Baroness Orczy | |
|---|---|
 Orczy in 1920 | |
| Born | Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy deOrci 23 September 1865 (1865-09-23) Tarnaörs,Heves County, Hungary,Austrian Empire |
| Died | 12 November 1947 (1947-11-13) (aged 82) Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, UK |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Hungarian, British |
| Genre | Historical fiction,mystery fiction andadventure romances |
| Notable works | The Scarlet Pimpernel The Emperor's Candlesticks |
| Spouse | |
| Children | John "Jack" Montague Orczy-Barstow |
Baroness Emma Orczy (full name:Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci) (/ˈɔːrtsiː/; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known asBaroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends asEmmuska Orczy, was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring theScarlet Pimpernel, the alter ego of Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick-thinkingescape artist in order to saveFrench aristocrats from "Madame Guillotine" during theFrench Revolution, establishing the "hero with asecret identity" in popular culture.[1]
Opening in London'sWest End on 5 January 1905,The Scarlet Pimpernel became a favourite of British audiences. Some of Orczy's paintings were exhibited at theRoyal Academy in London. She established the Women of England's Active Service League during World War I with the intention of empowering women to convince men to enlist in the military.
Orczy was born inTarnaörs, Hungary. She was the daughter of the composer Baron Félix Orczy deOrci (1835–1892) and Countess Emma Wass deSzentegyed et Cege (1839–1892).[2]Her paternal grandfather, Baron László Orczy (1787–1880) was a royal councillor, and knight of theSicilian order of Saint George,[3] her paternal grandmother, Baroness Magdolna, born Magdolna Müller (1811–1879), was of Austrian origin.[4] Her maternal grandparents were the Count Sámuel Wass de Szentegyed et Cege (1815–1879), member of the Hungarian parliament,[5] and Rozália Eperjessy de Károlyfejérvár (1814–1884).[6]
Emma's parents left their estate for Budapest in 1868, fearful of the threat of a peasant revolution. They lived in Budapest, Brussels, and Paris, where Emma studied music unsuccessfully. Finally, in 1880, the 14-year-old Emma and her family moved to London, England where they lodged with their countryman, Francis Pichler, at 162Great Portland Street. Orczy attendedWest London School of Art and then theHeatherley School of Fine Art.
Although not destined to be a painter, it was at art school that she met a young illustrator named Henry George Montagu MacLean Barstow, the son of an English clergyman; they were married at St Marylebone parish church on 7 November 1894. It was the start of what she described as a joyful and happy marriage, "for close on half a century, one of perfect happiness and understanding, of perfect friendship and communion of thought."[7]
They had very little money and Orczy started to work with her husband as a translator and an illustrator to supplement his meager earnings. John Montague Orczy-Barstow, their only child, was born on 25 February 1899 (died 1969). She started writing soon after his birth, but her first novel,The Emperor's Candlesticks (1899), was a failure. She did, however, find a small following with a series ofdetective stories in theRoyal Magazine. Her next novel,In Mary's Reign (1901), did better.
In 1903, she and her husband wroteThe Scarlet Pimpernel, a play based on one of her short stories about an English aristocrat, Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart., who rescued French aristocrats from theFrench Revolution. She had conceived the character while standing on a platform on theLondon Underground.[8] She submitted her novelisation of the story under the same title to 12 publishers. While the couple waited for the decisions of these publishers,Fred Terry andJulia Neilson accepted the play for production in London'sWest End. Initially, it drew small audiences, but the play ran for four years in London, and broke many stage records, eventually playing more than 2,000 performances and becoming one of the most popular shows staged in Britain. It was translated and produced in other countries and underwent several revivals. This theatrical success generated huge sales for the novel. The couple moved to Thanet, Kent.[9]
Introducing the notion of a "hero with asecret identity" into popular culture, the Scarlet Pimpernel exhibits characteristics that would become standard superhero conventions, including the penchant for disguise, use of a signature weapon (sword), ability to out-think and outwit his adversaries, and a calling card (he leaves behind ascarlet pimpernel at each of his interventions).[1] By drawing attention to his alter ego, Blakeney hides behind his public face as a slow-thinking, foppish playboy, and he also establishes a network of supporters, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, who aid his endeavours.[1][10]
Orczy went on to write over a dozen sequels featuring Sir Percy Blakeney, his family, and the other members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, of which the first,I Will Repay (1906), was the most popular. The last Pimpernel book,Mam'zelle Guillotine, was published in 1940. None of her three subsequent plays matched the success ofThe Scarlet Pimpernel. She also wrote popular mystery fiction and many adventure romances. HerLady Molly of Scotland Yard was an early example of a female detective as the main character. Other popular detective stories featuredThe Old Man in the Corner, a sleuth who chiefly used logic to solve crimes. Orczy was a founding member of theDetection Club (1930).
Orczy's novels were racy, mannered melodramas and she favoured historical fiction. CriticMary Cadogan states, "Orczy's books are highly wrought and intensely atmospheric".[11] InThe Nest of the Sparrowhawk (1909), for example, a malicious guardian in Puritan Kent tricks his beautiful, wealthy young ward into marrying him by disguising himself as an exiled French prince. He persuades his widowed sister-in-law to abet him in this plot, in which she unwittingly disgraces one of her long-lost sons and finds the other murdered by the villain. Even though this novel had no link toThe Scarlet Pimpernel other than its shared authorship, the publisher advertised it as part of "The Scarlet Pimpernel Series".
Orczy held strong political views. She was a firm believer in the superiority of the aristocracy,[12] as well as being a supporter of British imperialism and militarism.[11] During World War I, Orczy formed the Women of England's Active Service League, an unofficial organisation aimed at encouraging women to persuade men to volunteer for active service in the armed forces. Her aim was to enlist 100,000 women who would pledge "to persuade every man I know to offer his service to his country". Some 20,000 women joined her organisation.[13][14] Orczy strongly opposed theSoviet Union.[15]
Orczy's work was so successful that she was able to buy a house in Monte Carlo: "Villa Bijou" at 19 Avenue de la Costa (since demolished), which is where she spent World War II. She was not able to return to London until after the war. Montagu Barstow died in Monte Carlo in 1942. Finding herself alone and unable to travel, she wrote her memoirLinks in the Chain of Life (published 1947).[16]
She died inHenley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on 12 November 1947.[citation needed]
Asked how to say her name, Orczy toldThe Literary Digest: "Or-tsey.Emmuska—a diminutive meaning "little Emma"—accent on the first syllable, thes equivalent tosh in English; thus,EM-moosh-ka."[17]
Translations
Plays
Short story collections
The Man in The Corner Series
Scarlet Pimpernel Series
Other short story books
Media related toEmma Orczy at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toBaroness Orczy at Wikiquote
Works by or aboutEmma Orczy atWikisource
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