Norina Matchabelli
Princess Norina Matchabelli (March 3, 1880 – June 15, 1957), born Norina Gilli in Florence, Italy, was co-founder of the perfume company (Prince Matchabelli), an actress, mime, mystic, publisher, and a devout follower of Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba. Her stage name was Maria Carmi.
Acting career as Maria Carmi
Norina began her stage career at Max Reinhardt's Vienna acting school and belonged to his company from 1907 to 1909. Under the stage name Maria Carmi, Norina played in Italian and German theater and later silent films. Most notably she played the Madonna in the original spectacle-pantomime play "The Miracle" (Das Mirakel) directed by Karl Vollmoeller whom she married. The play was originally produced in Germany in 1911, opened in London in 1912, and was revived on Broadway in 1924 after a tour of Detroit, Milwaukee and Dallas. In the New York version she alternated nightly, not too amicably, with Lady Diana Manners, another international beauty of the period. After this tour she left the stage and for a short while opened (with well-known set designer Frederic Kiesler) an acting school, American Laboratory Theatre, in New York City, concentrating on mime.
Princess and Pefume
After World War I Norina divorced Vollmoeller and married Prince Georges V. Matchabelli, the Georgian prince who fled the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution, and became known as Princess Norina Matchabelli. Together she and her new husband co-founded the now-famous perfume company. Norina designed the bottles after the family crown and in 1926 a line was released in her name, Princess Norina by Prince Matchabelli. In 1936 they sold the company to Saul Ganz for $250,000.00. [1]
Meher Baba
In the 1930's, Matchabelli met Spiritual teacher Meher Baba and became a devotee. She intoduced many notable figures of the day to Meher Baba including Gabriel Pascal and Karl Vollmoeller (her earlier husband). She also founded the periodical Meher Baba Jounral in 1938.
In the early 1940's Matchabelli co-founded the Meher Spiritual Center with Elizabeth Chapin Patterson in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S.A.
Norina Matchabelli died at Youpon Dunes in Myrtle Beach in 1957 at the age of 77. Her ashes were interred close by Meher Baba's tomb on Meherabad Hill, near Ahmednagar, India. Her grave marker bears the following inscription: Princess Norina was and will ever remain Baba's. [2]
External links
- Stage presence as Maria Carmi
- Maria Carmi at IMDb
- Princess Norina by Prince Matchabelli (1926 perfume line)
- Image of Princess Norina in 1932
- Awakener Article (Excellent biography)
- Tribute Site