Ida Rubinstein

Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (Russian: Ида Львовна Рубинштейн; 3 October [O.S. 21 September] 1883 – 20 September 1960) was a Russian dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure. She performed with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 and later formed her own company. Boléro by Ravel (1928) was among her commissions.

Rubinstein was born into one of Russian Empire's richest families, to Jewish parents in Kharkov (now in Ukraine), and grew up in Saint Petersburg. For many years, it was a mystery whether she was born in Kharkov or Saint Petersburg, complicated by the rumour that "Ida" was short for "Adelaida". Rubinstein herself would not confirm where she was born, nor if Ida was a nickname, preferring the aura of mystery. Years after her death, the record was discovered in the archives of the Kharkov Choral Synagogue, where her father had been a board member: the birth of a daughter, Ida Lvovna, on 21 September (O.S., N.S. 5 October), to father Lev Ruvimovich, Honorary Citizen of Kharkov, and mother Ernestina Isaakovna Rubinstein, had been dutily recorded in the registry for 1883. She had an older sister, Rachel, born in 1876.

Ida's grandfather, Ruvim (Roman) Rubinstein, had been a successful sugar trader in Kharkov. He moved to Saint Petersburg, where he founded the company Roman Rubinstein & Sons with his two sons, Lev (Leon) and Adolf (Anton). The family multiplied their investment many times over, becoming millionaires by the time Ida was born. The family expanded to own several banks, including the First Bank of Kharkov, sugar mills and breweries.

The family donated large sums of money to charities, particularly the arts. Lev and Adolf were both well educated; they regularly hosted prominent intellectuals and artists in their home. Adolf's son Iosif became a successful pianist who studied under Franz Liszt.

Her mother died when Ida was very young, and in 1892, her father died in Frankfurt, leaving her a vast fortune. In 1893, the eight-year-old Ida was sent to Saint Petersburg to live with her aunt, socialite "Madame" Gorvits (Horwitz). Rubinstein grew up in her aunt's mansion on the city's famed Promenade des Anglais, where she was given the best education. She became fluent in English, French, German and Italian. When she became interested in Ancient Greece, a Greek professor was invited to tutor her in Saint Petersburg.

She was also given the best instruction in music, dance and theatre, including lessons from instructors from the Russian imperial theatres. She lacked natural dance ability, but she worked constantly on her posture, movements and pirouettes. Eventually, secretly intent on going on stage herself, she went to Paris, France, under the guise of continuing her education.

In Paris, Rubinstein began her career as an actress, appearing on stage in various stages of "indecent" garb. The news reached Saint Petersburg and the ears of her conservative Orthodox family. While it was perfectly respectable for the upper class to be seen at the theatre, being an actress was no different from being a prostitute in the eyes of her horrified relatives. Her brother-in-law, a Parisian doctor named Lewinsohn (Levinson), had her declared legally insane in order to commit her to a mental asylum to save the family's honor.

Her family in Kharkov and Saint Petersburg, unhappy with her being in an asylum, demanded she be released and sent home. Once in Saint Petersburg, she was chaperoned at all times by her governess, as was customary for an unmarried young woman of her social class. To earn her freedom and right to control her fortune, she married her first cousin Vladimir Gorvits, who was madly in love with her and allowed her to travel and perform.