Virginia Courtauld

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Lady
Virginia Courtauld
View of a white marble bust of Virginia Courtauld in an upper floor window of Eltham Palace
"Portrait Bust of Virginia Courtauld", Filippo Lovatelli, 1923
Born
Vergilia Rosa Vester

(1885-01-07)7 January 1885
Brăila, Kingdom of Romania
Died20 December 1972(1972-12-20) (aged 87)
Jersey, Channel Islands, British Crown Dependency
Other names
  • Ginie Peirano
  • Ginie Courtauld
  • Virginia Spinola Peirano
  • Virginia Peirano Courtauld
  • Virginia Courtauld Peirano
Citizenship
OccupationPhilanthropist
Known for
Spouses
Marchese Paolo Spinola di Luccoli
​
​
(m. 1910; div. 1923)​
​
​
(m. 1923; died 1967)​
Family

Lady Virginia Courtauld (Known name of Virginia Peirano; formerly Spinola Peirano) was a Romanian-born philanthropist and member of the Courtauld Family, known for the Art Deco renovation of Eltham Palace and co-owning the La Rochelle country estate.

Early life

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Virginia Peirano was born Vergilia Rosa Vesterα on 7 January 1885 in Brăila, to a Hungarian mother, Rosa Balint Peirano (1860–1940), and an Italian father, Riccardo Peirano (1854–1930).[1][2][3][4][5] Peirano's father was a shipping merchant, whose family left Genoa in the late nineteenth century and established a grain-exporting business in the Romanian port city of Brăila.[6][4]

Peirano had two older brothers, Riccardo Jr. "Richard" Peirano (1880–c.1918–c.1923) and Enrico "Henry" Peirano (1881–).[5][7][8] Peirano's parents married on the 30 November 1886.[5]

Peirano's childhood was spent in London, where she was educated at convent school.[4][9]

Italy

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In December 1908, Riccardo Peirano dissolved his partnership in the family business "Peirano & Co.," leaving control of the company to his eldest son Richard Peirano and to George Nicholas Gologan of the Romanian Consulate.[10][11] In either late 1909 or early 1910, Peirano relocated with her parents to Santa Margherita, Liguria .[12][13] In May 1910, the Peirano family rented a villa within the private park of the then Villa Spinola, owned by the Marquis Ugo Spinola (1853–1925) and Solferina Serra Spinola (1859–1944).[12][13]

In 1910, Peirano met the Marchese Paolo Spinola (1880–1969), the Spinola's third and youngest son and a member of the Luccoli branch of the House of Spinola.[12][14][13] Within months of knowing each other, Peirano and Spinola broke with social convention and traveled together to Paris and London.[12] On the 24 November 1910, Peirano and Spinola were married at the Cathedral of Saint Lawrence in Genoa.[12][4] Honeymooning in the Khedivate of Egypt, the couple continued to travel extensively throughout their marriage.[12]

File:Rapallo-villa del Trattato.jpg
Villa del Trattato, built for Paolo Spinola and Virginia Peirano

Peirano and Spinola lived between London and the "villino Pagana n.8" on the Villa Spinola estate.[13] In 1913, Ugo and Solferina Spinola commissioned the "neova villa" (Later known as the Villa del Trattato (it)) to be built for the couple on the Villa Spinola Estate.[15][13] Styled after the Villa Serra di Comago, the Villa del Trattato was completed in 1915 however, Peirano and Spinola never lived in the property. [15][13] Initially passionate, Peirano's and Spinola's marriage was strained by class and cultural differences which saw Peirano struggle to fit in with the conservative Spinola family.[16][17] In 1919, Peirano met Stephen Courtauld in Courmayeur whilst on a skiing holiday with Spinola, and formed a romantic relationship.[4][13]

Peirano and Luccoli separated in either the spring or summer of 1920, and finalised their divorce in Fiume (present-day Rijeka, Croatia) in 1923.[9][4][14][13] Peirano married Stephen Courtauld in Fiume soon after, whilst Spinola formed a long term relationship with the actress Hydée Urbani.[9][18][14][15]

Eltham Palace

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Main article: Eltham Palace

As a wedding present, Stephen Courtauld gifted Peirano a pet ring-tailed lemur named Mah-Jongg, who lived and traveled with the couple for the next 15 years.[4]

In 1933, the couple acquired a 99-year-lease on Eltham Palace, and completed an Art Deco renovation.[19] Following a bombing on Eltham Palace in 1944, the Courtauld's gave up their lease and moved to Scotland.[20]

Rhodesia

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Main article: La Rochelle (Zimbabwe)

In 1951, the Courtauld's moved to Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), and commissioned the building of the La Rochelle country estate.[21] The Courtaulds supported non-racialism, were personal friends of Hastings Banda and advocated for Rhodesian black rule.[22][23] Following Stephen Courtauld death in 1967, Peirano reportedly began financially supporting members of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army crossing the Mozambique–Zimbabwe border.[22][23]

Jersey

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Peirano left Zimbabwe in 1970, and lived with family in St Lawrence, Jersey.[24]

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The 2017 book Virginia, un mondo perduto. Scene da un matrimonio Belle Epoque di casa Spinola (English: Virginia, a Lost World. Scenes from a Belle Epoque Marriage at Casa Spinola) was edited by Galleria nazionale di palazzo Spinola (it).[17][25] In 2018, Peirano was honoured at the Rose Festival in Busalla (Italian: Festa delle Rose di Busalla).[26]

The 2019 historical fiction book The Dragon Lady is based on Peirano's life.[27]

The Indonesian orchid Vanda lombokensis 'Virginia Courtauld' is named after Peirano.[28][29]

Notes

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^α It is unclear why Peirano was given the surname Vester.[30]

See also

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References

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