Lady Helena Gleichen

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Lady Helena Emily Gleichen
DStJ
Letter from Lady Helena Gleichen addressing the Tate's query of her use of coal

Lady Helena Emily Gleichen

DStJ (1 February 1873 – 28 January 1947) was a British painter of landscapes, flowers, and animals, with a particular passion for horses.[citation needed] During World War I, she served as an ambulance driver and radiographer in France and Italy, where she was given the rank of major in the army.[1] Her awards for her services included the Order of the British Empire.[2]

Family and early life

Her brother,

morganatic wife Laura Williamina Seymour, a daughter of Admiral Sir George Seymour.[1]

On 15 December 1885, the

rank at the Court of St James's, and henceforth they were known as TSH Prince and Princess Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. But the Queen did not extend that privilege to their children, although she confirmed use of their German style as count and countesses. On 12 June 1913 Helena and her sisters, the Countesses Feodora and Valda Gleichen, were granted precedence before the daughters of dukes in the peerage of England.[4]

Gleichen was educated privately, then studied in Rollshoven and at

Younghusband Expedition to Tibet
in 1904.

World War I

When World War I began, Gleichen volunteered as an

ambulance driver and translator at a British hospital in France. At the suggestion of a French surgeon, she and her girlfriend Nina Hollings studied radiography in Paris and London. After being rebuffed by the British and French War Offices, they went to Italy, where they were given the rank of major in the Italian Army.[1]

Gleichen headed the 4th Radiographic British Red Cross Unit stationed in the Villa Zucco in

Order of St John of Jerusalem and as an officer, OBE in 1920.[3] She was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.[3] In early 1918, she abandoned her German titles, accepting demotion by the King to the style and rank of a marquess's daughter.[6]

Later life and death

Gleichen worked from her father's former studio in St James's Palace opposite Friary Court.[citation needed] The family home was a rambling estate called Hellens Manor at Much Marcle in Herefordshire, which was used during World War II by the Tate Gallery for the safe storage of art works.[3][7] During the war, Gleichen organised her estate staff of some 80 men into a private army, whom she taught military tactics and shooting.

Her memoir, Contacts and Contrasts, illustrated with reproductions of her paintings, was published in 1940.[2] She died in 1947, three days before her 74th birthday.[2] A memorial plaque to her and her siblings is located at Golders Green Crematorium.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-61374-686-8
    .
  2. ^ a b c "LADY HELENA GLEICHEN; Daughter of Admiral Prince Was a Painter and Sculptor". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Lady Helena Gleichen OBE, DStJ, FSA (1873-1947)". Atelier limited, Fine art and conservation... Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  4. ^ "No. 28789". The London Gazette. 2 January 1914. p. 37.
  5. ^ "Lady Helena Gleichen (D.1947)". Christies. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  6. ^ "No. 30551". The London Gazette. 1 March 1918. p. 2632.
  7. ^ "House and Garden - Hellens Manor". Hellens. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

Further reading

  • Helena Gleichen, Contacts and Contrasts (1940). Reprinted, with a new Introduction by Caroline Stone (Mansion Field, 2013).[1] Archived 9 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  • Shenton, Caroline (2021), National Treasures: Saving The Nation's Art in World War II Hardcover, John Murray,
    ISBN 978-1529387438
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