Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy - Early Life

Early Life

Elisabeth von Parlaghy received her education as an artist in Budapest and later by Franz Quaglio and Wilhelm Dürr the Younger in Munich, where she adopted the style of Franz von Lenbach. A portrait of her mother gained her public notice in Berlin in 1890.

That year, controversy erupted over a portrait either of von Moltke or of the The German Emperor William II; sources vary. It was rejected on its initial submission by the jury of the International Exposition at Berlin, but restored at the personal request, or order, of the Emperor.

Her exhibition of portraits in the Salon de Paris from 1892 to 1894 brought her further public notice.

In 1896 she first visited New York City. Returning to Europe in 1899, she married the Russian Prince Lwoff at Prague; they were quickly divorced, though she continued to style herself the "Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy" using her artist name with the authorization of the Prince Lwoff. The Prince also continued to provide her with a permanent annual allowance. She again visited New York in 1899, where her portrait of Admiral George Dewey became the basis of further American success. Returning to Europe in 1900, she later got a unique daughter, Wilhelmina Nors, whose father, Peter Nors, a Danish officer or minister, was the Princess' companion at that time (at least 1905). Her daughter, Wilhelmina Nors (usually Vilma Nors), born in august 1906 in UK, was further raised by a nanny in London. Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy also lived in Berlin and Nice, roughly between 1900 and 1908, before her permanent return to New York city in 1908.