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Ganna Walska
Ganna Walska (born Hanna Puacz on June 26, 1887 – March 2, 1984) was a Polish opera singer and garden enthusiast who created the Lotusland botanical gardens at her mansion in Montecito, California. She was married six times, four times to wealthy husbands. The lavish promotion of her lackluster opera career by her fourth husband, Harold Fowler McCormick, inspired aspects of the screenplay for '' Citizen Kane''. Biography Ganna Walska was born Hanna Puacz on 26 June 1887 in Brest, Russian Empire, to Polish parents Napoleon Puacz and Karolina Massalska. Ganna is a Ukrainian form of Hannah, and Walska "reminiscent of her favorite music, the waltz". In 1922, after her marriage to Harold F. McCormick, Ganna Walska purchased the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. She told the ''Chicago Tribune'' that she had invested her own funds, not those of her wealthy husband, and said, "I will never appear in my own theatre until I have gained recognition based solely on my merits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brest, Belarus
Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Brest; be, links=no, translit=Berastze Litouski (Berastze), Берасце Літоўскі (Берасце); lt, links=no, Lietuvos Brasta; pl, links=no, Brześć Litewski, ), Brest-on-the-Bug ( pl, links=no, Brześć nad Bugiem), is a city (population 350,616 in 2019) in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish city of Terespol, where the Bug (river), Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It is the capital city of the Brest Region. Brest is a historical site for many cultures, as it hosted important historical events, such as the Union of Brest and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Furthermore, the Brest Fortress was recognized by the Soviet Union as a Hero Fortress in honour of the defense of Brest Fortress in Jun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marjorie Lawrence
Marjorie Florence Lawrence CBE (17 February 190713 January 1979) was an Australian soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas. She was the first Metropolitan Opera soprano to perform the immolation scene in ''Götterdämmerung'' by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended. She was afflicted by polio from 1941. Lawrence later served on the faculty of the School of Music at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her life story was told in the 1955 film ''Interrupted Melody'', in which she was portrayed by Eleanor Parker, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Lawrence. Early life Lawrence was born at Deans Marsh, south west of Melbourne. She was the fifth of six children of William Lawrence, the local butcher, and Elizabeth (née Smith) Lawrence, church organist. Her mother died when Lawrence was two and she was raised by her father's mother. Lawrence attended local schools, joined the cho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabergé Egg
A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtually all were manufactured under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé between 1885 and 1917. The most famous are his 52 "Imperial" eggs, 46 of which survive, made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. Fabergé eggs are worth millions of dollars and have become symbols of opulence. History The House of Fabergé was founded by Gustav Fabergé in 1842 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Fabergé egg was a later addition to the product line by his son, Peter Carl Fabergé. Prior to 1885, Tsar Alexander III gave his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna jeweled Easter eggs. For Easter in 1883, before his coronation, Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna were given eggs, one of which contained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malcolm Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism and free market economics and for an extravagant lifestyle, spending on parties, travel, and his collection of homes, yachts, aircraft, art, motorcycles, and Fabergé eggs. Life and career Forbes was born on August 19, 1919, in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of Adelaide Mary (Stevenson) and Scottish-born financial journalist and author B. C. Forbes. He graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1937. In 1941 he received an A.B. from the School of Public and International Affairs, now Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, at Princeton University, with a 176-page senior thesis, "Weekly Newspapers - An Evaluation." Forbes enlisted in the Army in 1942 and served as a machine gunner in the 84th Infantry Division in Europe, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consuelo Vanderbilt
Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan (formerly Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt; March 2, 1877 – December 6, 1964) was a socialite and a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. Her first marriage to the 9th Duke of Marlborough has become a well-known example of one of the advantageous, but loveless, marriages common during the Gilded Age; as such, she was known as one of the earliest ‘dollar princesses’. The Duke obtained a large dowry by the marriage, and reportedly told her just after the marriage that he married her in order to "save Blenheim Palace", his ancestral home. Although the teenage Consuelo was opposed to the marriage arranged by her mother, she became a popular and influential Duchess. For much of their 25-year marriage, the Marlboroughs lived separately and the marriage was finally annulled. Her first marriage produced two sons, John Spencer-Churchill, the 10th duke, and Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill. She went ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duchess Of Marlborough Egg
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below princess nobility and grand dukes. The title comes from French ''duc'', itself from the Latin ''dux'', 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic or Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word ''duchess'' is the female equivalent. Following the reforms of the emperor Diocletian (which separated the civilian and military administrations of the Roman provinces), a ''dux'' became the military commander in each province. The title ''dux'', Hellenised to ''doux'', survived in the Eastern Roman Empire where it continued in several contexts, signifying a rank equivalent to a capta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
