Myra Abigail Pratt ''née'' Pankhurst and formerly Wright, later Daria, Princess Karageorgevich (March 21, 1859 – June 26, 1938) was an American

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who competed in the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...

on behalf of France. She won the bronze medal in the women's competition. By virtue of her third marriage, she was member of the

House of Karađorđević The House of Karađorđević or Karađorđević dynasty ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Династија Карађорђевић, Dinastija Karađorđević, ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Карађорђевићи, Karađorđevići, label=none) was the former ruling Kin ...

Early life

Myra Abigail Pankhurst was born on March 21, 1859, to Maria Louise (''née'' Coates) and John Foster Pankhurst, vice-president of Globe Iron Works Company and co-owner of

American Ship Building Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio, in 1898. It changed its name t ...

of Cleveland.

Marriages, issue and golf career

Her first husband was Herbert Wright. It is unclear whether Wright died in 1880 or the two were divorced in the 1890s. She later married Thomas Huger Pratt shortly before the 1900 Olympics. The two were frequently in Europe and were members of the

Dinard Dinard (; , ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this has resul ...

Golf Club in France. Huger Pratt played in the handicap event (which is not recognized as Olympic), not starting in the main men's tournament. Abbie Pratt finished third in the women's competition, with a score of 53 in the 9-hole

stroke play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...

tournament. Despite being American, the IOC recognizes her as a representative of France due to her competing for the Dinard Golf Club. The fate of Abbie Pratt's marriage to Thomas is also unclear. He may have died in 1905, or possibly in 1907. Alternatively, he may have instead gone missing in 1907; there is one newspaper article reporting that Abbie Pratt was seeking a divorce then due to his disappearance. Another article indicates that he died in 1912 while still married to Abbie. Abbie Pratt married

Prince Alexis Karageorgevich Prince Alexis Karageorgevitch, or Karađorđević ( / ''Aleksa Karađorđević''; 10 June 1859 – 15 February 1920), was the head of the Primogeniture, senior branch of the House of Karageorgevitch and a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of ...

, the unsuccessful claimant to the throne of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, on June 11, 1913, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, taking Daria as her royal orthodox name and was thereafter referred to as

Her Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjec ...

Princess Daria Karageorgevich. She was received in the Eastern Orthodox faith and Myron Timothy Herrick, US Ambassador to France, served as one of her witnesses at the marriage. The couple honeymooned in the South of France before heading to her home city of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the Prince's first trip to the U.S. in 14 years. She had one daughter from her first marriage, Harriet Louise Wright (1871-1946). Harriet married first, by 1901, Count Alexander Mercati (1874-1947), a son of Count Leonardo Mercati (1838-1901) and his wife, Catherine Venizelos (1848-1919). Count Alexander, a boyhood friend of King

Constantine I of Greece Constantine I (, Romanization, romanized: ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and again from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army dur ...

(for whom he served as Grand marshal of the Court), was one of the original members of the

Hellenic Olympic Committee The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC, ) is the governing Olympic body of Greece. It is the second-oldest National Olympic Committee in the world (after the French Olympic Committee), it organizes the country's representatives at the Olympic Gam ...

. After their divorce, she married secondly, at Paris on 5 Feb. 1914,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Emmerich von Pflügl (1873-1956), son of Freiherr Richard von Pflügl and of Marianne Hengelmüller

Edle Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility in Austria-Hungary and Germany, just beneath a ''Ritter'' (hereditary knight), but above untitled nobles, who used only the nobiliary particle ''von'' before their surname. It was mostly given to ...

von Hengervár.

First World War

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the Prince and Princess Karageorgevich went to Serbia to support the war effort. After the fall of the wartime capital

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

to the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

the couple became part of the mass retreat from Serbia through the treacherous mountains of

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

in the winter of 1915 and arrived in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on Christmas Eve 1915."Big battle raging in Mid Albania" ''New York Times''. 1915-12-25p. 8. Prince Alexis died in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1920 during the 1918-1920

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

pandemic, Princess Daria surviving him and dying in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

on 26 June 1938.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Abbie American female golfers Amateur golfers Golfers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for France Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Golfers from Cleveland Princesses of Serbia Princesses by marriage Karađorđević dynasty American emigrants to France 1859 births 1938 deaths 19th-century American sportswomen Royal Olympic medalists