Baroness Orczy - Wikipedia Baroness Orczy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   (Redirected from Emma Orczy) Jump to navigation Jump to search Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright The native form of this personal name is báró orci Orczy Emma. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals. Baroness (Emma) Orczy Portrait of Baroness Emma Orczy by Bassano Born Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci 23 September 1865 (1865-09-23) Tarnaörs, Heves County, Hungary Died 12 November 1947 (1947-11-13) (aged 82) Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Occupation Novelist Nationality Hungarian, British Genre Historical fiction, mystery fiction and adventure romances Notable works The Scarlet Pimpernel The Emperor's Candlesticks Spouse Montagu Barstow ​ ​ (m. 1894; died 1942)​ Children 1 Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci) (/ˈɔːrtsiː/; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends as Emmuska Orczy, was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, the alter ego of Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick-thinking escape artist in order to save French aristocrats from "Madame Guillotine" during the French Revolution, establishing the "hero with a secret identity" in popular culture.[1] Opening in London's West End on 5 January 1905, The Scarlet Pimpernel became a favourite of British audiences. Some of Orczy's paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. During World War I, she 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. Contents 1 Early life 2 Writing career 3 Later life 4 Name pronunciation 5 Works 5.1 The Scarlet Pimpernel Chronology 6 Filmography 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links Early life[edit] Orczy was born in Tarnaörs, Heves County, Hungary. She was the daughter of the composer Baron Félix Orczy de Orci (1835–1892) and Countess Emma Wass de Szentegyed et Cege (1839–1892).[2] Her grandfather, Baron László Orczy (1787–1880) was a royal councillor, and knight of the Sicilian order of Saint George,[3] her grandmother was the Baroness Magdolna Müller (1811–1879).[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 162 Great Portland Street. Orczy attended West London School of Art and then the Heatherley 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 a joyful and happy marriage, which she described as "for close on half a century, one of perfect happiness and understanding, of perfect friendship and communion of thought."[7] Writing career[edit] They had very little money and Orczy started to work with her husband as a translator and an illustrator to supplement his low earnings. John Montague Orczy-Barstow, their only child, was born on 25 February 1899. 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 of detective stories in the Royal Magazine. Her next novel, In Mary's Reign (1901), did better. In 1903, she and her husband wrote a play based on one of her short stories about an English aristocrat, Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart., who rescued French aristocrats from the French Revolution: The Scarlet Pimpernel. She submitted her novelisation of the story under the same title to 12 publishers. While waiting for the decisions of these publishers, Fred Terry and Julia Neilson accepted the play for production in London's West End. Initially, it drew small audiences, but the play ran four years in London, 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. Introducing the notion of a "hero with a secret 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 a scarlet 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 (like Bruce Wayne), and he also establishes a network of supporters, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, that aid his endeavours.[1][8] 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 of The Scarlet Pimpernel. She also wrote popular mystery fiction and many adventure romances. Her Lady Molly of Scotland Yard was an early example of a female detective as the main character. Other popular detective stories featured The Old Man in the Corner, a sleuth who chiefly used logic to solve crimes. Orczy was a founding member of the Detection Club (1930). Orczy's novels were racy, mannered melodramas and she favoured historical fiction. Critic Mary Cadogan states, "Orczy's books are highly wrought and intensely atmospheric".[9] In The 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 to The Scarlet Pimpernel other than its shared authorship, the publisher advertised it as part of "The Scarlet Pimpernel Series". Later life[edit] 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 Two. She was not able to return to London until after the war. Montagu Barstow died in Monte Carlo in 1942. Finding herself alone there and unable to travel, she wrote her memoir, Links in the Chain of Life (published 1947).[10] She held strong political views. Orczy was a firm believer in the superiority of the aristocracy,[11] as well as being a supporter of British imperialism and militarism.[9] During the First World War, 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.[12][13] Orczy was also strongly opposed to the Soviet Union.[14] She died in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on 12 November 1947.[citation needed] Name pronunciation[edit] Asked how to say her name, Orczy told The Literary Digest: "Or-tsey. Emmuska—a diminutive meaning "little Emma"—accent on the first syllable, the s equivalent to sh in English; thus, EM-moosh-ka."[15] Works[edit] Translations Old Hungarian Fairy Tales (1895) translator with Montague Barstow The Enchanted Cat (1895) translator with Montague Barstow Fairyland's Beauty (1895) translator with Montague Barstow Uletka and the White Lizard (1895) translator with Montague Barstow Plays The Scarlet Pimpernel (1903) The Sin of William Jackson (1906) Beau Brocade (1908) The Duke's Wager (1911) The Legion of Honour (1918), adapted from A Sheaf of Bluebells H.M. Brock's cover of Baroness Orczy's The Old Man in the Corner (popular edition, Greening & Co., London, 1910). The Laughing Cavalier was serialised in Adventure in 1914 Short story collections The Man in The Corner Series The Case of Miss Elliott (1905) The Old Man in the Corner (1909) Unravelled Knots (1925) Scarlet Pimpernel Series The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1919) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1929) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Other short story books Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (1910) The Man in Grey (1918) Castles in the Air (1921) Skin o' My Tooth (1928) Novels The Emperor's Candlesticks (1899) In Mary's Reign (1901) later The Tangled Skein (1907) The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) By the Gods Beloved (1905) later released in the US as The Gates of Kamt (1907) I Will Repay The Scarlet Pimpernel 2 (1906) A Son of the People (1906) Beau Brocade (1907) The Elusive Pimpernel The Scarlet Pimpernel 3 (1908) The Nest of the Sparrowhawk (1909) Petticoat Government (1910) previously released as A Ruler of Princes (1909), also known as Petticoat Rule (1910) A True Woman (1911) The Traitor (1912) (Short Story) The Good Patriots (1912) Fire in Stubble (1912) Meadowsweet (1912) El dorado (1913) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Unto Cæsar (1914) The Laughing Cavalier (1914) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) A Bride of the Plains (1915) The Bronze Eagle (1915) Leatherface (1916) Lord Tony's Wife (1917) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) A Sheaf of Bluebells (1917) Flower o' the Lily (1918) His Majesty's Well-beloved (1919) The First Sir Percy (1921) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Nicolette: A Tale of Old Provence (1922) The Honourable Jim (1924) Pimpernel and Rosemary (1924) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Les Beaux et les Dandys de Grand Siècles en Angleterre (1924) The Miser of Maida Vale (1925) A Question of Temptation (1925) The Celestial City (1926) Sir Percy Hits Back (1927) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Blue Eyes and Grey (1928) Marivosa (1930) In the Rue Monge (short story) (1931) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) A Joyous Adventure (1932) A Child of the Revolution (1932) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1933) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) A Spy of Napoleon (1934) The Uncrowned King (1935) The Turbulent Duchess (1935) Sir Percy Leads the Band (1936) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) The Divine Folly (1937) No Greater Love (1938) Mam'zelle Guillotine (1940) (The Scarlet Pimpernel series) Pride of Race (1942) The Will-O'-The-Wisp (1947) Omnibus editions The Scarlet Pimpernel etc. (1930) collection of four novels The Gallant Pimpernel (1939) collection of four novels The Scarlet Pimpernel Omnibus (1957) collection of four novels Non-fiction Links in the Chain of Life (autobiography, 1947) The Scarlet Pimpernel Chronology[edit] The Laughing Cavalier (1914) The First Sir Percy (1921) The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) Sir Percy Leads the Band (1936) The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1919) - short story collection I Will Repay (1906) The Elusive Pimpernel (1908) The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1933) Lord Tony's Wife (1917) El dorado (1913) Mam'zelle Guillotine (1940) The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922) Sir Percy Hits Back (1927) Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1929) - short story collection A Child of the Revolution (1932) In the Rue Monge (1931) - short story Pimpernel and Rosemary (1924) The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933) with Montague Barstow Filmography[edit] 1916: Beau Brocade (dir. Thomas Bentley) 1917: The Laughing Cavalier (dir. A. V. Bramble, Eliot Stannard) 1919: The Elusive Pimpernel (dir. Maurice Elvey) 1923: I Will Repay (dir. Henry Kolker) 1928: Two Lovers (dir. Fred Niblo) 1928: The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (dir. T. Hayes Hunter) 1934: The Scarlet Pimpernel (dir. Harold Young) 1936: The Emperor's Candlesticks (dir. Karl Hartl) 1936: Spy of Napoleon (dir. Maurice Elvey) 1937: The Emperor's Candlesticks (dir. George Fitzmaurice) 1937: Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (dir. Hanns Schwarz) 1950: The Elusive Pimpernel (dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger) 1982: The Scarlet Pimpernel (dir. Clive Donner) See also[edit] Novels portal Notes[edit] ^ a b c Robb, Brian J. (May 2014). A Brief History of Superheroes: From Superman to the Avengers, the Evolution of Comic Book Legends. Hachette UK. p. 15. ISBN 9781472110701. ^ Szluha, Márton (2012): Vas vármegye nemes családjai II. kötet (Noble families from the county of Vas, II tome). Heraldika kiadó. page 260. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ Orczy, Emmuska. Links in the Chain of Life, Ch. 8. London: Hutchinson, 1947. ^ Naversen, Ron (2015). "The (Super) Hero's Masquerade". In Bell, Deborah (ed.). Masquerade: Essays on Tradition and Innovation Worldwide. McFarland. pp. 217ff. ISBN 978-0-7864-7646-6. ^ a b Cadogan, Mary (1994). "Orczy, Baroness". In Vasudevan, Aruna (ed.). Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers (3rd ed.). London: St. James Press. pp. 499–501. ISBN 1558621806. ^ introductory notes to 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', Sarah Juliette Sasson, Barnes & Noble Classics, 2005, ISBN 978-1-59308-234-5, p. v,xii ^ "In spite of her attraction to strongly chivalric ideas, she writes about the "lower orders" with a distinct air of patronage and condescension, especially if they step out of line and fail to obey their "betters"". Cadogan, Twentieth-century romance and historical writers. ^ Haste, Cate (1977). Keep the Home Fires Burning, Propaganda in the First World War. Allen Lane. ^ See also White feather – A symbol of cowardice. ^ Orczy, Emmuska (1933). The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World: Essays, with a Portrait. London: John Heritage. ^ Funk, Charles Earle (1936). What's the Name, Please?. Funk & Wagnalls. External links[edit] Library resources about Baroness Orczy Resources in your library Resources in other libraries By Baroness Orczy Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Media related to Emma Orczy at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Baroness Orczy at Wikiquote Works written by or about Emma Orczy at Wikisource Works by Baroness Orczy at Blakeney Manor Works by Emmuska Orczy Orczy at Project Gutenberg Works by Baroness Emmuska Orczy at Faded Page (Canada) Works by or about Baroness Orczy at Internet Archive Works by Baroness Orczy at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Works by Baroness Orczy at Open Library The Legion of Honour by Baroness Orczy at the Great War Theatre website Authority control BIBSYS: 90376029 BNE: XX1161068 BNF: cb11918179j (data) CANTIC: a10424829 GND: 107653206 ISNI: 0000 0000 8117 8687 LCCN: n50064803 LNB: 000247277 NDL: 00451812 NKC: jn20010316076 NLA: 36540251 NLG: 85109 NLI: 000413024 NLK: KAC201741935 NLP: A1161173X NTA: 068618727 PLWABN: 9810536959805606 SELIBR: 219160 SNAC: w6jw9bsm SUDOC: 027053350 Trove: 1280992 VcBA: 495/335478 VIAF: 39382131 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50064803 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baroness_Orczy&oldid=998191606" Categories: 1865 births 1947 deaths People from Heves County British women novelists British historical novelists Hungarian women novelists Members of the Detection Club Austro-Hungarian emigrants to England Hungarian nobility British anti-communists Orczy family 19th-century British novelists 19th-century English women writers 19th-century British translators 20th-century British novelists 20th-century English women writers British women short story writers English women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Women mystery writers 20th-century British translators Writers from London Hungarian emigrants to England Women historical novelists 19th-century British short story writers 20th-century British short story writers 19th-century Hungarian novelists 19th-century Hungarian women writers Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age 20th-century Hungarian novelists 20th-century Hungarian women writers Hidden categories: CS1 maint: archived copy as title Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata EngvarB from May 2017 Use dmy dates from May 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2020 Commons category link from Wikidata Articles with Project Gutenberg links Articles with Internet Archive links Articles with LibriVox links Open Library ID different from Wikidata Articles with Open Library links Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLG identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLP identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Languages العربية تۆرکجه Čeština Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara Français Frysk Galego 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Latina Magyar മലയാളം مصرى Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 4 January 2021, at 06:39 (UTC). 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