Marthe Bibesco

Princess Martha Bibescu (Martha Lucia; née Lahovary; 28 January 1886 – 28 November 1973) also known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a celebrated Romanian-French writer, socialite, style icon and political hostess. She spent her childhood at the noble Lahovary's estates in Baltotesti and Biarritz, where she had an education in literature. During her life, she traveled to and moved around many European countries and met many contemporary influential political figures. During the post-World War 1 period she rebuilt her family estates. She lived in exile after World War 2 when communist rule in Romania started. She started writing in 1908 when she published her travel memoir Les Huit Paradis ("The Eight Paradises") which was met with critical acclaim by French critics. Her most acclaimed work is the novel Isvor, pays des saules ("Isvor, Land of Willows"). She wrote popular romances under the pseudonym Lucile Décaux and for several magazines under her own name. Early life Born Marta Lucia Lahovary (also spelled Lahovari) in Bucharest as the third child of nobleman Ioan Lahovary and Princess Emma Mavrocordato, Marthe spent her childhood at the Lahovary family estates in Balotești and the fashionable French sea-resort of Biarritz. On her first introduction into society, in 1900, she met Crown Prince Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Romanian throne, but after a secret engagement of one year, Marthe married Prince George III Valentin Bibescu (Bibesco) at sixteen, scion of one of the country's prestigious aristocratic families Bibescu. "I stepped onto the European stage through the grand door", she wrote on her wedding day. Her father, who had been educated in France, held the post of minister of the Kingdom of Romania in Paris and, later, that of minister of foreign affairs of Romania. Fluent in French at an early age, even before she could speak Romanian, Marthe spent the first years of her marriage under the tutelage of her mother-in-law, Princess Valentine Bibesco (née countess Riquet de Caraman-Chimay), who saw to it that the extensive education in European history and literature Marthe already had was reinforced. An old peasant woman, Baba Uța (Outza), saw to it that she was also well-versed in Romanian folk traditions and tales. Meanwhile, her husband, George, was interested in fast cars and other women, but adding to the family fortune at the same time.