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Winnaretta Singer
Winnaretta Singer (8 January 1865 – 26 November 1943) was an American-born heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. She used this to fund a wide range of causes, notably a musical salon where her protégés included Debussy and Ravel, and numerous public health projects in Paris, where she lived most of her life. Singer entered into two marriages that were unconsummated, and openly enjoyed many high-profile relationships with women. She was styled as Countess Louis de Scey-Montbéliard during her first marriage and as Princess Edmond de Polignac following her second marriage in 1893.
Winnaretta Singer was born in Yonkers, New York, the twentieth of the 24 children of Isaac Singer. Her mother was his Parisian-born second wife, Isabella Eugénie Boyer. After the American Civil War, the Singer family moved to Paris, where they remained until the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The family then settled in England, first in London, and then Paignton, Devon where they moved to Oldway Mansion, a 115-room palace built by her father. After Isaac Singer's death in 1875, Isabella and her children moved back to Paris. In 1879 Isabella remarried; her new husband was a Belgian violinist, Victor-Nicolas Reubsaet. Presumably, he abused Winnaretta; rumors flew about the violence in their house. As soon as she came of age, Winnaretta seized control of her $1 million inheritance and left to live on her own.
Winnaretta's older brother, Adam Mortimer Singer, became one of England's landed gentry. Her younger sister, Isabelle-Blanche (1869–1896) married Jean, duc Decazes. Their daughter, Daisy Fellowes, was raised by Winnaretta after Isabelle-Blanche's death and became a noted socialite, magazine editor, and fashion trendsetter. Winnaretta's younger brother, Paris Singer, was one of the architects and financiers of the resort of Palm Beach, Florida; he had a son by Isadora Duncan. Another brother, Washington Singer, became a substantial donor to the University College of the South West of England, now the University of Exeter; one of the university's buildings is named in his honor.
Although known within private social circles to be a lesbian, Winnaretta married at the age of 22 to Count Louis de Scey-Montbéliard (fr). The marriage was annulled in 1892 by the Catholic church, five years after a wedding night that family stories say included the bride's climbing atop an armoire and threatening to kill the groom if he came near her.
In 1893, at the age of 28, she stepped companionably into an equally chaste marriage with the 59-year-old Prince Edmond de Polignac (1834–1901), a gay amateur composer. Although it was a mariage blanc (unconsummated marriage), or indeed a lavender marriage (a union between a gay man and a lesbian), it was based on profound platonic love, mutual respect, understanding, and artistic friendship, expressed especially through their love of music. The same year, Singer exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
In the course of her life, Singer had affairs with numerous women, never making attempts to conceal them, and never going for any great length of time without a female lover. She had these affairs during her own marriages and afterwards, and often with other married women. The disgruntled lesser half of one of Singer's lovers once stood outside her Venetian palazzo and issued this challenge: "If you are half the man I think you are, you will come out here and fight me."
Polignac had a relationship with painter Romaine Brooks, which had begun in 1905, and which effectively ended her affair with Olga de Meyer, who was married at the time and whose godfather (and purported biological father) was Edward VII. Composer and conductor Ethel Smyth fell deeply in love with her during their affair. In the early 1920s, Polignac became involved with pianist Renata Borgatti. From 1923 to 1933, her lover was the British socialite and novelist Violet Trefusis, with whom she had a loving but often turbulent relationship. Alvilde Chaplin, the future wife of the author James Lees-Milne, was involved with Polignac from 1938 to 1943; the two women were living together in London at the time of Polignac's death. In addition, she had an affair with Virginia Woolf.[citation needed]
In 1894, the Prince and Princesse de Polignac established a salon in Paris in the music room of their mansion on Avenue Henri-Martin. Their niece by marriage, Jeanne de Montagnac, often assisted in hosting the salons. The Polignac salon came to be known as a haven for avant-garde music. First performances of Chabrier, d'Indy, Debussy, Fauré, and Ravel took place in the Polignac salon. The young Ravel dedicated his piano work, Pavane pour une infante défunte, to the Princesse de Polignac. Many of Marcel Proust's evocations of salon culture were born during his attendance at concerts in the Polignac drawing room.[citation needed]
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Winnaretta Singer
Winnaretta Singer (8 January 1865 – 26 November 1943) was an American-born heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. She used this to fund a wide range of causes, notably a musical salon where her protégés included Debussy and Ravel, and numerous public health projects in Paris, where she lived most of her life. Singer entered into two marriages that were unconsummated, and openly enjoyed many high-profile relationships with women. She was styled as Countess Louis de Scey-Montbéliard during her first marriage and as Princess Edmond de Polignac following her second marriage in 1893.
Winnaretta Singer was born in Yonkers, New York, the twentieth of the 24 children of Isaac Singer. Her mother was his Parisian-born second wife, Isabella Eugénie Boyer. After the American Civil War, the Singer family moved to Paris, where they remained until the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The family then settled in England, first in London, and then Paignton, Devon where they moved to Oldway Mansion, a 115-room palace built by her father. After Isaac Singer's death in 1875, Isabella and her children moved back to Paris. In 1879 Isabella remarried; her new husband was a Belgian violinist, Victor-Nicolas Reubsaet. Presumably, he abused Winnaretta; rumors flew about the violence in their house. As soon as she came of age, Winnaretta seized control of her $1 million inheritance and left to live on her own.
Winnaretta's older brother, Adam Mortimer Singer, became one of England's landed gentry. Her younger sister, Isabelle-Blanche (1869–1896) married Jean, duc Decazes. Their daughter, Daisy Fellowes, was raised by Winnaretta after Isabelle-Blanche's death and became a noted socialite, magazine editor, and fashion trendsetter. Winnaretta's younger brother, Paris Singer, was one of the architects and financiers of the resort of Palm Beach, Florida; he had a son by Isadora Duncan. Another brother, Washington Singer, became a substantial donor to the University College of the South West of England, now the University of Exeter; one of the university's buildings is named in his honor.
Although known within private social circles to be a lesbian, Winnaretta married at the age of 22 to Count Louis de Scey-Montbéliard (fr). The marriage was annulled in 1892 by the Catholic church, five years after a wedding night that family stories say included the bride's climbing atop an armoire and threatening to kill the groom if he came near her.
In 1893, at the age of 28, she stepped companionably into an equally chaste marriage with the 59-year-old Prince Edmond de Polignac (1834–1901), a gay amateur composer. Although it was a mariage blanc (unconsummated marriage), or indeed a lavender marriage (a union between a gay man and a lesbian), it was based on profound platonic love, mutual respect, understanding, and artistic friendship, expressed especially through their love of music. The same year, Singer exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
In the course of her life, Singer had affairs with numerous women, never making attempts to conceal them, and never going for any great length of time without a female lover. She had these affairs during her own marriages and afterwards, and often with other married women. The disgruntled lesser half of one of Singer's lovers once stood outside her Venetian palazzo and issued this challenge: "If you are half the man I think you are, you will come out here and fight me."
Polignac had a relationship with painter Romaine Brooks, which had begun in 1905, and which effectively ended her affair with Olga de Meyer, who was married at the time and whose godfather (and purported biological father) was Edward VII. Composer and conductor Ethel Smyth fell deeply in love with her during their affair. In the early 1920s, Polignac became involved with pianist Renata Borgatti. From 1923 to 1933, her lover was the British socialite and novelist Violet Trefusis, with whom she had a loving but often turbulent relationship. Alvilde Chaplin, the future wife of the author James Lees-Milne, was involved with Polignac from 1938 to 1943; the two women were living together in London at the time of Polignac's death. In addition, she had an affair with Virginia Woolf.[citation needed]
In 1894, the Prince and Princesse de Polignac established a salon in Paris in the music room of their mansion on Avenue Henri-Martin. Their niece by marriage, Jeanne de Montagnac, often assisted in hosting the salons. The Polignac salon came to be known as a haven for avant-garde music. First performances of Chabrier, d'Indy, Debussy, Fauré, and Ravel took place in the Polignac salon. The young Ravel dedicated his piano work, Pavane pour une infante défunte, to the Princesse de Polignac. Many of Marcel Proust's evocations of salon culture were born during his attendance at concerts in the Polignac drawing room.[citation needed]
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