Helena, comtesse de Noailles
Encyclopedia
Anna Maria Helena comtesse de Noailles (ca. 1826 – 1908) was an English noblewoman. De Noailles married Charles-Antonin, second son of Antoine-Claude-Just de Noailles, duc de Mouchy and prince-duc de Poix in Paris, 25 April 1849. The marriage was short-lived, and their only child died at birth the following year. She was known for opposing vaccination
and vivisection
, as well as financially supporting Elizabeth Blackwell
during her struggle to become the first female doctor in the United States.
De Noailles was a wealthy woman with houses in England, Paris
, Montpellier
and the French Riviera
, which she moved between frequently. When she was 40, she saw a portrait of a young girl by the artist Ernest Hébert
. De Noailles attempted to buy it but it had already been sold to Baron James de Rothschild. She therefore decided to adopt the model, named Maria. Her Italian
father, Domenico, had brought her to Paris to be adopted for two bags of gold
with which he would use to create a vineyard
. de Noailles agreed to adopt her on the conditions that she was brought up a Catholic
and that she would be treated as an equal, not a servant.
De Noailles enforced a series of regulations on Maria and the rest of her family, including her second husband Philip and their two children, and threatened to cut off their inheritance
if they did not comply. Amongst the regulations include the wearing of loose clothing. Maria was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Sussex
, England, de Noailles enforced her rules on clothing and thus Maria was excused from wearing school uniform
. Maria was also given her own supply of fresh milk
from de Noailles's personal dairy herd.
De Noailles encouraged her cows to graze near open windows believing the methane
they produced was good for her health. In her later life, she tried to encourage her grandson, Philip, to become a vet rather than enrolling at medical school, believing that children brought up on milk were less likely to become drunkards, and also a promise that she would give him some money from the sale of land in England, which if he would not take would instead help needy Armenia
ns. Philip turned down the offer.
De Noailles also left England every winter
for fear of catching flu. When Maria became an adult, de Noailles instructed her to do the same with her family, believing the climate to be unhealthy when leaves
fell, especially from oak
trees, which de Noailles believed England had too many of. When Maria and her children were at home, de Noailles would only eat food served on plates behind a two-foot-high silk
screen, for reasons de Noailles never revealed.
Other habits included sleeping with a loaded pistol
beside her bed, even in hotels; having a string of fresh onion
s hung on her bedroom door to protect her from infections; wrapping silk stocking
s stuffed with squirrel
fur around her forehead to prevent wrinkles; eating large amounts of fresh herring
roe to prevent bronchitis
. She also believed that port wine
should be drunk at sunset
, mixed with a little sugar
and diluted with soft rainwater collected from the roof of their house by her servants under her husband's supervision.
Maria recorded that de Noailles once shrieked in terror at her staff because a piece of blue silk covering her brass
bedroom door handle
had fallen off and she feared that the glaring light shining off it was damaging her eye
s. Her fear of glaring light led her to put red glass
in the lower half of all her windowpanes, claiming it was healthier and more cheerful.
During a visit in southern France where de Noailles and her family met other members of polite society, she instructed her family to accept no invitations to afternoon tea after 5 o'clock, believing that most people caught flu at this time because of dangerous miasma in the air at the end of the day. During the visit, a visitor was wearing some high-heeled shoes, which de Noailles asked to examine. She then threw the shoes on a fire, believing that flat shoes were better for general health.
In her will
de Noailles endowed an orphanage
for the daughter of clergymen, where inmates were made to follow several of her 'rules'. Potential inmates were examined by two independent phrenologists
to ensure that they were "firm spirited and conscientious". In addition, none of the girls were to be vaccinated and no girl under ten was to be taught any mathematics
except for multiplication table
s.
's Piccino and Other Child Stories (1894) is partially based on Helena.
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
and vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
, as well as financially supporting Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...
during her struggle to become the first female doctor in the United States.
De Noailles was a wealthy woman with houses in England, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
and the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
, which she moved between frequently. When she was 40, she saw a portrait of a young girl by the artist Ernest Hébert
Ernest Hébert
thumb|220px|Self-portrait, aged 17.Antoine Auguste Ernest Hébert was a French painter and academic.He was born in Grenoble and died in La Tronche. His painting Mal'aria was exhibited in the Salon of 1850-1851, and now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris...
. De Noailles attempted to buy it but it had already been sold to Baron James de Rothschild. She therefore decided to adopt the model, named Maria. Her Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
father, Domenico, had brought her to Paris to be adopted for two bags of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
with which he would use to create a vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
. de Noailles agreed to adopt her on the conditions that she was brought up a Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and that she would be treated as an equal, not a servant.
De Noailles enforced a series of regulations on Maria and the rest of her family, including her second husband Philip and their two children, and threatened to cut off their inheritance
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
if they did not comply. Amongst the regulations include the wearing of loose clothing. Maria was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England, de Noailles enforced her rules on clothing and thus Maria was excused from wearing school uniform
School uniform
A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...
. Maria was also given her own supply of fresh milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
from de Noailles's personal dairy herd.
De Noailles encouraged her cows to graze near open windows believing the methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
they produced was good for her health. In her later life, she tried to encourage her grandson, Philip, to become a vet rather than enrolling at medical school, believing that children brought up on milk were less likely to become drunkards, and also a promise that she would give him some money from the sale of land in England, which if he would not take would instead help needy Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
ns. Philip turned down the offer.
De Noailles also left England every winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
for fear of catching flu. When Maria became an adult, de Noailles instructed her to do the same with her family, believing the climate to be unhealthy when leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
fell, especially from oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
trees, which de Noailles believed England had too many of. When Maria and her children were at home, de Noailles would only eat food served on plates behind a two-foot-high silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
screen, for reasons de Noailles never revealed.
Other habits included sleeping with a loaded pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
beside her bed, even in hotels; having a string of fresh onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s hung on her bedroom door to protect her from infections; wrapping silk stocking
Stocking
A stocking, , is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency...
s stuffed with squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
fur around her forehead to prevent wrinkles; eating large amounts of fresh herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
roe to prevent bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
. She also believed that port wine
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
should be drunk at sunset
Sunset
Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...
, mixed with a little sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
and diluted with soft rainwater collected from the roof of their house by her servants under her husband's supervision.
Maria recorded that de Noailles once shrieked in terror at her staff because a piece of blue silk covering her brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
bedroom door handle
Door handle
A door handle is an attached mechanism used to open or close a door. In the United States, door handle can refer to any fixed or lever-operated door latch device, including on car doors. The term door knob tends to refer to round operating mechanisms.-History:The first documented invention of the...
had fallen off and she feared that the glaring light shining off it was damaging her eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
s. Her fear of glaring light led her to put red glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
in the lower half of all her windowpanes, claiming it was healthier and more cheerful.
During a visit in southern France where de Noailles and her family met other members of polite society, she instructed her family to accept no invitations to afternoon tea after 5 o'clock, believing that most people caught flu at this time because of dangerous miasma in the air at the end of the day. During the visit, a visitor was wearing some high-heeled shoes, which de Noailles asked to examine. She then threw the shoes on a fire, believing that flat shoes were better for general health.
In her will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
de Noailles endowed an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
for the daughter of clergymen, where inmates were made to follow several of her 'rules'. Potential inmates were examined by two independent phrenologists
Phrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
to ensure that they were "firm spirited and conscientious". In addition, none of the girls were to be vaccinated and no girl under ten was to be taught any mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
except for multiplication table
Multiplication table
In mathematics, a multiplication table is a mathematical table used to define a multiplication operation for an algebraic system....
s.
Cultural references
A character in Frances Hodgson BurnettFrances Hodgson Burnett
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was an English playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories, in particular The Secret Garden , A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.Born Frances Eliza Hodgson, she lived in Cheetham Hill, Manchester...
's Piccino and Other Child Stories (1894) is partially based on Helena.