also composed music for hymns and Christmas carols, as well as music for cinema and radio. She died unmarried at Highfield. Her works include, The Holy Child (1950) for chorus, vocal soloists and a string orchestra, Concertino da Camera on a Theme of Martin Peerson (1950) for an instrumental piece, Peter Halfpenny’s Tunes (1959) for recorder and piano, Magnificat (1960) for four voices and organ, 3 Scottish Carols (1969) for chorus and strings or organ, Harlow Concertante (1969) for string quarter or string orchestra, and An English Day Book (1971), for mixed voices and harp. Elizabeth Poston was elected as president of the Society of Women Musicians (1955 – 1961) and also composed the musical score for the film Howard’s End (1970).

Poston, Gretchen Householder – (1932 – 1992)
American presidential social secretary
Gretchen Householder was born in Minneapolis and was educated at St Mary’s College in Leavenworth, Kansas. She was trained as a schoolteacher and was married to Raymond Poston of Washington, where she became closely involved with the activities of the Democratic Party. Poston founded the events-planning company Washington Inc., and was closely associated with the campaigns of every presidential nominee from 1964 onwards. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Poston was appointed as social secretary of the White House (1977 – 1981), and during this time she organized the state visit of Pope John Paul II. With the advent of the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Poston returned to head her former company, and in that capacity later organized the US visit of the Polish leader Lech Walesa (1989). Gretchen Poston died of breast cancer (Jan 6, 1992) aged fifty-nine, in Washington.

Postuma, Anicia – (fl. c30 – c54 AD)
Roman patrician
Anicia Postumia was the wife of the nobleman Etrilius Afer. She was perhaps connected with Publius Anicius Maximus who was prefect of the II Augustan legion in Britain, perhaps during the the reign of either Caligula or Claudius I. Postuma is attested by a surviving inscription put up to her honour by the people of the colony of Augusta Gemella (Tuccitania) in Baetica. She was probably the mother of Etrilia Afra who became the wife of Valerius Vegetus who served as consul (91 AD) under the Emperor Domitian.

Postumia – (fl. c420 BC)
Roman priestess and Vestal Virgin
Postumia had been dedicated to the service of the goddess Vesta from childhood. The historian Livy records in his Periochae that Postumia was accused and tried for sexual offences. Actually she was innocent, but her love of fine clothes and witty conversation led to the charges against her. Postumia was imprisoned for a short period, but was then acquitted of all charges, though cautioned by the Pontifex Maximus to pay more attention to her duties and less to matters of feminine dress.

Postumia, Pontia    see   Pontia Postumia

Postumia Maior – (fl. c90 – c70 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Postumia Maior was the elder sister of Postumia Minor, the wife of Servius Sulpicius, consul (51 BC). Postumia became the first wife of Decimus Junius Brutus, consul (77 BC), and was the mother of Decimus Junius Brutus Postumius Albinus (81 – 43 BC), who was designated for the consulship (42 BC) by Julius Caesar, but instead became the principal commander of the Republican forces against Marcus Antonius in northern Italy, before being killed by Antonius in Gaul.

Postumia Minor – (fl. c90 – c70 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Postumia Minor was the younger sister of Postumia Maior, the wife of Decimus Junius Brutus. She became the wife of the noted jurist, Servius Sulpicius rufus (110 – 43 BC), agreeing to marry him despite their difference in background. He became consul (51 BC) due to Postumia’s family connections and political influence. This Postumia is said to have been seduced by Julius Caesar. She bore Sulpicius a son and heir, and two daughters, Sulpicia Maior, the wife of Lucius Cassius Longinus, and Sulpicia Minor, the wife of Quintus Aelius Tubero.

Potemkina, Daria Vasilievna Skouratova, Countess – (1704 – 1780)
Russian aristocrat
Daria Skouratova was the daughter of Vassili Skouratov, and became the wife of Count Alexander Vassilievitch Potemkin (1675 – 1746), thirty years her senior. Countess Potemkina was the mother of the famous soldier and general, Prince Grigory Alexandrovitch Potemkin-Tavrichevsky (1739 – 1791), the favourite of Empress Catherine II, and of five daughters, four of whom left descendants.

Potentiana    see   Pudentiana

Potocka, Anna Tyszkewicz, Countess – (1776 – 1867)
Polish society leader
Countess Potocka visited Paris and attended the Imperial court of Napoleon I and the Empress Jospehine. The British ambassador Lord Douglas (later Duke of Hamilton) is said to have fallen violently in love with her and proposed marriage. She was also thought to have been the emperor’s mistress prior to 1814, and left personal reminiscences entitled Memoires de la comtesse de Potocka (1794 – 1820) (1897) which were published in Paris thirty years after her death. Countess Potocka died aged ninety.

Potocka, Emmanuela Pignatelli, Countess – (1852 – 1930) 
French society figure
Emmanuela Pignatelli was the wife of Count Nicolas Potocka. A famous beauty, she established a fashionable salon in Paris where she received literary figures such as Marcel Proust, Jean Beraud and Guy de Maupassant, amongst many others. Proust referred to her as ‘the Siren’ and wrote an article on her entitled ‘Le Salon de la Comtesse Potocka’ for the Le Figaro newspaper (1904). Her later years were spent living in retirement at Auteuil.

Potocka, Kryztyna (Christina) – (fl. c1660 – c1680)
Polish social activist
Kryztyna Lubomirska was the sister of Stanislas and Jerome Lubomirska, companions of King Jan Sobieski, and became the wife of Count Felix Potocki. Musically talented Christina was also an extremely proficient needlewoman. Of an extremely pious nature she founded several convents and was distinguished because of her active involvement in charitable and philanthropic causes. Her confessor wrote her Life, and considered her a saint.

Potonie-Pierre, Eugenie – (1844 – 1898)
French feminist, editor, and writer
Eugenie Pierre was co-founder with Leonie Rouzade of the Union des Femmes (1880), and was married (1881) to the historian Eduard Potonie. Madame Potonie-Pierre founded Le Groupe de la Solidarite des Femmes with Maria Martin (1891) and was editor of the feminist general Le journal des femmes. She was the leader of the Socialist Feminist movement and led the French deputation which attended the feminist congress in Brussels (1897).

Potter, Beatrix – (1866 – 1943) 
British children’s writer and illustrator
Born Helen Beatrix Heelis (July 28, 1866) in Kensington, London, she was the daughter of a wealthy magnate. She was educated privately by a governess, and studied nature and painting from childhood.Beatrix Potter became famous for her ever popular series of children’s books such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1900) and The Tailor of Gloucester (1902) which featured small animals dressed as humans. Potter never married and resided for many years at Hilltop Farm, Sawrey, near Lake Windemere in the Lakes District for many years, leaving her estate to the National Trust. Her works have been translated into many foreign languages. Other published works included The Tale of Tom Kitten (1907), The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck (1908) and The Tale of Samuel Whiskers (1908) which is belived by some to be her masterpiece. Beatrix Potter died (Dec 22, 1943) aged seventy-seven, in Sawrey.

Potter, Cora Urquhart    see     Brown Potter, Cora

Potter, Mary (1) – (1847 – 1913)
British Catholic nun and founder
Mary Potter was born (Nov 22, 1847) in Bermondsey, London. She was later engaged to be married but broke it off in order to pursue the religious life, and became a teacher for Catholic children. She entered the Order of the Sisters of Mercy (1868) but within months had to leave the order because of illness and had to return home to be nursed, though suffered continually from chronic bad health all of her life. She desired to establish an order to run a hospice for the chronically ill and dying and established The Sisters of the Little Company of Mary in Nottingham (1877). Mary Potter died (April 9, 1913) aged sixty-five. She was declared venerable by Pope John Paul II (1988). A branch of the order was established at Mount St Margaret’s at North Ryde in Sydney, Australia.

Potter, Mary (2) – (1900 – 1981)
British painter and artist
Potter was born (April 9, 1900) at Beckenham, Kent, and became famous for her landscapes, seascapes and still-life paintings. Her work Jessamine (1943) is preserved at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia, whilst some of her earlier works such as The Window, Chiswick (1929) and Golden Kipper (1939) are held by the Tate Gallery in London. Her works The Mere (1958) and The Orchard (1973) are preserved in the Norwich Museum.

Potter, Maureen – (1925 – 2004)
Irish actress, vocalist, and comedienne
Born Maria Philomena Potter in Dublin, she was educated by nuns. Her most successful early stage role was that of Maisie Madigan in the play Juno and the Paycock. Potter later became a vocalist and dancer with Jack Haylton and his touring orchestra, and toured extensively abroad prior to WW II. She later worked in television, cabaret and also in pantomime with the comedian Jimmy O’Dea (1899 – 1965). Potter was later awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin (1984) in recognition of her contribution to the arts. Maureen Potter died (April 7, 2004) aged seventy-nine, at Clontarf, Dublin.

Potts, Pipsissiway   see   Rice, Rosella

Pougy, Liane de – (1869 – 1950)
French actress, courtesan and memoirist
She was born Anne Marie Olympe Chassaigne (July 2, 1869) at La Fleche, the daughter of Pierre Blaise Eugene Chassaigne, an army officer. She was educated in a convent and was married firstly to a ship’s officer, Armand Pourpe, to whom she bore a son who served as an airman and was killed in action during WW I (1914). Attracted to the night life of Paris she deserted her husband and became the mistress of the Comte de Pougy, and when their relationship ended she appropriated his surname and became Liane de Pougy.
Liane appeared on stage at the Folies Bergere and also in St Petersburg and at the Theatre Royal in London, where her beauty attracted much attention. Pougy appeared in two of Jacques Offenbach’s operas, La Vie Parisienne as Metella and in Orphee aux Enfers as the goddess Venus. Liane became very rich and her luxurious lifestyle made her famous. Of all the famous courtesans of the belle époque Liane was about the only one who made a happy marriage (1910) with Prince Ghika, the nephew of Queen Nathalie of Serbia. She later became religiously inclined and was an especial patron of the asylum of St Agnes in Savoy which provided a home for severely handicapped children and was run by Dominican nuns. With the end of WW II her income was restored to her and Liane resided quietly at the Hotel Carlton in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she died (Dec 26, 1950) aged eighty-one. Her memoirs entitled Mes Cahiers bleus (My Blue Notebooks) were later translated into English (1977).

Poulett, Sylvia Storey, Countess    see    Storey, Sylvia Lilian

Poulsson, Emilie – (1853 – 1939)
American writer, editor and book illustrator
Emilie Poulsson was born (Sept 8, 1853) in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. She worked as a child educator and was joint editor of the Kindergarten Review (1897 – 1904). Her works included Through the Farmyard Gate (1896), Holiday Songs (1901) and The Runaway Donkey (1905). Emilie Poulsson died (March 18, 1939) aged eighty-five.

Pound, Louise – (1872 – 1958)
American scholar, educator, and sportswoman
Louise Pound was born (June 30, 1872) in Lincoln, Nebraska. She trained as a school teacher and lectured in English at the University of Nebraska for over five decades (1894 – 1945), and was a prominent cyclist, golfer, and basketball player. Louise worked to establish the study of American folklore and speech, and was the co-founder and editor of the American Speech periodical (1925 – 1933) and of other poetic journals such as the Southern Folklore Quarterly (1937 – 1958) and American Literature (1929 – 1945). Her written works included The Periods of English Literature (1919) and Poetic Origins and the Ballad (1921). Louise Pound served as the national vice-president of the American Association of University Women (1937 – 1944). Louise Pound died (June 27, 1958) aged eighty-five, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Pourtales, Melanie Renouard de Bussiere, Comtesse de – (1832 – 1914)
French society beauty and courtier
Melanie Renouard de Bussiere was the wife of Comte Edmond de Pourtales, she was one of the great beauties of the court of the Second Empire (1852 – 1870), and was lady-in-waiting to the empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.  She appears in the famous group portrait of the empress and her ladies painted by Franz Winterhalter. After the fall of the Second Empire, the comtesse remained a fixture of French society, and her name was connected with that of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) and his set. The comtesse held a grand salon in Paris until her death, just prior to World War I, and was a hostess of almost legendary proportions. Her soirees were attended by authors such as Marcel Proust amd Reynaldo Hahn, and the Byzantine historian Gustave Schlumberger, as well as famous court personalities such as Princesse Metternich and the old Bourbon circle of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.

Povah, Phyllis – (1893 – 1975)
American actress
Phyllis Povah was born in Detroit, Michigan (July 21, 1893). Povah appeared in less than half a dozen films, most notably as Edith (Mrs Phelps Potter) in the classic movie The Women (1939), with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell. Later credits included Nancy Collister in Let’s Face It (1943) and the grandmother in Happy Anniversary (1959), after which she retired. Phyllis Povah died (Aug 7, 1975) aged eighty-two, in Port Washington, Long Island, New York.

Powdermaker, Florence – (1894 – 1966)
American nutritionist, psychiatrist, and author
Florence Powdermaker was the elder daughter of Louis Powdermaker, a businessman, and was of German-Jewish ancestry. She was the sister of the noted anthropologist Hortense Powdermaker. Florence attended college in Baltimore, Maryland, and later collaborated with Katharine Blunt to prepare lessons in food conservation, which culminated in the co-written text book Food and the War (1918).

Powdermaker, Hortense – (1896 – 1970)
American anthropologist and author
Hortenxe Powdermaker was born (Dec 24, 1896) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended college in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the younger sister of Florence Powdermaker. Hortense went to England (1925) where she studied anthropology under Bronislaw Malinowski at the London School of Economics. Powdermaker’s best known work was her study entitled Hollywood, The Dream Factory (1950), which dealt with the movie-making community. She was appointed as professor of anthropology at Queens College (1954 – 1968) and professor emeritus (1968 – 1970). Her written works included Life in Lesu (1933), an account of life in New Ireland in the south-western Pacific region, and a volume of reminiscences entitled Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist (1967). Powdermaker received the Distinguished Teacher Award from Queens College (1965). Hortense Powdermaker died (June 15, 1970) aged seventy-three, in Berkeley, California.

Powell, Dilys – (1901 – 1995)
British film critic and writer
Elizabeth Dilys Powell was educated at Bournemouth High School and at Somerville College, Oxford. Her first husband was Humfry Payne (died 1936), and secondly (1943) Leonard Russell, the literary editor of the Sunday Times. Her earlier written works were The Traveller’s Journey is Done (1943) and, The Villa Ariadne (1973). She was employed as a film critic for the Sunday Times for forty years (1939 – 1979). Powell later sat on the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute (1948 – 1952) and wrote reviews for Punch magazine (1979 – 1992). She was the author of The Golden Screen (1989) and The Dilys Powell Film Reader (1991).

Powell, Dora – (1873 – 1964)
British musical figure
Dora Penny was born at Wolverhampton the daughter of a rector. As a young woman (1895) she met the composer Edward Elgar and was the Dorabella of his Enigma Variations. She became the wife of Richard Powell and later published the memoirs Edward Elgar: Memories of a Variation (1936). Dora Powell died (May 23, 1964) aged ninety, at East Grinstead.

Powell, Eleanor – (1910 – 1982)
American film actress and tap-dancer
Eleanor Powell was born (Nov 21, 1910) in Springfield, Massachusetts. Powell performed in various stage productions on Broadway during her teens until she was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. Eleanor Powell retired from films after her marriage with actor Glenn Ford. They were divorced in 1959 and Powell continued to work in stage and television. Her films included Born to Dance (1936), Rosalie (1938), Honolulu (1939), Ship Ahoy (1942) and The Duchess of Idaho (1950). Eleanor Powell died (Feb 11, 1982) aged sixty-eight, in Los Angeles, California.

Powell, Lavinia – (1831 – 1856)
British diarist
Lavinia Powell was the younger sister of Ophelia Powell, the daughter of George Eyre Powell, a commander of the Royal Navy. Lavinia resided with her family at Colyton, near Exeter, Devon. Lavinia became a Sunday school teacher and kept a diary from 1840 – 1849, and from 1854 – ending May, 1856, shortly before her early death at the age of twenty-five. The earlier volume is a record of domestic events and her father’s military activities, though she makes mention of politicial events such as the revolution in France (1848) and the Chartist meetings in London. The second volume consists of Lavinia’s own personal devotional record.

Powell, Louise – (1882 – 1956) 
British pottery designer and decorator
Born Ada Louise Lessone in England, of French parents, she attended the Central School of Art in London, and some of her work was exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Louise was married to the potter Alfred Powell, and they were employed by the Wedgwood Company, where she concentrated floral and plant patterns, with Renaissance influences. During the later part of her career Louise workd on commission and many examples of her work are preserved in various London galleries.

Powell, Ophelia Catherine – (1823 – 1866)
British diarist
Ophelia Powell was the daughter of George Eyre Powell a naval commander, of Colyton, Exeter, Devon, and elder sister to Lavinia Powell. She became the wife of an Anglican minister, David Lewis Evans, later residing ar Carmarhten, in Dyfed, Wales, and in London. Ophelia kept a diary in three volumes, the first two of which (1849 – 1852) and (1852 – 1864) chronicled her own domestic life and concerns, and includes observations of a visit to the Great Exhibition in London (1851), and her activities a a Unitarian Sunday school teacher. The third volume (1850 – 1855) chronicles the completion of various pieces of craftwork and records her personal reading list.

Powell, Violet Georgiana Pakenham, Lady – (1912 – 2002)
British writer and critic
Lady Violet Pakenham was born (March 13, 1912) the third daughter of Thomas Pakenham, the fifth Earl of Longford and his wife Lady Mary Julia Child-Villiers, the daughter of Victor Child-Villiers, seventh Earl of Jersey. She became the wife (1934) of the novelist Anthony Dymoke Powell (1905 – 2000) and is believed to have been the model for the character Isobel Tolland in his twelve volume novel work A Dance to the Music of Time (1951 – 1975).
Lady Powell’s published work included A Jane Austen Compendium: The Six Major Novels and the biographies Flora Annie Steel: Novelist of India and Margaret, Countess of Jersey. She left three volumes of autogiography including Within the Family Circle and The Departure Platform. Lady Violet Powell died (Jan 12, 2002) aged eighty-nine.

Power, Eileen Edna de La Poer – (1889 – 1940) 
British medieval historian
Eileen Power was born at Altringham in Cheshire, the daughter of a stockbroker. She was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, and at the London School of Economics, as well as studying abroad in Paris. Power was married to fellow academic, Michael Postan. Power was appointed professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics and was author of the important work, Medieval English Nunneries c1275 - 1535 (1922). Power founded the Economic History Review (1927) and some of her other published works included The Paycockes of Coggeshall (1919) and Studies in the History of English Trade in the Fifteenth Century (1932), which she co-wrote with his husband.

Powerscourt, Sheila Beddington, Lady – (1908 – 1992)
British author and poet
Sheila Beddington was the daughter of Colonel Claude Beddington, of Mayfair, London, and his wife Frances Ethel Horman-Mulock. Sheila was married to Mervyn Wingfield (1905 – 1973), ninth Viscount Powerscourt whom she survived as the Dowager Viscountess Powerscourt (1973 – 1992). Her works included a collection of verse A Kite’s Dinner (1954), and the novels Real People (1954) and Sun Too Fast (1974).

Powerscourt, Sybil Pleydell-Bouverie, Viscountess – (1878 – 1946)
British peeress
Sybil Pleydell-Bouverie was born (Dec 13, 1878) in Hans Place, London, the daughter of Walter Pleydell-Bouverie, of Market Lavington, Wiltshire, and his first wife Mary Bridgeman Bridgeman-Simpson. She was married (1903) at St George’s Hanover Square, London, to the Hon. (Honourable) Mervyn Richard Wingfield (1880 – 1947) and briefly became the Hon. Mrs Wingfield before he succeeded as the eighth Viscount Powerscourt, whereupon she became the Viscountess Powerscourt (1904 – 1946).
Due to her voluntary work during WW I in organizing nursing and ambulance units for the soldiers she was appointed D.G.ST.J (Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem). Her daughter the Hon. Doreen Julia Wingfield (1904 – 1991) became the wife of Fitzherbert Wright (1905 – 1975) and they were the paternal grandparents of Sarah Ferguson, the wife of HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II. Lady Powerscourt was the maternal great-great grandmother of the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, granddaughters of Queen Elizabeth. Lady Powerscourt died (Dec 6, 1946) aged sixty-seven, at Powerscourt.

Powis, Anne Brandon, Lady – (c1503 – 1558)
English Tudor courtier
Lady Anne Brandon was the daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and his first wife, Anne Browne, the daughter of Sir Anthony Browne. Mary Tudor, widow of Louis XII of France, and sister to Henry VIII (1509 – 1547) was her stepmother. Anne Brandon was married (c1518) to Edward Grey (c1500 – 1551), the fourth Baron Grey de Powis and attended Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France (1520). She and her husband attended the coronation of Anne Boleyn (June, 1533). Lady Powis (as she was known) became involved with forgeries concerning her father’s estates with John Beaumont, master of the Rolls. She was fraudulently laying claim to estates once held by her later father the Duke of Suffolk. Beaumont forged the signature of Lady Powis’s father but the deception was revealed, and he was forced to surrender his office. Despite the fact that Lady Anne appears to have been the instigator of this business, she was protected by her rank and closeness to the royal family and was not prosecuted.

Powis, Barbara Herbert, Countess of – (1735 – 1786)
British Hanoverian heiress and peeress
The Hon. (Honourable) Barbara Herbert was born (June 24, 1735) the only child and heiress of Edward, Lord Herbert and his wife Lady Henrietta Waldegrave (later Lady Beard), the daughter of James, first Earl of Waldegrave. She became the wife (1751) Henry Arthur Herbert (1703 – 1772), created Baron Herbert of Cherbury (1743) and the first Earl of Powis (1748 – 1772) by King George II, thirty years her senior, with whom she attended the coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte (1761). She survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Powis (1772 – 1786). Portraits of Lord and Lady Powis remain at Powis Castle.
Lady Powis was a notorious gambler which fact may be deduced from Horace Walpole’s The Abbey of Kilkhampton and other scurrilous and gossipy writings of the period. It was rumoured (1773) that she was going to marry Colonel Mawhood who frequented her card parties several times a week, but this supposed marriage did not take place. The countess played a prominent part in connexion with the Montgomeryshire county election (1774). Lady Powis died (March 12, 1786) aged fifty. She was interred at Welshpool with her husband. Her children were,

• George Herbert (1755 – 1781). He succeeded his father as the second and last Earl of Powis of that creation (1772 – 1781). He died childless.
• Lady Henrietta Antonia Herbert (1758 – 1830). She became the wife of Edward Clive (1754 – 1839), first Baron Clive of Plassy, who was created first Earl of Powis in her right in a new
  creation (1804).

Powis, Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of – (1632 – 1693)
English Stuart courtier and Catholic peeress
Lady Elizabeth Somerset was the younger daughter of Edward Somerset, second Marquess of Worcester and his first wife Elizabeth Dormer, daughter of Sir William Dormer. She beame the wife (1654) in London of the Hon. (Honourable) William Herbert (1617 – 1696), the son and heir of Percy Herbert, second Baron Powis of Powis, and became Lady Elizabeth Herbert. When Herbert was created the first Duke of Powis by Charles II she became the Duchess of Powis.
Lady Powis was first at court to serve as lady-in-waiting to Catharine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II and Gilbert Burnet described the duchess as ‘a zealous, managing papaist.’ She was committed to the Tower of London with her husband (Nov, 1679) on the evidence of Thomas Dangerfield for her supposed compliance in the alleged ‘Meal-tub Plot.’ The duchess was released on bail and the indictment against her was thrown out by the grand jury of Middlesex (1680). A week prior to this the duchess had complained to the House of Lords that about twenty persons had come to her house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields about midnight with several halberds and would have arrested her servants if she had not undertaken that they should be forthcoming that morning. Several years later the family’s London house was burnt to the ground and the duke and duchess and their children barely escaped with their lives (1684). When Dangerfield was prosecuted for libel both the duke and duchess gave evidence against him.
The Duchess of Powis was appointed as governess to the children of James II (June 10, 1688) and on the same day was present at the birth of James Edward, Prince of Wales, the son of James and his second wife Mary Beatrice of Modena. She was said to have been involved in the campaign which forced the king to abandon his mistress Catharine Sedley. After the ensuing dethronement of the king (Nov, 1688) the duke and duchess took the infant prince to Portsmouth enroute to join his parents in France but the city of Dartmouth refused to let the child be taken out of England. Several weeks later they were forced to bring the prince back to London. Eventually the prince was permitted to join his parents in exile at St Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, and the Duke and Duchess of Powis joined the court there and the duchess remained as governess to the royal children until her death there (March 11, 1693) aged sixty. She was interred at St Germain-en-Laye. Prince Jamed Edward Stuart later wrote to her daughter Lady Nithsdale and recalled “ I can never forget … the patient care the late Duchess of Powis had of me when a child “ (1717). Her children included William Herbert (1665 – 1745), the second Duke of Powis, Lady Lucy Theresa Herbert, who became a nun and prioress in France, and Lady Winifrede Herbert (1672 – 1749), the famous Jacobite heroine, wife to William Maxwll, fifth Earl of Nithsdale.

Powis, Henrietta Antonia Herbert, Countess of – (1758 – 1830)
British Hanoverian heiress and peeress
Lady Henrietta Herbert was born (Sept 3, 1758) the only daughter of Henry Arthur Herbert, first Earl of Powis (1743 – 1772) and his wife Lady Barbara Herbert, the daughter of Edward, Lord Herbert. She was named for her maternal grandmother Henrietta Waldegrave who became Lady Beard after her remarriage. With the death without issue of her only brother George Herbert, second and last Earl of Powis (1781), Lady Henrietta became the heiress of her family. She was married (1784) to Edward Clive of Plassy (1754 – 1839), who was created first Earl of Powis by George III in his wife’s right (1804) and became Countess of Powis (1804 – 1830). Lady Powis died (June 3, 1830) aged seventy-one.

Powis, Mary Preston, Duchess of – (c1665 – 1724)
British peeress
Mary Preston was the eldest surviving daughter of Sir Thomas Preston, third baronet of Furness, Lancashire, and his wife the Hon. (Honourable) Mary Molyneux, the daughter of Sir Caryll, third Viscount Molyneux of Maryborough (1622 – 1699). She became the wife of William Herbert, second Duke of Powis, to whom she bore six children including Lady Theresa Herbert (c1694 – 1723) the first wife of Sir Robert Throckmorton (1702 – 1791), fourth baronet and left issue. The Duchess of Powis died (Jan 8, 1724) aged about fifty-eight, after a long illness, at Hendon in Middlesex, and was buried there. Three portraits of the duchess survive at Powis Castle including a full-length by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

Powles, Mathilda Alice    see   Tillay, Vesta

Powlett, Jean Mary   see   Bolton, Jean Mary Powlett, Lady

Poynings, Elizabeth Paston, Lady    see   Paston, Elizabeth

Poyntz, Lady Joan   see   Guildford, Dame Joan

Poyntz, Juliet Stuart – (1896 – 1937)
American espionage agent
Juliet Poyntz was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Poyntz became involved with the American Communist party and was deeply involved with their activities in New York City. She travelled several times to visit Soviet Russia and received instruction in the arts of espionage, later training other recruits herself. However, with the rise of Stalin’s repressive regime during the 1930’s Poyntz disavowed her affiliation with the Party. She disappeared in New York (June, 1937) but this was not reported to the police until six months afterwards. Poyntz was thought to have been abducted and then liquidated by Russian agents.

Poyntz, Lady Margaret    see   Woodville, Margaret (2)

Pozzi, Antonia – (1912 – 1938)
Italian poet
Antonia Pozzi was born in Milan, Lombardy (Feb 13, 1912). She committed suicide at the age of twenty-six, leaving behind a notebook of poems, which was later found amongst her papers.
The first edition of her work, which included the verses, To Trust, were published in Milan (1939) with an introduction by Eugenio Montale, and three further editions of this work have been released prior to 1980.

Pozzi, Catherine – (1882 – 1934)
Italian poet and essayist
Catherine Pozzi was well educated in languages, music, mathematics and physics. Her work Poemes, which was published posthumously in Mesures (1936), dealt with the transformation of the inner spirit. Catherine Pozzi died aged fifty-two, in Paris.

Pozzi, Moana – (1961 – 1994)
Italian porn star and actress
Moana Pozzi was born in Genoa, the daughter of a nuclear engineer, and modelled for designer Karl Lagerfeld in Milan. Pozzi came to Rome at the age of twenty, where her blonde, volputuous neauty caught the attention of an Italian film producer, and she appeared in the adults only film, The Travelling Companion (1981). In all, she appeared in over sixty films, including Federico Fellini’s Ginger and Fred (1985). Pozzi later released her memoirs The Philosophy of Moana (1991), which referred to her connections with famous and influential men, including politicians, actors, sportsmen and businessmen such as Bettino Craxi, the Italian Socialst prime minister, actor Massimo Troisi, and the world soccer champion, Marco Tardelli.
Pozzi later tried to enter politics and stood unsuccessfully for the Italian parliament, after forming her own party, the Love Party, with fellow porn actress Ilona Staller (1992). Moana Pozzi died of liver cancer (Sept 5, 1994) aged only thirty-three, at Lyons, in France. Ten years after her death there were rumours that her death had been faked in order to protect the career of an important politician with whom Pozzi had been intimate.

Pozzo, Isabella Maria del – (fl. c1670 – 1697) 
Italian painter
Isabella del Pozzo accepted the invitation of the Bavarian electress Adelaide Henrietta to work at her court in Munich (1674). Granted a royal pension (1677), Isabella’s career in Munich lasted over twenty years, but none of her work has been identified. In 1697 she was forced to retire after she became blind, when she was granted a liberal pension of two hundred florins for life.

Praagh, Dame Peggy van     see     Van Praagh, Dame Peggy

Prabhavatigupta – (c355 – c455 AD)
Indian ruler
Prabhavatigupta was the daughter of King Candragupta II, whilst her mother was possibly a member of the noble Naga family. She became the wife of King Rudrasena II of the Vakataka dynasty, a ruler of the Deccan region. Her marriage with Rudrasena was arranged by her father as a move to consolidate the Vakataka and Kadamba kingdoms, with the Gupta dynasty. Her husband died young, and Queen Prabhavatigupta ruled as regent for thirteen years. A woman of some energy and strength of character, a copper plate from the nineteenth year of the reign of her third son, Pravarasena II, reveals that the queen mother lived to be one hundred years old.

Praecia – (fl. c80 – c74 BC)
Roman political salon hostess
Praecia became the mistress of the politician Cornelius Cethegus, which association guaranteed her a position of some political influence. The famous general Lucullus won Praecia and Cethegus to his cause by the judicious presentation of gifts, and Praecia succeeded in gaining for him the governorship of Cilicia in Asia Minor. The historian Plutarch recorded that her “… fame and beauty and wit filled the city. In other respects she was no whit better than an ordinary courtesan, but she used her associates and companions to further the political ambitions of her friends, and so added to her charms the reputation of being a true comrade, and one who could bring things to pass. She thus acquired her greatest influence ….”

Praed, Rosa Caroline Mackworth – (1851 – 1935) 
Australian romantic novelist and author
Rosa Mackworth was born in Bromelton on the Logan River in Queensland. As a married woman she lived with family on outback stations in Queensland, which set the background for her novels The Australian Heroine (1880) and, The Romance of a Station (1889). Rosa later visited England with her husband (1889), and was a member of the literary circles where she as introduced to Oscar Wilde. Praed wrote over three dozen novels including Policy and Passion (1881). In later life the deaths of her children led her to gravitate more and more towards spiritualism.

Praetextata – (c350 – c400 AD)
Roman patrician
Praetextata was the wife of Julius Festus Hymetius (living 378 AD), proconsul of Africa (366 – 368 AD). She was pagan by religion, and was the niece, or other close relative, of Vettius Agorius Praetextatus. Her husband was the brother of Julius Toxotius, the husband of St Paula. St Jerome recorded in his Epistulae that Praetextata tried to interest her niece Julia Eustochium in fine garments, perhaps in an effort to dissuade from her interest in the religious life. Jerome styled her quondam noblilissima femina.

Praetextata, Cornelia – (fl. 239 AD)
Roman patrician
Cornelia Praetextata is attested by an inscription on a surviving lead pipe from Ostia which styles her clarissima femina and is dated to 239 AD during the reign of the Gordian dynasty. This pipe originated from a former business establishment of which Praetextata was presumably the owner. She is probably identical with Cornelia Sextia Praetextata who is attested by a surviving roof tile.

Praetextata, Licinia – (fl. c70 – c110 AD)
Roman patrician and priestess
Licinia Praetextata was the daughter of Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi, consul (64 AD) during the reign of the Emperor Nero, his kinsman, and his wife Sulpicia Praetextata, the daughter of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus, consul suffect (46 AD). Licinia Praetextata was dedicated to the service of the goddess Vesta from childhood, during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian (69 – 79 AD). She later attained the rank of Virgo Vestalis maxima, or chief Vestal sometime during the reign of the Emperor Trajan (98 – 117 AD) which fact was recorded on a surviving inscription found in Rome.

Prajecta (Praiecta) – (fl. c527 – 548)
Byzantine Imperial princess
Prajecta was the niece of emperor Justinian I (518 – 527), being the daughter of Dulcidus and the emperor’s sister Vigilantia. She was sister to the Emperor Justin II (527 – 565) and was married firstly to Areobindus, magister militum of Africa, and secondly to Johannes, a relative of the Emperor Anastasius I (491 AD – 518). Prajecta accompanied her first husband to Africa when he received his military command (545). During the ensuing revolt of Guntharis, Areobindus sent Prajecta and her sister-in-law to a fortified monastery at Carthage for safety. Guntharis managed to capture the city, and the two women were placed under house arrest, though unharmed.
Guntharis, who appears to have thought of forcibly marrying Prajecta, forced her to write to her brother Justin, praising his treatment of her, and excusing him of blame in the murder of Areobindus, whom he had actually murdered himself. When Guntharis was himself murdered by Artabanes (later magister militum of Thrace) at a banquet, Prajecta rewarded him with money and became betrothed to him (546). He sent her back to the Imperial court in Constantinople where he shortly joined her. However, the Empress Theodora was against the marriage, and was able to prevent it when she discovered that Artabanes had a wife still living. Soon afterwards Prajecta was married to Johannes (548). The details recorded of her life were recorded by Procopius in his de bello Vandalico and, de bello Gothico.

Prangarda (Prangilda) – (c950 – after 991)
Italian mediaeval noblewoman and dynastic figure
Prangarda was the daughter of Adalberto II (Otto II) (died 988), Count of Modena and Canossa, and his wife Hildegarde. She became the wife (c965) of Manfredo I (c940 – c1000), Marquis of Turin, and was the mother of Odalrico Manfredo II (c980 – 1035), who succeeded his father as Marquis of Turin and became Marquess of Susa, and left three important daughters, Adelaide, Irmengarde, and Bertha. Countess Prangarda was living (March 8, 991) and died after this date. It remains unknown whether or not she survived her husband. Through her son, Prangarda became ancestress to most of the royal and aristocratic families of later and modern Europe.

Prasch, Susanne Elisabeth – (1661 – after 1693)
German author
Born Susanne Keget (Oct 1, 1661) at Ortenburg, her first husband was a judge. She then became the wife of the poet and philologist Johann Ludwig Prasch (1637 – 1690), whom she survived. Madame Prasch wrote poetic verses and Reflexions sur les Ronans.

Praskovia Feodorovna – (1664 – 1723)
Russian Tsarina (1684 – 1696)
Praskovia Saltykova was born (Oct 21, 1664) the daughter of Feodor Saltykov, a prominent boyar, and his wife Princess Anna Galitizina. She became the wife (1684) to the young emperor Ivan V (1682 – 1696), being chosen for him by his sister, the regent Sophia Alexievna. Praskovia bore him four daughters including Ekaterina Ivanovna (Catherine), the mother of Anna Leopoldovna and grandmother of Tsar Ivan VI, and the Empress Anna Ivanovna (1730 – 1740). She was treated with great respect by her brother-in-law, Peter the Great, and she resided mainly away from the court at the palace of Ismailovo, where she raised her daughters, though the entire family attended Imperial receptions and functions as the Tsar ordered, as Peter wished to expose his womenfolk to western ideas and culture. Tsarina Praskovia died (Oct 24, 1723) aged fifty-nine.

Praskovia Ivanovna – (1694 – 1731)
Russian grand duchess (tsarevna)
Grand Duchess Praskovia was born (Oct 14, 1694) in Moscow, the third and youngest surviving daughter of Tsar Ivan V (1682 – 1696) and his wife Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova. With her father’s early death she was raised with her elder sisters Anna and Ekaterina at Ismailovo outside Moscow, though they all attended functions at the court of Peter the Great at St Petersburg as the tsar required them to adopt western fashions. Praskovia married secretly only after the death of her mother (1723), her choice being Ivan Dmitirievitch Mamonov. She remained a minor figure at the Imperial court, though she later befriended William Mons, the favourite of Catherine I, Peter’s widow, making Mons the gift of an entire estate, with the peasants to go with it.
With the death of Peter II (1728) Praskovia was one of the candidates considered for the Imperial throne. However, she was considered temperamentally unsuitable and was disqualified from the race. Widowed in 1730, the Grand duchess had remained childless, and survived her husband only sixteen months. Grand Duchess Praskovia died (Oct 19, 1731) aged thirty-six.

Praslin, Fanny Sebastiani, Duchesse de – (1807 – 1847)
French letter writer and celebrated murder victim
Born Alatrice Rosalba Francoise Sebastiani, she was the daughter of Comte Horace Sebastiani, a Corsican-French general under Napoleon I, and married (1824) Charles Theobald, Duc de Choiseul-Praslin (1804 – 1847) to whom she bore nine children. Due to the duchesse’s extremely temperamental behaviour, after the birth of their youngest child (1841), the duke and duchesse removed to chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte with their children, though they themselves lived increasingly apart. This situation came to a head after the duc became enamoured of their children’s governess, Henriette Deluzy-Desportes.
Fearing her emotional outburst, the duc forbade the duchess access to her children, except in the prescence of their governess. The duchess agreed to this arrangement in the false hope that it would lead to a reconcilement with her husband. Eventually the duchess attempted to gain a divorce, gaining the support of her father and several influential church figures, and Mlle Deluzy resigned her post. Very soon afterwards (Aug 18, 1847), the duchesse was brutally murdered in her apartments. The duc denied all knowledge of the crime, despite all the contrary evidence, and attempted to commit suicide by swallowing arsenic. He revealed nothing and died in a prison hospital a week later. The duchesse’s personal correspondence entitled Extraits de Lettres de Madame La Duchesse de Praslin et autres Pieces Manuscrits trouvees dans ves papiers, were published in Paris (1847). She was portrayed by actress Barbara O’Neill in the film All This and Heaven Too (1940) which starred Charles Boyer as the duc and Bette Davis as Mlle Deluzy.

Pratobevera, Katharina – (1818 – 1887)
Austrian writer
Born Katharina Polt (Feb 26, 1818) at Graz, Styria, she was the daughter of a gentleman. She was married firstly (1857) to Baron Adolf Pratobevera von Wiesborn (1806 – 1875), the noted lawyer and politician. Her second husband (1861) was Josef von Scheiger. Madame Pratobevera published a collection of recipes in Die suddeutsche Kuche (1858) and the domestic handbook, Haushalt skunde (1873). She founded the Association of Graz Soup Kitchens to provide meals for young working girls.

Pratt, Anne – (1806 – 1893)  
British botanist and illustrator
Anne Pratt was born in Strood, Kent, the daughter of a grocer, and was educated in Rochester. She was a self-educated naturalist whom wrote many easily readable and accurate works concerning botany, which were used as the basis for teaching successive generations of children the basics of botany. One of the best known of these works was The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges and Ferns of Great Britain (1855) which was published in London. Her other republished work included The Poisonous, Noxious and Suspected Plants of Our Fields and Woods (1857). She was married late in life (1866). Anne Pratt died at Redhill, Surrey.

Pratt, Dame Marjorie    see   Brecknock, Marjorie Minna Jenkins, Countess of

Prawst     see   Ribrawst

Praxedes (Prassedia) – (c70 – 150 AD)
Roman Christian patrician and saint
Praxedes was the younger daughter of Rufus Pudens and his wife Claudia Rufina, the daughter of the captive Welsh king Caractacus. Her elder sister was Pudentiana. With her sister she devoted her life to religious practices and during the pontificate of Pius I (140 – 154 AD) she and her sister built a baptistery inside their home. She survived her sister about a decade and died (Sept 2, 150 AD). She was interred with her father and sister in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria outside Rome. She was revered as a saint (July 21) and a Christian church was later contructed on the site of her villa by Pope Paschal I (c822). The portrait Saint Praxidis (c1655) by the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer survives. The tradition that her sister was martyred at the age of sixteen is untrue.

Praxedis Vsevolodovna – (1070 – 1109)
Holy Roman empress
Praxedis was the second wife of Emperor Henry IV (1050 – 1106). She was born Eupraxia Vsevolodovna, the daughter of Vsevolod I, Grand Prince of Kiev and his second wife Anna of Cumin. Her first marriage to Henry I of Stade, Margrave of Nordmark (c1066 – 1087) was short lived and childless, and Eupraxia was married the emperor in 1089. In Germany she was known by the Teutonic version of her name, Praxedis, and less commonly as Adelheid. However, her Imperial marriage proved to be a disastrous failure, and the emperor is said to have treated her with callousness and with great cruelty.
The Empress Praxedis fled to Henry’s enemy Matilda of Tuscany, who offered her protection, and recommended her cause to Pope Urban II. The pope advised the empress to return to Russia. The Synod of Placentia in March, 1095 was much occupied with the charges brought by the empress against her husband. They were neither proved nor disproved, though the pope took the side of the empress against her husband throughout this marital dispute. The matter was never properly resolved, and Praxedis never returned to reside under her husband’s roof. With Henry’s death in 1106, the empress retired to Kiev, where she became a nun. Empress Praxedis died (July 10, 1109) in Kiev.

Praxilla – (fl. c450 BC)
Greek poet
Praxilla was a member of the Dorian-Greek society established in the city of Sicyon, which allowed women more freedom of movement and chances to contribute to public life than their counterparts in Athens. Praxilla was the author of religious hymns to the gods, drinking songs and choral pieces for groups. Only a few fragments of her work have survived, such as the notorious Adonis, Dying which was often quoted as an example of how poetry should not be written, hence the mocking expression ‘sillier than Praxilla’s Adonis.’

Precy, Dame Charlotte de    see   Chalons, Charlotte de

Predislava Svyatopolkovna – (c1087 – 1116)
Queen consort of Croatia (1104 – 1116)
Predislava was born in Kiev, Ukraine, the daughte of Svyatopolk II Izyslavich of Novgorod (1050 – 1113), Grand Prince of Kiev, and his first wife, whose identity remains unknown. Her stepmother was the Byzantine princess Barbara Komnena. Predislava was married (1104) to Almus of Hungary (1068 – 1129), the younger brother of King Koloman (1095 – 1114), variously described as duke and king of Croatia from 1102. The marriage brought Almus closer into an alliance with the German emperor Henry VI, Duke Borijov of Bohemia, and Duke Boleslav of Poland, who was the husband of Predislava’s sister Zbyslava. But he was eventually blinded by Koloman in order to make him ineligible to occupy the throne. He later fled to the court of Byzantium (1125). Queen Predislava predeceased these events, perhaps dying from the effects of childbirth, and left four children,

• Bela II the Blind (1109 – 1141). He became King of Hungary (1131 – 1141) as the successor of King Stephen II. He was married and left issue including King Geza II (1141 – 1162).
• Adelaide of Hungary (1110 – 1140). She was married to Sobeslav I (1075 – 1140), Duke of Bohemia, and left issue.
• Elizabeth of Hungary (1112 – 1153). She was the first wife of Mieszko III (1126 – 1202), Duke of Poland, and left issue.
• Hedwig of Hungary (died after 1138). She became the second wife of Adalbert II (1107 – 1138), Margrave of Austria, but died childless.

Queen Predslava was the great-grandmother of Bela III, King of Hungary (1172 – 1196), one of the great Crusader figures in Palestine. Her other descendants included St Elizabeth of Hungary (1207 – 1231), Pedro III (1239 – 1285), King of Aragon, Philip IV, King of France (1285 – 1314) and Edward III, King of England (1327 – 1377) through whom Predislava was ancestress to most of the royal and aristocratic families of Europe.

Preecha Kolakan, Fanny – (1856 – 1925)
Anglo-Siamese political prisoner and memoirist
Born Fanny Knox, she was the daughter of Sir Thomas Knox (1824 – 1887), the British Consul-General in Siam, and his wife Siamese wife, Prang, the daughter of Duke Somkok of Bangkok.
As a child she knew Anna Leonowens, the governess to the children of King Mongkut, and her young son Louis (1853 – 1919), who became the husband of her younger sister Caroline Knox (1858 – 1893). Fanny married a Siamese lord, the Baron Preecha Kolakan (1842 – 1879), to whom she bore a son, Henry Spencer Knox Preecha (1879 – 1900), who died without issue. However, the powerful prime minister of King Chulalongkorn had wished for Fanny to marry one of his own grandsons in order to cement a dynastic alliance between his own clan and the representatives of the British Empire. Furious at his plans being thwarted, the prime minister exerted great pressure to bear upon the child king, in order to have the man’s death warrant signed by King Chulalongkorn, and he was executed (Nov 24, 1879), two months after the birth of their son. Fanny never remarried. Fanny Preecha Kolokan died (Dec 17, 1925) aged sixty-nine.

Preedy, George    see    Bowen, Marjorie

Preissler, Barbara Helena – (1707 – 1758)
German painter and wax moulder
Barbara Preissler was born (June 12, 1707) at Nuremburg, the daughter of Johann Daniel Preissler (1666 – 1737) the painter. She was taught by her father alongside her four brothers.

Preissler, Susanna Maria – (1701 – 1765)
German glass cutter
Susanna Christoph was born (Dec 8, 1701) in Nuremburg, the daughter of the gem carver Johann Christoph, under whom she was trained in the craft. Her first husband was the painter Salomon Graf, and her second (1738) was the noted painter Johann Justin Priessler (1698 – 1771). Susanna Priessler died (April 8, 1765) aged sixty-three, in Nuremburg.

Prekshya Shah – (1952 – 2001)
Princess of Nepal
Princess Prekshya was the youngest sister to Queen Komal, the wife of King Gyanendra (2001 – 2008), the last ruler of the kingdom of Nepal before it was declared a republic. She was married to Prince Dhirendra, the younger brother of King Birendra, but the union ended in seperation after which her husband was stripped of his royal titles. During the massacre of the royal family by Prince Diprendra which resulted in the deaths of King Birendra and his wife Aishwarya (June 1, 2001), Princess Prekshya was present in the palace and was amongst those who were wounded, though her estranged husband was also amongst the ten victims. Six months later the princess was killed (Nov 12, 2001) in a helicopter crash in the remote Rara Lake district in the north-west of the kingdom, aged forty-nine, together with several other passengers. Her body was recovered.

Prellwitz, Gertrud – (1869 – 1942)
German writer
Gertrud Prellwitz was born (April 5, 1869) in Tilsit, and was raised in Konigsberg. She trained as a teacher in Berlin, and wrote the lecture series Der religiose Mensch und die Moderne Geistesentfaltung (1905) and the tragedy Oedipus oder das Ratsel des Lebens (1898). She also published the three volume novel Drude (1920 – 1926). Gertrud Prellwitz died (Sept 13, 1942) aged seventy-three, at Oberhof in Thuringia.

Premice, Josephine – (1926 – 2001)
Black American actress and calypso performer
Premice was born in Haiti and then moved to New York as a child, where she was raised. She studied dance under Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham and also anthropology at Columbia University. She made her stage debut with her appearance in the musical Blue Holiday (1945) and sang at the Blue Angel nightclub in New York. This led to her appearance as a calypso performer in Sam Manning’s musical production Carribbean Carnival (1947).
Premice toured Britian, Europe and Scandinavia and performed most of the calypso numbers in the Broadway play Jamaica (1957) which starred Lena Horne. She also appeared in the musicals A Hand Is on the Gate (1966) and Bubbling Brown Sugar (1976 – 1977). Josephine appeared in such popular television programs as The Merv Griffin Show, The Jeffersons and The Cosby Show. Her last stage performance was as Amanda Wingfield, in the first all black production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams which was staged at the Cleveland Playhouse (1989). Josephine Premice died aged seventy-four, in Manhattan, New York

Preminger, Marion – (1913 – 1972)
German writer and actress
Born Marion Deutsch (Aug 3, 1913) at Arad, she was the daughter of a banker. She studied philosophy in Vienna and worked in the theatre with Max Reinhardt. Her second husband was the stage and film director, Otto Preminger (1900 – 1986). She visited Albert Schweitzer in Lambarene for over a decade and wrote Albert Schwertzer. His Philosophy and Influence on the Century (1956). She also published her autobiography All I Want Is Everything (1957). Marion Preminger died (April 16, 1972) aged fifty-eight, in New York, USA.

Prentiss, Mary Arnold – (1916 – 1975) 
American tennis player
The sister of Richard Arnold, Mary was married to Raymond Prentiss, to whom she bore four children. Between (1957 – 1972) in Southern California, Mary Prentiss won thirty national tennis titles, including twelve national public-parks singles titles and seven national public-parks doubles titles. She also won the United States Womens’ Senior hand-court doubles titles nine times between (1958 – 1970). In 1974 because of her notable contribution to tennis, she received the Service Bowl Award. Mary Arnold Prentiss died in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Preobrazhenskaya, Olga Ivanovna – (1881 – 1971)
Russian actress, film director and writer
Olga Preobrazhenskaya was born in Moscow, she appeared in six silent films prior to 1920 such as Klyuch schastiya (The Keys to Happiness) (1913), Voyna i muir (War and Peace (1915), in the role of Miss Julie in Plebei (Plebeian) (1915), and Zhelaznaya pyata (The Iron Heel) (1919). Olga began to shift her attention to film production, and directed nearly ten films over a twenty-five year period including Viktoriya (1917), Baby ryanzanskie (Women of Ryazan) (1927), Tikhiy Don (And Quiet Flows the Don) (1931) which she wrote herself, Vrazhyi tropy (Paths of Enemies) (1935) and Prairie Station (1941). She also wrote the first silent film in which she appeared Baryshnya-krestanka (Miss Peasant) (1916), and was employed as assistant director to the film Slesar i kantzler (Locksmith and Chancellor (1923). Olga Preobrazhenskaya died (Oct 31, 1971) aged ninety, in Moscow.

Preobrazhenskaya, Sophia Petrovna – (1904 – 1966)
Russian mezzo-soprano
Sophia Preobrazhenskaya was born in St Petersburg, and received vocal training under Ivan Vasilievich Ershov. Sophia joined the Kirov Opera where she was a solo performer in 1928, being best remembered in the roles of Martha in Khovanshchina, Jeanne d’Arc in The Maid of Orleans, and the countess in Tchaikovsky’s, Queen of Spades. Extremely popular in Russia, she was twice awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946 and 1951, and was a professor at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Leningrad (1949 – 1953) where the mezzo-soprano Renata Babak trained under her. Sophia Preobrazhenskaya died (July 7, 1966).

Preradovic, Paula von – (1887 – 1951)
Austrian poet and author
Preradovic was born (Oct 12, 1887) in Vienna, the granddaughter of the Croatian national hero, Petar von Preradociv (1818 – 1872). Paula attended boarding school in St Polten before her marriage (1916) to Ernst Molden. She and her husband were later kept prisoner (1944 – 1945) by the Nazis due to their son’s involvement with the Resistance movement. She wrote the novel Pave und Pero (1940) and published the collection of verse Dalmatinische Sonette (1933). Paula von Preradovic died (May 25, 1951) aged sixty-three, in Vienna.

Prescott, Edith Katharine Livingston – (c1834 – 1901)
British novelist
Edith Jay was the daughter of barrister Samuel Jay, and niece to the war hero Major Alexander Livingston, and to Lord Farnborough. Educated privately at home by governesses, Edith never married, and, with her military background, acted for many years as Lady Superintendent of the London Soldiers’ Home and Guards Home until ill-health forced her to retire to private life. Edith then concentrated on her writing career, and produced a dozen novels such as The Apotheosis of Mr Tyrawley (1895), The Rip’s Redemption (1897), Red Coat Romances (1898) and His Familiar Face (1901). Edith Prescott died at Sandgate.

Prescott, Eleanor – (1946 – 1997)
American television news producer
Eleanor Prescott was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended Barnard College and studied journalism at Columbia University. She was the first woman to become an editor with the Columbia Daily Spectator newspaper and later taught journalism. Prescott became a writer and producer for the NBC Today show in Washington and then became a producer for ABC News (1979) and then became the senior producer for the Good Morning America, Sunday program. She was also the executive producer of the Lifetime Magazine news program for women on cable television. Eleanor Prescott died (Feb 9, 1997) aged fifty, at Manhasset on Long Island, New York

Prescott, Oliveria – (1842 – 1919)
British musican and composer
Prescott was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Music under George Macfarren. Her works included the Magnificat (1880) or solo voices, chorus, orchestra, and organ, and the Concert Finale (1879), and she was the author of About Music, And What It Is Made Of (1904). She also composed the children’s operetta Carrigraphuga (The Castle of Fairies) (1914), a musical comedy in three acts. Oliveria Prescott died aged seventy-seven.

Presley, Gladys Love – (1912 – 1958)
American celebrity mother
Gladys was born (April 25, 1912) and became the wife of Vernon Presley and mother of the famous singer and actor Elvis Presley (1935 – 1977). Adored by her son, when he became successful he built the famous Gracelands estate for her. Mrs Presley died (Aug 14, 1958) aged forty-six.

Pressburg, Rosa – (1843 – 1914)
German stage actress
Pressburg was born (Nov 4, 1843) in Prague, Bohemia. Rosa received acting instruction from Adele Allram-Lechner and became a member of the Schwerin Court Theatre in Mecklenburg for three decades (1863 – 1893). After this she formed part of the Hanover Court Theatre. Rosa Pressburg died (Sept 9, 1914) aged seventy, in Hanover.

Preston, Ann – (1813 – 1872)
American Quaker physician
Ann Such was born in Westgrove, Pennsylvania and trained at the Female Medical College in Pennsylvania, where she became the professor of physiology (1855). Ann was particularly against unnecessary bleeding and purging, which unusally only weakened the sick, and provided little physical benefit. Preston founded the Women’s Hospital in Pennyslvania (1866), and soon afterwards she was appointed as dean of the Female Medical College (1866 – 1872), the first ever female to be made the dean of such a college.

Preston, Julia Jackson Christian – (1887 – 1991)
American society figure
Julia Jackson Christian was born in San Diego, California, the granddaughter of the famous Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson. Her mother died during her childhood, and she was raised by her grandmother, Anna Morrison Jackson, widow of the general. She was married and had three children. Julia Preston died (Sept 15, 1991) aged one hundred and four, at High Point, North Carolina.

Preston, Margaret Junkin – (1820 – 1897)
American poet and novelist
Margaret Junkin was born (May 19, 1820) in Milton, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a clergyman, George Junkin. Educated to be fluent in Latin and Greek by her father, she was married (1857) when almost forty, to widowed military officer with seven children. Margaret Preston kept a detailed private journal during the Civil War (1862 – 1865), when her husband was absent from home, and was the author of the poem Beechenbrook, A Rhyme of War (1865). Her novels included Silverwood: A Book of Memories (1856) and Aunt Dorothy: An Old Virginia Plantation Story (1890). Margaret Preston died (March 28, 1897) aged seventy-six, at Baltimore in Maryland.

Preston, Margaret Rose – (1875 – 1963)
Australian painter, printmaker, and educator
Margaret was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the daughter of a marine engineer. She was educated in Sydney and Melbourne, where she studied art under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin, before attending the Government Art School for Women in Munich, Bavaria. She was married (1920) to William George Preston. Mrs Preston travelled extensively throughout Europe before returning home (1919). She later made extensive tours of Africa, India, Asia, and the Pacific, and her wood and linocut engravings were much influence by indigenous Aboriginal art. She had exhibitions of her work at the Royal Academy in London, the New Salon in Paris, and the Society of Women Painters in Sydney, and received the silver medal at the Paris International Exhibition (1937). Margaret Preston later worked in Adelaide as an art teacher. Examples of her work have been preserved in private collections and in the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Australian National Gallery.

Preuschen, Baroness Hermine von – (1864 – 1918)
German painter and writer
Baroness von Preuschen was born (Aug 7, 1864) in Darmstadt, Hesse, the daughter of a court official. She was educated at Karlsruhe in Baden, and travelled abroad extensively. The baroness was best known for her symolist still-lifes such as Mors imperator (1887). She was married firstly Oswald Scmidt, from whom she was later divorced (1889) and secondly to the poet Konrad Zitelmann. She was the author of the poem Regina Vitae and published her autobiography. Hermine von Preuschen died (Dec 12, 1918) aged fifty-four, in Berlin.

Price, Eugenia – (1916 – 1996)
American novelist
Eugenia Price was born in Charleston, West Virginia, the daughter of a dentist. She dropped out of university and began to produce soap-opera scripts. Price never married and her companion, the editor Joyce Blackburn acquired a property on the island of St Simons, off the coast of Georgia. Eugenia Price’s romantic novels such as New Moon Rising and, Beloved Invader, sold almost forty million copies which were translated into over eighteen languages. Her last work The Waiting Time (1997) was published posthumously. Eugenia Price died (May 25, 1996) aged seventy-nine, at Brunswick, on St Simons.

Price, Florence Beatrice Smith – (1888 – 1953)
Black American pianist, composer, and instrumentalist
Florence Smith was born (April 9, 1888) in Little Rock, Arkansas, the daughter of a dentist and a schoolteacher. She was educated in Little Rock, and later graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music at the age of eighteen (1906). Florence was married (1912) to Thomas Price (died 1942), an attorney. Winning her first prize for piano composition (1928), her Symphony in E Minor which was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Century of Progress Exhibition (1932), caused her to be awarded the prestigious Wannamaker Prize. She became the first black female symphonic composer in the USA and joined the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (1940). Other of her compositions included Rhapsody for Piano, Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint, for string quartet, and the chorus and orchestral work Wind and the Sea. Florence Price died (June 3, 1953) aged sixty-five.

Price, Janet (Jane) – (1885 – c1940)
Australian painter and artist
Examples of her work were preserved in the National Gallery of Victoria. Janet Price was one of the foundation members of the Society of Women Painters in Sydney, New South Wales (1910). Her paintings included Bush Stroll, The birds, and Discovery.

Price, Mabel Frances – (1874 – 1965)
British educator
Mabel Vernon was born at Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Augustus George Vernon and Hon. (Honourable) Rachel Bruce. Educated at Oxford High School, she graduated from Girton College, Cambridge and married William Arthur Price. She was later headmistress of the County High School for Girls at Chelmsford. Mabel Price died (Oct, 1965) aged ninety-one.

Price, Nancy Bache – (1880 – 1970)
British actress and theatrical manager and director
Lillian Nancy Bache Price was born at Kinver, Worcester, and was educated at Malvern Wells. She made her first stage appearance at the Lyceum Theatre (1900) and achieved great success as the nymph Calypso in Ulysses (1901) written by Max Beerbohm. She was married (1907) to the actor Charles Maude, the grandson of the ‘Swedish Nightingale’ Jenny Lind. Pirandello created the role in Naked especially for her, and she was later closely associated with the People’s National Theatre, where she produced many popular plays. She was appointed CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by King George VI (1950). Price published a volume of memoirs Shadows on the Hill (1935).

Prichard, Rosalind     see    Hicks, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa

Prichard, Katharine Susannah – (1883 – 1969) 
Australian writer and literary figure
Katharine Prichard was born in Levuka on Ovalau, in Fiji, the daughter of a newspaper editor. After finishing her education Katharine became a journalist in Melbourne, Victoria, and then went to London (1908) where she won a newspaper competition with her first novel, The Pioneers (1915). She then returned to Australia where she was married to the war hero, Captain Hugh Throssell. Katharine Prichard was a fouding member of the Australian Communist Party, which ideals figure prominently in her trilogy of novels set in the western Australian goldfields The Roaring Nineties  (1946), Golden Miles (1948) and Winged Seeds (1950). She also published her autobiography Child of the Hurricane (1963).

Prie, Agnes Jeanne Berthelot de Pleneuf, Marquise de – (1698 – 1727)
French political figure
Agnes Jeanne Berthelot de Pleneuf was the daughter of a rich financier, and married (1716) Louis, Marquis de Prie (1671 – 1751), the ambassador to the court of Savoy (1714 – 1717) whom she accompanied to Italy. Her husband sent her back to France, where she became the mistress of the Duc de Richelieu, and then of Louis, Duc de Bourbon, to whom she bore a bastard son. With the death of the Prince Regent d’Orleans (1723) she succeeded in becoming the most important woman at the court of Versailles. Beautiful and clever, the duc permitted her too much power. She terminated the betrothal of the young Louis XV with the Spanish Infanta Mariana Victoria, and had the princess returned to her fathr’s court in Madrid. She then arranged Louis’s marriage with the exiled Polish princess Marie Lesczynszka, through whom the marquise hoped to continue influencing affairs at court.
The marquise patronised Voltaire, whose mistress she became, and whom she caused to be presented at the French court, and at Voltaire’s request, successfully intervened to have charges of homosexuality dropped against the Jesuit abbe Des Foutaurie. She thus alienated the clergy, and encouraged Bourbon to attack Cardinal Fleury, which resulted in their joint banishment from the court (1727), the marquise to her estate of Courbepine in Normandy. Believed to be suffering from syphilis, she committed suicide by poison. Her daughter, Marie Victoire de Prie, became the wife of Louis Charles, Comte d’Hostun, but died young.

Priest, Ivy Maud Baker – (1905 – 1975) 
American politician, government official and activist
Ivy Baker was born (Sept 7, 1905) in Kimberley, Utah and early in life became involved with politics and the Republican Party. She served as president of the Utah Young Republicans (1934 – 1936) and president of the Utah Legislative League (1937 – 1939). Mrs Priest ran unsuccessfully twice for political office, (1934) and (1950), but was appointed as treasurer of the USA by President Eisenhower. She later served as treasurer to the state of California (1966 – 1974) and nominated Ronald Regan (1911 – 2004) as the Republican candidate for the US presidency (1968). She published a volume of reminiscences entitled Green Grows Ivy (1958), and was the mother of actress Pat Priest, best known for her appearance as Marilyn in the television comedy series The Munsters (1964 – 1965). Ivy Baker Priest died (June 22, 1975) aged sixty-nine.

Priest, Maude – (1885 – 1945)
Australian painter and artist
Maude Priest studied painting at the South Australia School of Design under James Ashton, after winning a scholarship. She had various exhibitions and was later elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Drawing in London. During the latter part of her career Priest was a drawing instructor in Adelaide.

Priestley, Jacquetta    see    Hawkes, Jacquetta

Prima – (fl. c180 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Prima was the wife of the nobleman Maximus, and was the mother of Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus (c177 – 238 AD), who was briefly emperor in old age (238 AD) before being murdered, and grandmother of the imperial princess Sextia Cethegilla. Prima was perhaps related to Lucius Valerius Primanus, the rhetorician, or to Marcus Ulpius Primianus, who served as prefect of Egypt (198 AD), during the reign of the Emperor Septimius Severus.

Primigenia – (c350 – 378 AD)
Roman priestess
Primigenia served as a Vestal Virgin, and was the unfortunate public victim of the failure of the Roman army against the Goths at Adrianople (378 AD). Symmachus records in his Epistulae that Primigenia was convicted of immorality by the college of the Pontifices maiores, and was condemned to suffer the traditonal punishment of being buried alive.

Primrose, Dame Eva   see   Rosebery, Eva Bruce, Countess of

Primus, Francesca – (1946 – 1992)
American author and theatre critic
Francesca was born in New York, the sister of actor Barry Primus. A critic and columnist she became feature writer for Backstage, and other theatrical periodicals and magazines. Her work frequently concerned the roles of women within the structure of the theatre. Francesca Primus died of cancer (Jan 27, 1992) in Manhattan, New York.

Primus, Pearl – (1919 – 1994)
Trinidadian dance pioneer, choreographer, educator and anthropologist
Pearl Primus was brilliant sportswoman at school and went on to study anthropology and medicine at Columbia University. Pearl made a brief dance debut (1941) before organizing the stage productions Strange Fruits (1943) and African Ceremonial (1944). Primus made extended trips to Africa where she studied primitve native dance rituals. She was married to the dancer Percival Borde and was appointed as the director of the Art Centre of Black African Culture in Nigeria.

‘Princess Caraboo’   see    Baker, Mary (2)

Principia – (fl. 398 – 410 AD)
Roman Christian virgin
Principia refused to marry and devoted herself to a life of religious piety in the household of St Marcella. A letter of St Jerome (398 AD), recorded in his Epistulae, reveals that he intended to provide Principia with a copy of his commentary of St Matthew. During the sack of Rome by Alaric and his Goths (410 AD) Principia was amongst the group of ladies who had taken refuge in Marcella’s home. Indeed, Marcella’s personal interference saved Pirncipia from being harmed, though she herself was roughly handled and died soon afterwards. It was at the personal request of Principia that Jerome wrote his memoir of Marcella’s life.

Pringle, Aileen – (1895 – 1989)
American silent and talkie actress
Born Aileen Bisbee (July 23, 1895) in San Francisco, California, she was educated abroad in Europe. She made her stage debut in London (1915) and originally used the name Aileen Savage on Broadway. Her first husband (1912 – 1933) was Sir Charles MacKenzie Pringle, governor of the Bahamas, and her second (1944 – 1947) was the famous novelist James Cain (1892 – 1977), author of,The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) and Mildred Pierce (1941).

Pringle, Mia Lilly Kellmer – (1920 – 1983)
Austrian educational psychologist and child welfare expert
Mia was born in Vienna and attended school there before coming to England prior to WW II. She then studied at King’s College and at Birkbeck College in London. Pringle trained as a primary school teacher and was appointed as deputy head of the Child Study Centre (1954 – 1963) and lectured in educational psychology at Birmingham University in Lancashire. Dr Pringle was then appointed as director of the National Children’s Bureau (1963 – 1981) and she published several important works which dwelt on the relationship of parent and child such as The Emotional and Social Adjustment of Physically Handicapped Children (1964) and Early Child Care and Education (1974).

Prinsep, Sarah Monckton – (1816 – 1887)
British salon hostess and literary figure
Sarah Pattle was the daughter of James Pattle (died 1845), the rich Anglo-Indian adventurer, and was sister to Lady Somers, Lady Dalrymple and to the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. She became the wife (1835) of Henry Thoby Prinsep (1793 – 1878) an East India Company civil servant and oriental scholar, to whom she bore four children. She resided in India with her husband until 1848, when the retired to Little Holland House in Kensington where Mrs Prinsep resided over one of London’s best known and distinguished salons, which she held on Sunday afternoons and which was visited by many artists of distinction such as George Watts and Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Many references to her life in India appear in the diary of Isabella Fane who did not appreciate her literary and social talents. Sarah Prinsep died (Dec 15, 1887) aged seventy-one. Her second son was the painter Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838 – 1904) who was appointed a member of the Royal Academy.

Printemps, Yvonne – (1894 – 1977) 
French stage actress, theatre manager and musical performer
Born Yvonne Wigniolle-Dupre (July 25, 1894) in Ermont at Seine-et-Oise, she made her stage debut at the Theatre Cigale in Paris at the early age of fourteen (1908) and performed at the Folies Bergere, adopting the stage surname of ‘Printemps.’ Madamoiselle Printemps began working in her youth with the famous actor and dramatist Sacha Guitry (1885 – 1957), whose second wife she became.
Her first movie appearance was in the silent film Un roman d’amour et d’aventures (1918) which was directed by Rene Hervil and Louis Mercanton (1879 – 1932). She then appeared in New York and in London, where she featured in Guitry’s productions of Nono (1920) and Mozart (1926) and in Noel Coward’s Production Piece (1934). Printemps was later the manager of the Theatre de la Michodiere in Paris. Her second husband was the famous actor Pierre Fresnay (1897 – 1975). Printemps also appeared in several films such as La Dame aux Camelias (1934), The Paris Waltz (1949) and Voyage to America (1952). Yvonne Printemps died (Jan 19, 1977) aged eighty-two, at Neuilly, near Paris. The French government later placed her portrait on a postage stamp (1994).

Prinzen, Marie Emilie Maryon de Montanclos, Baronne de – (1736 – 1812)
French journalist and dramatist
Marie Emilie de Montanclos was born in Aix, Provence and was married twice, beciming legally seperated from her second husband. Madame de Prinzen became editor (1774) of the feminist periodical Journal des Dames (Ladies’ Journal) and criticized the lifestyle of the court at Versailles under Marie Antoinette. She wrote several plays such as Le choix des fees (The Fairies Choice) (1782), Robert le bossu (Robert the Hunchback) (1799) and La Bonne maitresse (The Good Mistress) (1804). Her collection of prose was published under the collective title Oeuvres diverses (Diverse Works) (1791).

Prio, Maria Regla – (1909 – 2005)
Cuban politician
Maria Prio Socarras was born (Oct 11, 1909), and was sister to the Cuban president Carlos Prio Socarras. She was married to a physician, Enrique Henrique Lauranzon, and later served as a member of the Cuban House of Representatives for five years (1948 – 1952). With the rise of Fidel Castro she fled to the USA, where she resided fir the last five decades of her life. Maria Regla Prio died (Dec, 2005) aged ninety-six, in Miami, Florida.

Prisca, Aelia – (c250 – 316 AD)
Roman Augusta
Aelia Prisca was the wife of the Emperor Diocletian (c243 – 312 AD), who abdicated in 306 AD. Nothing is known of her family background. She was accorded the rank of Augusta (284 AD) and their daughter Galeria Valeria became wife to the emperor Galerius. She resided apart from her husband for many years prior to his death (312 AD) and no coins of hers survive despite her husband’s lengthy reign. Prisca accompanied Diocletian to Rome (303 AD) but then returned to Nikomedia. With her husband’s death she resided in the household of her son-in-law, the emperor Galerius. Galerius on his deathbed (311 AD) commended Prisca and Valeria to the care of Maximian Daia, and the two women retired to the palace of Maximian. When Valeria refused to marry Maximian, he still being married to the Empress Eutropia, mother and daughter were expelled from the Imperial palace. Deprived of their possessions, the two women were driven from province to province until they were finally lodged in a poor village on the edge of the Syrian Desert.
Prisca later returned to Nikomedia where she was somehow implicated in a conspiracy to place her grandson Candidianus upon the Imperial throne, though the details are sparse and unreliable. Candidianus and his sister Valeria Maximilla, the widow of emperor Maxentius, and Severian, the son of the late emperor Severus, were put to death, but Prisca and valeria escaped to Thessalonika. There they were recognized, arrested by order of the emperor Licinius. They were publicly beheaded, their remains cast into the sea. The story that she was a lapsed Christian is spurious. Portraits of Diocletian and Prisca are preserved in the church of St Duje in Split, Yugoslavia, which was the former palace and mausoleum of the emperor. The story that Empress Prisca was a lapsed Christian is spurious. Apocryphal religious stories call her Alexandra, and state that she was converted to Christianity after witnessing the torture and bravery of St George. The same worthless legend states that the empress was condemned to be beheaded but that she died in prison after hearing her sentence. Other variations of the same Christian legends call her Severina and Eleuthera.

Prisca, Antonia – (fl. c130 – c170 AD)
Roman patrician
Antonia Prisca is attested by surviving inscription as the mother of Quintus Antistius Adventus Postumius Aquilinus who served as Imperial legate to Africa and Germany, and was consul suffect (166 – 167 AD) and of Lucius Antistius Mundicius Burrus (living 164 AD), which indicates that she was of consular rank (consularis femina). Through her elder son Prisca was the grandmother of Lucius Antistius Burrus, consul (181 AD), who was married to the Imperial princess Vibia Aurelia Sabina, daughter to Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161 – 180 AD) and sister to the Emperor Commodus (180 – 192 AD).

Prisca, Laodice     see    Laodice Prisca

Prisca of Gascony    see   Sanchia of Gascony

Priscilla (1) – (fl. c33 – c67 AD) 
Hebrew biblical figure and early Christian
Priscilla and her husband Aquila, a leather worker and tentmaker, are mention in the New Testament as close friends of the apostle Paul in Korinth and Ephesus in Greece. Priscilla and her husband had been expelled from Rome with other Jews by the emperor Tiberius, and appear to have returned there after his death (37 AD). Both appear to have perished in Rome during the persecutions instigated by the Emperor Nero (54 – 68 AD) and she was listed in the Roman Martyrology as a saint (Jan 16).

Priscilla (2) – (fl. c300 – 308 AD)
Roman patrician landowner and cemetery builder
Priscilla is believed to have been a conncection of the noble Acilii Glabrione gens. Priscilla paid for the construction of the famous Christian catacombs named after her along the Via Salaria, outside Rome, close to the burial place of her own family, and which were built by Pope Marcellus I sometime prior to his death (309 AD). The cemetery has been mistakenly dated to the first century AD, during the time of the apostles Peter and Paul, and this later Priscilla has been much confused with the Jewess of the same name, the better known wife of Aquila.

Priscilla, Aegnatia – (fl. c180 – c220 AD)
Roman patrician
Aegnatia Priscilla was the wife of Quintus Caetronius Cuspianus, chief centurion and an Imperial procurator. She and her husband are attested by a surviving inscription from Aximensis. Priscilla was perhaps the daughter of Egnatius Priscus, the Imperial procurator of Noricum, and was related to Lucius Clodius Justus Egnatius Priscus.

Priscilla, Antistia – (c50 – c95 AD)
Roman Imperial Flavian courtier
Antistia Priscilla was the wife of Titus Flavius Abascantius, the secretary of State to the Emperor Domitian (81 – 96 AD). Priscilla died before the end of Domitian’s reign, and she was mentioned in the Silvae of the poet Statius, which left details concerning the embalming of her body. Her tomb was erected along the Via Appia, outside Rome.

Prismanova, Anna – (1898 – 1960)
Russian poet
Prismanova immigrated to Paris with the initial outbreak of the revolution (1917) and her literary career became established in exile. Indirect and emotionally complicated, though remarkable innovative, her verse is characterized by hidden or double meanings, and requires careful reading. She wrote Ten ‘i telo (1937), Bliznetsy: Vtoraya kniga stikhov (1946), Sol’: tretya kniga stikhov (1949) and Vera: liricheskaya povest (1960). Anna Prismanova died in Paris.

Pritchard, Hannah – (1711 – 1768) 
British actress
Born Hannah Vaughan, she was the daughter of a corset maker, and was raised in London. Her own stage career began only after her marriage with an actor. Hannah Pritchard worked in London, Bristol, and Bath, appearing in such popular productions as The Beggar’s Opera and The Provok’d Husband. Pritchard later performed at Haymarket and Drury Lane (1747), specializing in comic roles. She became David Garrick’s favourite leading lady, appearing notably as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, and enlarge her repertoire to tragic roles, for which she proved exceedingly talented, and was particularly admired in the role of Lady Macbeth.  Pritchard was unfairly damned as a ‘vulgar idiot’ by Samuel Johnson, after the audience disliked the death scene in his play Mahomet and Irene, and her final performance as Lady Macbeth was painted by Zoffany (1768). She later attended the court of George III after she was appointed as dresser to Queen Charlotte (1761).

Privigna, Cornelia – (fl. c140 – c170 AD)
Roman patrician
Cornelia Privigna was the wife of Lucius Julius Larcius Sabinus, the tribune of the plebs. She was possibly the mother of Marcus Pontius Laelianus Larcius Sabinus, consul (163 AD) during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Privigna is attested by a surviving inscription from the Julii Sabinii family tomb at Pisa which styled her clarissima femina.

Proba – (fl. c480 AD – c520)
Roman patrician
Proba was the daughter Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, consul (485 AD) and was the sister-in-law of the writer Boethius. She was perhaps also related to Cassiodorus, consul (514).
Proba never married and resided in Rome where she devoted her life to religious observations and practices, according to the Epistulae of Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe. Proba was acquainted with the priest Eugippius and the Institutiones Divinarum Litteraum of Cassiodorus recorded that he compiled for her a selection of the works of St Augustine.

Proba, Faltonia Betitia – (c305 – c360 AD)
Roman poet
Faltonia Betitia Proba was the daughter of a consul and became the wife of Clodius Celsinius Adelphius, prefect of Rome (351 – 354 AD) of the patrician Anicii family. She was the mother of two sons, Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius, praetorian prefect (378 – 379 AD) and consul, who left children, and Faltonius Probus Alypius (c330 – after 397 AD), who was also prefect of Rome (391 AD). Proba died before her husband.
A woman of some intellectual erudition, her one extant hexameter poem, consisting of 694 lines, deals with the Old Testament version of the Creation, to which was added the life story of Jesus Christ entitled Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi. The poem closes with an appeal to her pagan husband to accept the Christian religion. Proba was also the author of an epic concerning the civil war between the emperors Constantius II and Magnentius. Her work was admired by the Emperor Theodosius II and by saint Isidore, Bishop of Seville, and her work attained some popularity during the Middle Ages.

Probiana, Aegrilia – (fl. c180 – c220 AD)
Roman patrician
Aegrilia Probiana was the wife of Gaius Licinius Licinianus (living 202 AD), whom she apparently survived. Licinianus was probably connected to Gaius Licinius Licinianus (living 223 AD), patron of the city of Canusinorum. Probiana is attested by the discovery of a circular marble ash-chest or cineraria, dedicated to her by her late husband, and now preserved in the Ny-Carlsberg Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The receptacle has a conical lid and is decorated with heavy fruit and leaf garlands which are supported by cupids. One of these garlands has a panel inscription above, below which are small bust of Probiana and Licinianus.

‘Probus’     see   Forman, Charlotte

Procter, Adelaide Ann – (1825 – 1864)
British poet and feminist
Adelaide Proctor was born in London, the daughter of the poet, Bryan Waller Proctor (Barry Cornwall). Adelaide was much admired by Charles Dickens and her Legends and Lyrics (1858 – 1860), some of which had been written for Dicken’s magazine Household Words, were highly regarded by the literati of the day. Her earliest published works had been submitted under the pseudonym ‘Mary Berwick’ and her famous sentimental poem The Last Chord was set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Her volume of poetic verse Victoria Regia (1861) was published by Emily Faithfull and her Victoria Press, and she also produced A Chaplet of Verse (1862).

Procter, Dod – (1892 – 1972)
British painter and traveller
Born Doris Shaw in London, she studied painting firstly at Newlyn, and then with Colarossi in Paris. She was married (1912) to fellow painter Ernest Proctor, with whom she designed the interior of the Kokine Palace in Rangoon, Burma (1920). Dod Procter was later elected a fellow of the Royal Academy (1942). Her expressive style was best seen in her flower paintings which were comparable to those produced by Bloomsbury artists such as Vanessa Bell and Dora Carrington. Besides her popular studied of young women, her best known work was Morning (1927), which was preserved in the Tate Gallery.

Proctor, Edna Dean – (1829 – 1923)
American poet and traveller
Edna was born in Henniker, New Hampshire (Sept 18, 1929). She was best remembered for poems such as ‘John Brown’ and ‘Cid of the West.’ Her written works included A Russian Journey (1872) and Songs of America, and Other Poems (1900). Edna Dean Proctor died (Dec 18, 1923) aged ninety-four.

Proctor, Thea Mary – (1879 – 1966)
Australian painter, artist, and printmaker
Althea Proctor was born in Armidale, New South Wales, and was cousin to the artist John Peter Russell. Thea studied at the Julian Ashton Art School, before travelling to England, where she studied under George Lambert in London. She supported the modern art movement in Australia and produced prints, lithographs, and linocuts. Exhibitions of her work were held at the Royal Academy in London, the Macquarie Gallery and the Society of Women Painters in Sydney, and the New English Art Club. Examples of her work were preserved in the Australian Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Procula – (fl. c470 AD)
Gallo-Roman patrician speculator
Procula was mentioned by Eugippius in his Vita Severini, and styled her clarissima femina. He recorded that she was a widow, residing at Favianis in Noricum, whom St Severinus accused of concealing stores of grain during a time of shortage, in order that she could profit financially.

Procula, Claudia – (fl. c14 – c37 AD)
Roman patrician
Claudia Procula was by ancient tradition the name of the wife of Pontius Pilate who reluctantly condemned Jesus Christ to death. The Bible does not refer to her by name simply as ‘his wife’ (Matthew 27: 19) and records that she suffered from a bad dream and sent her husband a message urging him to have nothing further to do with the judgement of Christ. The Greek Orthodox Church venerated Procula as a saint (Oct 27) as did the Coptic Orthodox Church (June 25), together with her husband Pilate.
Surviving letters said to have been written by Procula during her time in Palestine were found at Bruges and then placed within the Vatican archives. They were later translated into English (1929). Claudia Procula was portrayed on the screen by Mary O’Farell in Caesar’s Friend (1939), by Viveca Lindfors in the film King of Kings (1961), by Claire Bloom in the television series Tales from the Madhouse (2000) and by Claudia Gerini in The Passion of the Christ (2004) directed by Australian actor Mel Gibson.

Projecta (Proiecta) – (367 – 383 AD)
Roman Christian patrician and heiress
Projecta was the daughter of Florus and came from a wealthy ancient family. She died aged only sixteen, not long after her marriage with Turcius Secundus, and was buried (Dec 30, 383 AD), her epitaph being composed by Pope Damasus. Her marriage had been commemorated by the gifts of a magnificent silver casket and other silver plate, preserved in the Esquiline treasure, which was excavated from the former Turcii palace. The dishes bear the monogram Proiecta Turci, whilst the casket has the inscription Secunde et Proiecta vivatis in Christo.

Prokopia – (c775 – c820) 
Byzantine Augusta (812 – 813)
Prokopia was the wife of Emperor Michael I (c770 – 846), she was the daughter of the Emperor Nikephorus I and sister of the Emperor Stauracius. Her husband, whom she married (c793), was a man of quiet, retiring disposition, and during his brief reign (812 – 813) it was the empress who undertook the supervision of the Imperial administration. However, her devotion to the church irritated the military. When Prokopia headed the Imperial troops at the outset of the disastrous Bulgarian campaign in 812, the military, outraged at this unfeminine abrogation of power, forced Michael to abdicate. It is recorded that Prokopia loudly rebuked her husband for his ineffectuality.  The emperor was exiled to a monastery on the Island of Marmora, whilst Prokopia and her daughter were forcibly shorn as nuns, and forced into retirement. The empress died a few years after these events. The empress Prokopia left five children,

• Theophylaktus (c793 – 849). He was crowned co-Emperor with his father (811 – 813), but was later castrated and forced to become amonk on the Island of Prote.
• Prince Stavrakios (c794 – before July 11, 813). He was unmarried.
• Prince Niketas (c798 – Oct 23, 877). He was castrated and forced to become a monk, but was later installed as Patriarch of Constantinople with the name of Ignatius (847 – 858).
• Princess Georgo (c796 – after 840). She was forced to become a nun.
• Princess Theophano (c800 – after 813). She was forced to become a nun.

Proops, Marje (Rebecca Marjorie) – (1911 – 1996) 
British agony aunt and newspaper columnist
Marje was born in London and was married to Sydney Proops, to whom she bore an only son. She began her career as a fashion artist with the Daily Mirror (1939), and trained in psychiatry and sexology before taking on the personal column. Proops was the author of Pride, Prejudice and Proops and Dear Marje, and was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1969). The newspaper tycoon appointed Proops as the director of the Mirror Group of Newspapers.

Propsting, Marjorie – (1905 – 1972)
Australian librarian and local council leader
The first woman to be elected as mayor in Australia, she was born Marjorie Bowman (Nov 25, 1905) in Waverley, New South Wales, the daughter of a mason and attended Sydney University. She was married (1934) to Henry Sherman Propsting (died 1968), an engineer, to whom she bore two children. Marjorie Propsting was emplyed as assistant librarian at the Sydney Teacher’s College (1927 – 1933) and then at the Sydney Public Library (1933 – 1936).
Mrs Propsting later joined the Lane Cove Council and was then elected as alderman (1949) and then mayor of Lane Cove (1963). She founded the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (1952), later serving as national president (1966 – 1972). Marjorie Propsting was later appointed MBE (Member of the British Empire) (1970) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her services to the community. Marjorie Propsting died (April 2, 1972) aged sixty-six.

Prospera, Aelia – (fl. c200 – c220 AD)
Roman patrician
Aelia Prospera was the wife of Gaius Pomponius Magnus, the Imperial legate to Numidia (211 – 212 AD) under the emperors Caracalla and Geta. She was perhaps a relative of Lucius Statius Prosper Julianus, patron of the colony of Praeneste. A surviving inscription refers to her as clarissima femina.

Prothero, John Keith   see    Chesterton, Ada Elizabeth

Prout, Margaret Millicent Fisher – (1875 – 1963)
British painter
Margaret Fisher was born in Chelsea, London the daughter of painter Mark Fisher. She studied painting with her father, and then at the Slade School for three years (1894 – 1897) before finally marrying John Alexander Prout (1908) and teaching drawing at the Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts prior to World War I. Prout specialized in landscapes, flowers and figure painting, using her own impressionistic style. Her work was exhibited from the New English Art Club from 1906, and at the Royal Academy from 1921, and she held a one-woman exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery in France (1922). Amongst the best known of her work was ‘Overlooking the Garden Quarry.’ She was elected an associate member of the Royal Academy (1948). Margaret Fisher Prout died (Dec 9, 1963) aged eighty-eight, at St Leonards-on-the-Sea.

Provence, Comtesse de     see    Josephine of Savoy

Provence, Cecile de – (fl. c990 – c1010)
French medieval heiress and dynastic figure
Cecila de Provence was probably the illegitimate daughter of William (Guillaume), count of Provence. She was married successively to two nobleman, Miron (died 999) and then to Laugier. Cecile’s son from her second marriage, Laugier Rostaing became vicomte of Nice (1047 – 1067), whilst his younger son, likewise named Rostaing, Cecile’s grandson, became the ancestor of the line of the seigneurs of Nice. A century afterwards (1108) numerous descendants of Cecile’s first marriage also called themselves seigneurs. These included Raymond Laugier, Guillaume Assalit, and Prince Raimbaud of Orange.

Prowse, Anne    see   Locke, Anne

Pruckner, Caroline – (1832 – 1908)
German soprano and vocal teacher
Pruckner was born in Vienna (Nov 4, 1832) and was sister to the pianist Dionys Pruckner (1834 – 1896). She became a leading operatic singer, but after suddenly losing her voice (1870) she established an operatic school where she taught. She composed musical treatises. Caroline Pruckner died (June 16, 1908) aged seventy-five.

Pruyssen, Maria van – (1628 – after 1653)
Dutch painter
Maria van Pruyssen was daughter to the noted ivory sculptor Lambert van Pruyssen, a native of Haarlem, and was sister-in-law to the artist Carel Fabritius (1624 – 1654), who became the second husband (1650) of her sister Agatha van Pruyssen. Maria was trained as an artist in the family, and painted several portraits and landscapes and resided in Delft. By the time of her father’s death (1653) she was confined in a home for the insane.

Pryor, Sarah Agnes – (1830 – 1912)
American author and Civil War heroine
Born Sarah Agnes Rice in Halifax, Virginia (Feb 19, 1830), she became the wife of Roger Atkinson Pryor. Her written works included The Mother of Washington and Her Times (1903) and The Birth of a Nation: Jamestown, 1607 (1907). Her memoirs were entitled My Day: Reminiscences of a Long Life (1909). Sarah Agnes Pryor died aged eighty-two.

Pryse, Mary Ruthven, Lady   see   Ruthven, Mary

Psiloreiti, Petroula    see   Kazantzaki, Galateia

Ptahemheb – (fl. c1250 BC)
Egyptian courtier
Lady Ptahemheb is attested by a funerary pectoral bearing her name on a scarab, which was originally discovered at Memphis. Made of faience, an artificially glazed composition, it was probably made especially for the lady’s funeral casket. The inscription includes a spell incantation to prevent Ptahemheb revealing her sins to the keepers of the underworld. The goddesses Isis and Nepthys are depitcted upon the scarab, and they were invoked for the protection of Ptahehmheb’s remains. The pectoral now forms part of the collection in the British Museum, London.

Ptolemais – (fl. 299 – 283 BC)
Greek queen consort of Macedonia
Princess Ptolemais was born (c310 BC), the daughter of Ptolemy I Soter, King of Egypt and his second wife Eurydike, the daughter of Antipater, the regent of Macedonia. Her betrothal to the elderly Seleucus I of Syria (299 BC) took place at the same time as a number of other important dynastic marriages. Seleucus had married Stratonike of Macedonia and betrothed himself to Ptolemais at the same time, adopting the custom of having two legitimate queens, which his successors later abandoned. Ptolemais was a child at this time and was still living with her mother at Miletus a decade later (287 BC). Shortly after this date Seleucus travelled to Miletus and they were married. The marriage was short and Seleucus then repudiated Ptolemais, who remarried (c285 BC) to Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337 – 283 BC), king of Macedonia, her mother, Queen Eurydike, giving the bride away at the ceremony. Queen Ptolemais was the mother of Demetrius the Fair (c285 – 255 BC), king of Kyrene, and through him the grandmother of Antigonus III Doson (c265 – 221 BC), king of Macedonia. She may have died young.

Pu-Abi (Shub-ad) – (fl. c2600 BC)
Sumerian queen
Her grave was discovered at Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley (1927). Her tomb, previously undisturbed, was identified by an inscription in a cylinder seal which bore her name. Woolley described Pu-Abi as queen, due to the large scale and magnificence of her tomb, though conclusive evidence of her rank and status is lacking. Her tomb dates from the earliest Ur dynasty mention in the Sumerian King List, from between c2700 – c2500 BC). There is some evidence that the queen, a woman of about forty, joined her husband in ritual death, which had taken place when his physical strength and health had begun to fail. Her participation in this ceremony identified the queen with the goddess Innin, as counterpart to the king as Tammuz.

Publia Fulvia Plautilla     see    Plautilla, Publia Fulvia

Publia Plancia Aurelia Magniana Motoxaris – (fl. c200 – c230 AD)
Roman civic benefactor
Publia Plancia Aurelia Magniana Motoxaris was the daughter of Publius Plancius Magnianus Aelianus Arrius Perikles, patron of the city of Selge, in Pisidia, Asia Minor, and his wife Aurelia Xenoniana Maidate. She was married to Gaius Valerius Eugenes. Publia served as priestess of the goddess Tyche (fortune) and was accorded the honorific title of archiereia, because of her association with the Imperial cult. Surviving inscriptions reveal that she was honoured as ‘mother’ of the city of Selge and of the council (boule). Involved in extensive public building projects Publia joined with her father in providing grain for the people, and she was associated for life with the presentation of the penteteric imperial games.

Publilia (1) – (c195 – 154 BC)
Roman poisoner
Publilia was the wife of Lucius Postumius Albius, consul (154 BC). The historian Livy records in his Perochiae that Publilia was arrested and convicted of murdering her husband. She was handed over to the custody of her family, who had her out to death in private.

Publilia (2) – (c59 BC – c10 AD)
Roman Republican patrician
Publilia was perhaps an earlier member of the same patrician family as Publilius Tullus, proconsul of Asia under the emperor Trajan (c104 – 114 AD), or of Gaius Publilius Marcellus, the consul suffect under Hadrian (120 AD). Publilia became the second wife (46 BC) of the famous politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 – 43 BC), after his divorce from Terentia, the mother of his only child Tullia. The marriage caused a great scandal in Rome. Cicero had been in great financial difficulties after his divorce, and hoped to recoup this loss by remarrying to Publilia, who was possessed of a large dowry which had been left to Cicero in trust for her. However, the age gap of forty-five years between bride and groom rendered the marriage untenable, and it quickly ended in divorce.
Publilia remarried to Gaius Vibius Rufus, consul suffect (16 AD, and probably consul in 23 AD also), and the marriage has been confirmed by the surviving inscription of a freedman found at Tusculum. The historian Dio Cassius stated that Cicero’s first wife Terentia numbered Vibius Rufus as her fourth and last husband, he being proud to boast that he possessed Cicero’s wife. However Terentia’s known age (born 94 BC), makes this story preposterous, and the previous mentioned evidence makes it obvious that Dio Cassius confused the identities of Cicero’s two wives.

Puckler-Muskau, Lucie von Hardenberg-Reventlow, Princess von – (1776 – 1854)
German patrician and society figure
Princess Lucie von Hardenberg-Reventlow was the daughter of Prince Karl August von Hardenberg-Reventlow and his wife Countess Christiana Frederica Juliana von Reventlow. She was married firstly (1796) to Count Karl Friedrich Theodor von Pappenheim (1771 – 1853) to whom she bore four children, including Adelaide von Papenheim (1797 – 1849) who married Prince Heinrich von Carolath-Beuthen. Her first marriage ended in divorce, and countess remarried (1817) to Prince Herman von Puckler-Muskau (1785 – 1871), one of the the victors of Waterloo (1815). Faced with mounting debts the prince had decided he needed a rich wife.
Puckler-Muskau spent her money on extravagant building repairs on his estates and ran through her fortune in a decade. Lucie agreed to his request for a divorce on the grounds that she retained the family home for her use, even if he were to remarry (1826). He never did and the couple remained closely connected until Lucie’s death thirty years later. During this time she was the beneficiary of several inheritances, which she used to help maintain her former spouse as well as herself and her family, even after he became the lover of her own granddaughter, a relationship that lasted for six years (1841 – 1847). Princess Puckler-Muskau died (May 20, 1854) aged seventy-eight.

Puddicombe, Anne Adalisa – (1836 – 1908) 
British novelist
Anne Evans was born in Carmarthenshire, the daughter of Benjamin Evans, solicitor, of Newcastle-Emlyn, and was educated at Cheltenham and South Shields. Anne was married (1872) to Beynon Puddicombe (died 1906), a foreign correspondent with a London bank. Anne did not take up writing seriously until 1894, and in 1897 there appeared her romantic movel A Welsh Singer under the pseudonym of ‘Allan Raine’. Eleven other novels followed in quick succession, including the historical romance Hearts of Wales (1905). Though not literary masterpieces, they remained popular due to her idealistic portrayal of ordinary Welsh life, and her last work Under the Thatch was published posthumously (1910). Anne Puddicombe died of cancer.

Pudeator, Ann – (c1623 – 1692)
American colonial witchtrial victim
Ann Pudeator was an elderly widow who resided in the township of Salem in Massechusetts. During the witchtrial hysteria she was accused and arrested (May 12, 1692), and then interrogated.
Ann Pudeator consistently maintained her innocence of all charges, and challenged the credibility of her accusers before the court. Despite this, she was condemned as a witch, and hanged with Margaret Scott (Sept 22). The later tradition that portrayed Ann Pudeator as a lusty young widow, has no basis in historical fact, but was more to do with the cultural popularity of witchcraft and of television.

Pudentiana (Potentiana) – (c65 – c140 AD)
Roman Christian patrician and saint
Pudentiana was the elder sister to Praxedes, and was the elder daughter of senator Pudens and his wife Claudia Rufina, the daughter of the captive Welsh king Caractacus. With her sister Pudentiana supported the persecuted Christian sect, and opened their home for Christian worship during the time of Pope Pius I after constructing a baptistery within their villa. At her death Pudentiana was interred beside her father in the cemetery of Priscilla, and bequeathed her house to the church, it being converted into an oratory. The Roman Martyrology honoured the sisters together as saints (May 19). The church of Santa Pudentiana at Narni, near Rome was decorated with ancient mosiacs which depicted the two sisters offering crowns to the apostles Peter and Paul. The tradition that she died aged only sixteen, possibly as a martyr, is untrue.

Pudu-hepa – (c1290 – c1225 BC)
Hittite queen and letter writer
Pudu-hepa was the daughter of Bentipsami of Kizzuwatna, priest of Ishtar. She was married (c1275 BC) to Hattsulis III, King of the Hittites, and she was probably the mother of his successor, King Tudkhalia IV (c1273 – c1213 BC). Pudu-hepa’s name was associated with her husband on a large number of religious and administrative decrees issued during his reign. She is portrayed sacrificing to the great Hittite goddess, Ferahettin (Frakhin), and the text of the treaty with Egypt (c1245 BC) when Ramesses II married her daughter Maarthorneferure, testifies that she possessed her own official seal depicting her in the embrace of the same goddess. There also remain extant letters exchanged between Pudu-hepa and Queen Nefertiri, the chief wife of King Ramesses, at the time of the Hittite peace (c1258 BC), and at the time of her daughter’s marriage, which were identical. This duplicated correspondence is unique of its kind.

Pugh, Mavis Gladys – (1914 – 2006)
British stage, film, and television character actress
Mavis Pugh was born (June 25, 1914) at Croydon in Surrey, the daughter of a solicitor. She attended school at Folkestone, Kent, and later studied at the International School of Acting at Oxford. Pugh joined a repertory company in Buckinghamshire before making her stage debut in London in Junior Miss (1943). She later joined the company run by Jimmy Perry in Watford, where she met the actor John Clegg, whom she later married (1959).
Mavis Pugh’s television career did not begin until her first appearance as Lady Maltby in an episode of the popular series Dad’s Army (1974). She then appeared in other famous comedies such as Are You Being Served? (1976 – 1978) and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum (1976). She appeared memorably in an episode of, Fawlty Towers (1979) as the eccentric Mrs Chase with her vicious little dog. During this time she also made two films The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978) and Brothers and Sisters (1980). During the latter part of her career, Mavis Pugh appeared with comedian Ronnie Corbett as Mrs Barable in Sorry? (1987 – 1988), but was best remembered as Lady Lavender in over two dozen episodes of You Rang M’Lord ? She also made appearances in several television commercials. Mavis Pugh died (Dec 6, 2006) aged ninety-two, at Chichester, West Sussex.

Puglia, Martina Franca    see   Vito, Gioconda de

Pujades i Botey, Merce – (1880 – 1972)
Spanish poet
Merce Pujades was born at Caldes d’Estrac in Barcelona, Aragon. During the period of the Civil War she resided abroad in Switzerland, but subsequently returned to reside in Barcelona, where she was director of the College de la Verge de la Merce for six decades. Mercedes Pujades i Botey wrote verses in celebration of Christmas, and some were dedicated to the child educator Maria Montessor whose teaching methods she admired. Her work, which had been collected by her students and published as Del meu cami/ (About my path) (1967), only five years before her death, had been written over a forty year period (1915 – 1954).

Pulcheria, Aelia – (399 – 453 AD)
Byzantine Augusta
Aelia Pulcheria was born (Jan 19, 399 AD), the eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius, and his wife Eudoxia, daughter of Bauto the Frank. She was the elder sister to the emperor Theodosius II (401 – 450 AD), and was proclaimed Augusta (414 AD), to rule as regent for her brother.With the departure from office of the praetorian prefect, Anthemius, Pulcheria dominated the court. She organized her brother’s education, and instituted the monastic at the Imperial court, that would remain a feature of Theodosius’ reign. To prevent complications with the succession, she and her two younger sisters, Arcadia and Marina took vows of chastity and resided at court like nuns.

Pulcheria’s main rival was the empress Eudocia, formerly Athenais, whom she she herself had chosen for her brother as his wife (421 AD). Eudocia’s influence later gave way before the power of the chamberlain and eunuch, Chrysaphius, whom dominated the court during the early 440’s. She regained her former power before her brother’s death, and secured the succession of a retired military commander, as the emperor Marcian (391 – 457 AD) by marrying him. The Empress Pulcheria died in Constantinople, aged fifty-four (July 7, 453 AD), and was interred within the Church of the Holy Apostles, where Marcian was later buried beside her. She left all her estates to the poor and needy and represented on the coinage. The Roman Martyrology honoured the empress as a saint (Sept 10) and (July 7).

Pulcheria, Flavia – (378 – 385 AD)
Roman Imperial princess
Flavia Pulcheria was the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius I the Great (379 – 395 AD) and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. She was sister to the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius. Pulcheria died young, aged only seven years. Her funeral oration was delivered in Constantinople by St Gregory of Nyssa.

Pulliam, Martha – (1891 – 1991)
American publisher
Martha Ott was born in Franklin, Indiana, the daughter of Lyman Edwatd Ott, and his wife Martha Payne, and graduated from Franklin College. She was married (1919 – 1941) to Eugene C. Pulliam, the founder of Central Newspapers Inc. Martha Pulliam was the managing publisher and editor of The Lebanon Reporter publication for nearly fifty years (1942 – 1990) and was the grandmother of Democratic Vice-President Dan Quayle. She was presented with Indiana’s highest civilian honour, the Sagamore of the Wabash on her one hundredth birthday (March 23, 1991). Martha Pulliam died four months later (July 11, 1991) in Franklin.

Pullmanova, Maria    see    Halamova, Masa

Punchard, Constance   see   Holme, Constance

Punnika – (fl. c500 – c460 BC)
Indian Buddhist poet
Punnika was born a slave in the household of Anathapindika, a wealthy follower of Buddha, who provided the site at Jeta Grove for the first Buddhist monastery. She worked as a water carrier in her master’s house, but applied to be taught by Buddha. Anathapindika freed Punnika and then adopted her as his daughter, which gave her admittance to the sangha (house) of the Buddhist nuns. One of her poems, a dialogue between Punnika and the Brahmin Udakasuddhika, is preserved in the Therigatha.

Purandukht (Buran) – (c590 – 631)
Queen regnant of Persia
Purandukht was the daughter of the Sassanid ruler Khosrau II (died 628) and his second wife, Shirin of Khuzistan. Sometimes called Puran she raised to the throne in 630 after the death of King Shahrbaraz, and was crowned at Ctesiphon. The queen attempted to prevent further fragmentation within the kingdom, lowering taxes and minting coins, amongst other measures, but due to the continued political instability of the period, her reign was shortlived. Queen Purandukht died, probably murdered, and is believed to have abdicated shortly before her death.

Purbeck, Frances Coke, Viscountess    see   Coke, Frances

Purser, Sarah Henrietta – (1848 – 1943)
Irish realist painter
Sarah Purser was born at Dun Laoghaire, studying art in Dublin and at the Academie Julian in Paris (1878 – 1879). She corresponded with the Swiss and Russian female painters Louise C. Breslau and Marie Bashkirtseva. Purser exhibited her works at the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1872, and works such as Le Petit dejeuner (1881), Lady with a Rattle (1885) and the Gardener’s Daughter (c1885) attracted extremely favourable reviews which established her reputation.
One of her most admired works was the life-sized portraits of sisters Constance and Eva Gore-Booth, whom she portrayed in a rustic woodland setting (c1882). She exhibited at the Royal Academy and was later elected an Honorary Royal Hibernian Academician (1890). Besides having built up the largest and most financially profitable portraiture practice, Purser was involved with many other artistic causes. She herself financed and managed An Tur Gloine (The Tower of Glass), the stained-glass co-operative, and was a member of the board of the National Gallery of Ireland. She later became the first woman to be elected a full Royal Hibernian Academician (1924). Sarah Purser died (Aug 7, 1943) aged ninety-five, in Dublin.

Purviance, Edna – (1894 – 1958)
American silent film star and actress
Her movie credits included appearances in several Charlie Chaplin films such as The Count (1916), The Cure (1917), The Adventurer (1917) and Shoulder Arms (1918). One of her last film appearances was in Limelight (1952).

Pusinna (Pusine) – (fl. c470 AD – c500)
Merovingian Christian nun
Pusinna was the daughter of Sigmarius, Count of Perthois, and his wife Lutrude. She was educated specifically for the religious life, and became a nun, together with several of her sisters, including Hoylda, at the abbey of Corbie. The Saxon chief Kobbo later made a gift of Pusinna’s relics to his kinsowman Heilwig of Engern, the mother of Empress Judith, second wife of Louis I, and they were translated from Corbie to Heilwig’s abbey of Herford in Saxony. Pusinna was later venerated as a saint, and her feast was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum (April 23).

Putbus, Engela von – (1549 – 1598)
German noblewoman
Engela von Putbus was the second daughter of Count George I von Putbus (died 1553) and his wife Countess Katharina von Hohnstein, the daughter of Count Wolfgang von Hohnstein-Vierraden. Engela became the wife (1579) at Wildenbruch in Pomerania of Count Johann von Stolberg-Wernigerode (1549 – 1612) and became his countess consort. Through her son Wolfgang Countess Engela was a direct ancestress of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. She died (March 5, 1598) aged forty-seven, at Stolberg and was interred there. Her children included,

• Countess Anna Genevieve von Stolberg-Wernigerode (1580 – 1635). She became the wife of Heinrich IV, Count von Reuss (died 1636).
• Countess Maria Magdalena von Stolberg-Wernigerode (1581 – 1627). She remained unmarried and was appointed as Abbess of Gandersheim, near Goslar.
• Count Wolfgang George von Stolberg-Wernigerode (1582 – 1631). He succeeded his father as reigning Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode (1612 – 1631) and left issue.

Putnam, Bertha Haven – (1872 – 1960)
American historian and author
Bertha Putnam was born in New York (March 1, 1872), the daughter of publisher George Haven Putnam. Emily James Putnam was her stepmother. She was taught Greek by her mother at home, and later attended Bryn Mawr College and Columbia University. Putnam became a history teacher and later assistant professor at Mount Holyoke College (1912 – 1924) before becoming a full professor. She was the author of The Enforcement of the Statutes of Labourers during the First Decade after the Black Death, 1349 – 1359 (1908) and of Proceedings Before the Justices of the Peace in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, Edward III to Richard III (1938). Putnam was later elected as a fellow of the Mediaeval Academy (1949). Bertha Putnam died (Feb 26, 1960) aged eighty-seven, at South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Putnam, Emily James – (1865 – 1944)
American educator, writer and college administrator
Emily was born (April 15, 1865) in Canandaigua in New York. Emily was married to the publisher George Haven Putnam. The historian Bertha Haven Putnam was her stepdaughter. Mrs Putnam was appointed as the first dean of the prestigious Barnard College at Columbia University in New York (1894 – 1900) and lectured there for over three decades (1894 – 1929). She was author of the historical works The Lady (1910), and Candaule’s Wife, and Other Stories (1926). Emily James Putnam died (Sept 7, 1944) aged seventy-nine.

Puzela, Marie Catherine    see   Vallon, Marie Catherine

Pye, Edith Mary – (1876 – 1965)
British midwife and international relief organizer
Edith Pye was born in London, the daughter of a wine merchant, and sister to Sir David Randall Pye. She trained as anurse and midwife, and became superintendent of district nurses in London (1907). Pye joined the Society of Friends (Quakers), and from 1914 – 1919 she established and organised a maternity hopsital for female refugees at Chalons-sur-Marne, in France, for which work she was made a member of the Legion d’Honneur.
A member of the Women’s International League, which had been founded by Jane Addams (1915), Pye served as that body’s international executive, and she was later sent to China by the league, to report on the condition of women (1928).  Elected president of the British Institute of Midwives, she alsp worked to assist the refugees fleeing the regime of Adolf Hitler, and during the Spanish Civil War, Pye established in Geneva the international commission for the assistance of child refugees. Pye remained unmarried and retired to Street, in Somerset (1952). Edith Pye died (Dec 16, 1952) aged eighty-nine, at Street.

Pye, Jael – (c1737 – 1782)
Anglo-Jewish poet and author
Jael Pye was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and was twice married with one daughter. The death of her second husband left jael without finances, and she turned to writing to bring in an income. Her published work included A Short Account of the Principal Seats and Gardens in and about Richmond and Kew in 1760, and A Peep into the Principal Seats and Gardens in and about Twickenham (1775), as well as a collection of verse (1767). Jael was a friend of David Garrick, the manager of Drury Lane Theatre. Her novel Theodosius and Arabella (1786) was published posthumously.

‘Pyjama Girl, the’      see     Agostini, Linda

Pyke, Lillian Maxwell – (c1881 – 1927)
Australian writer
Lillian Maxwell Heath was born in Melbourne, the daughter of Robert Moseley Heath. She was educated in Melbourne, and after her marriage (c1908) with Richard Dimond Pyke, Lillian accompanied her husband to reside at Kingaroy in Queensland. This region became the inspiration for her first children’s book which was published as Camp Kiddie, which was published under the pseudonym ‘Erica Maxwell’ as were most of Mrs Pyke’s subsequent books for children. Lillian Pyke died (Aug 31, 1927) in Melbourne

Pyke, Margaret – (1893 – 1966) 
British birth control campaigner
The chairman (1954) of the Family Planning Association, Margaret Pyke was born in Hampshire, the daughter of a physician. She was educated at home and later attended Somerville College, Oxford. She was married (1918) to Geoffrey Pyke (died 1929), the noted educator. With the early death of her husband, Margaret Pyke became secretary of the National Birth Control Association, which later became the Family Planning Association (1938). She managed to gain the consent of the Department of Health to permit contraception on the gounds of health, and the first such clinic was established in Plymouth by the local council. Eventually over five hundred such clinics were established throughout Britain.

Pym, Barbara Mary Crampton – (1913 – 1980)
British novelist
Barbara Pym was born in Owestry, Shropshire and was educated at St Hilda’s College in Oxford. She taught English in Poland prior to WW II, and after her return to England, joined the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service). Pym was later attached to the International African Institute in London as a research and editorial assistant (1958 – 1974). She published six novels including Some Tame Gazelle (1950), Excellent Women (1952), Jane and Prudence (1953) and Less Than Angels (1955) before achieving literary recognition by The Times Literary Supplement (1977). Other novels included No Fond Return of Love (1961), Quartet in Autumn (1977) and The Sweet Dove Died (1978). Rosamond Pym was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1979). Four of her novels were published posthumously including Crampton Hodnet (1985) and An Academic Question (1986).

Pymm, Alison – (1844 – 1915)
Australian feminist
Alison Pymm resided at Yarraville in Melbourne, Victoria. From 1899 she was closely associated with the Women’s Political and Social Crusade, and was appointed as the president of the Central Union of Progressive Leagues. Pymm was also a member of the royal commission into unemployment (1899). Alison Pymm died (Dec 22, 1915) aged seventy-one.

Pyne, Louisa    see    Bodda Pyne, Louisa Fanny

Pypuy – (fl. c1270 – c1240 BC)
Egyptian Ramesside princess
A member of the XIXth Dynasty, Pypuy was the daughter of Ramesses II ‘the Great’ and an unidentified wife or concubine, and bore the title of ‘king’s Daughter of his Body.’ Pypuy featured amongst the procession of royal daughters which were carved in relief on the front of the Great Temple at Abu-Simbel. She may be identified with a princess called ‘Pyihia,’ the daughter of a lady named Iwy, whose mummy was found reburied with several others at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna during the XXIst Dynasty, though this remains scholarly speculation.

Pythias, Claudia – (c40 – 60 AD)
Roman Imperial slave
Claudia Pythias was trained for service within the Imperial household of the Emperor Claudius (41 – 54 AD), and the attendant of his daughter Octavia, the ill-fated wife of the Emperor Nero.
Pythias was probably a freedwoman and remained in her mistress’s service all her life. She refused to be intimidated by the emperor’s henchmen and refused to incriminate the innocent empress. For this loyalty Nero caused her to be executed.

Pythias of Atarnaeus – (c365 – c325 BC)
Greek literary figure
Pythias was the niece and adopted daughter of Hermias, tyrant of Atarnaeus and Assos in Mysia. Hermias was sent a prisoner to the Persian court (344 BC) and was later put to death there. His friend, the famous philosopher Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) then married Pythias, and the two fled to Mytilene before finally settling at the Macedonian court. The couple had on only daughter, named Pythias after her mother. Pythias’s death was a great blow to her husband, and Aristotle never remarried, but lived subsequently with a friend of hers, Herpyllis, who bore him a son Nikomachus. Aristotle had composed his Hymn to Arete to commemorate the death of Hermias, Pthias’ father, at Didymus (341 BC), after his execution had been ordered by Philip II of Macedon.

Pythionike – (c353 – c326 BC)
Greek concubine
Pyhtionike was the mistress of Harpalus (c355 – 324 BC), the Macedonian satrap (governor) of Athens under Alexander the Great. Harpalus acted as Alexander’s official treasurer, and Pythionike, an Athenian by birth, was installed with her household, in her residence at Babylon in Persia. Pythionike died aged only in her late twenties, and Kharikles, the son-in-law of Phokion, supervised the construction of the memorial Harpalus ordered built to her memory.

Pythodoris I – (33 BC – 23 AD)
Greek client ruler
Pythodoris I was born at Nyssa, the daughter of Pythodorus, asiarch of Tralles, in Asia Minor, by his wife Antonia Euergitia, the daughter of Mark Antony. Excellently educated she became the second wife (14 BC) of Polemo I, king of Pontus (c65 – 8 BC), to whom she bore three children before his death, including Antonia Tryphaena, the wife of Kotys IV, King of Thrace. With Polemo’s death, Pythodoris ruled as sole sovereign, not as regent, until her own death, a notable exception amongst vassal queens of the period. The Greek historian Strabo recorded that her elder son advised the queen as a minister, in a private capacity, and that she ruled the regions of Pontus, Cappodocia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Caria. She caused her son Zeno to be raised and educated in the Armenian fashion in readiness for his call to ascend the throne of that country as Artasias II (18 AD).
Later, at the behest of the Emperor Augustus, Pythodoris remarried (c5 BC) to Archelaus, king of Cappodocia (c60 BC – 17 AD) but continued to rule her sons’s heritage without interference from her second husband. She kept Pontus and Armenia from the encroachment of Rome, and retained their independence in readiness for her elder son, Marcus Antonius Polemo (10 BC – c36 AD). However, at her death (before Oct, 23 AD), the kingdom was placed under wardship by Rome, in default of heirs of an age to rule.

Pythodoris II – (fl. 17 – 30 AD)
Greek queen of Thrace
Rythodoris II was the daughter of Kotys IV, king of Thrace, and his wife Antonia Tryphaena, the daughter of Polemo I, king of Pontus, and his wife Pythodirs II, a native of Tralles in Asia Minor. Through her paternal grandmother Pythodoris II was a descendant of the Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius, and may have spent part of her childhood being educated in Rome, in the household of Livia, the widow of Augustus, as her widowed mother resided there for several years. Pythodoris II was given in dynastic marriage (17 AD) to her cousin, King Rhoematekles II of Thrace, with the permission of the emperor Tiberius. The queen is attested by two surviving inscriptions, and from a fragment discovered at Apollonia Pontica, which gave the German historian Dessau clues as to the true family relationship between the elder and younger Pythodoris. The inscription from Bizye in Thrace was presented by one Gaius Julius Proculus, and gave thanks for the preservation of King Rhoemakles and Queen Pythodoris during the Coelalectic War, which was described by the historian Tacitus in his Annales.