Princess Norina Matchabelli
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| Born | March 3, 1880 Florence, Italy |
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| Died | June 15, 1957 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |
| Occupation | Actress Perfume Manufacturer Publisher |
| Title | Princess |
| Religion | Devotee of Meher Baba |
| Spouse | Karl Vollmöller Prince Georges V. Matchabelli |
| Photo by Elizabeth Chapin Patterson, 1932 | |
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 mandali of Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba. Her stage name was Maria Carmi.
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[edit] 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 appeared in over 25 silent films. Most notably she played the Madonna in the original spectacle-pantomime play Das Mirakel (The Miracle) written by Karl Vollmöller 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. In all Norina gave over 1,000 performances of the play. After the second 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.
[edit] Princess and Perfume
Norina divorced Vollmöller and in 1916 married Prince Georges V. Matchabelli, the Georgian prince who had been ambassador to Italy, but who had fled the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution. Norina then became known as Princess Norina Matchabelli. Together in 1924 she and her new husband, who was an amateur chemist, co-founded the now-famous perfume company Prince Matchabelli. Norina designed the perfume bottle after the family crown and in 1926 Georges dedicated the exquisite scent "Ave Maria" to her. In 1933 she and Georges divorced. Georges died in 1935 and in 1936 Norina sold the company to Saul Ganz for $250,000.00. [1]
[edit] Meher Baba
In the 1930's, Matchabelli met Spiritual teacher Meher Baba and became a devotee. She introduced many notable figures of the day to Meher Baba including Gabriel Pascal, Mercedes de Acosta and Karl Vollmöller (her earlier husband). She also founded the periodical Meher Baba Journal 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]
[edit] Filmography
- 1912: Das Mirakel
- 1913: Eine venezianische Nacht
- 1914: L'Accordo in minore
- 1914: Sperduti nel buio
- 1914: Teresa Raquin
- 1915: Fluch der Schönheit
- 1915: Der Hermelinmantel
- 1915: Die rätselhafte Frau
- 1915: Sophias letztes Gesicht
- 1916: Das Wunder der Madonna
- 1916: Für den Ruhm des Geliebten
- 1916: Aphrodite
- 1916: Homunculus, Teil I
- 1916: Homunculus, Teil IV - Die Rache des Homunculus
- 1916: Der Pfad der Sünde
- 1916: Der Letzte eines alten Geschlechts
- 1916: Die Richterin von Solvigsholm
- 1916: Das Haus der Leidenschaften
- 1916: Der Fluch der Sonne
- 1917: Der Weg des Todes
- 1917: Wenn Tote sprechen
- 1917: Die Memoiren der Tragödin Thamar
- 1917: Rächende Liebe
- 1918: Das Spitzentuch der Fürstin
- 1920: Per il passato
- 1921: Forse che si, forse che no
[edit] Trivia
- The Karl Vollmöller spectacle play Das Mirakel was made into three separate movie versions, two produced in 1912 and a revamped American version titled The Miracle in 1959 starring Carroll Baker and Roger Moore of James Bond fame.
- Coincidentally, the first film version of Das Mirakel premiered on December 21, 1912, exactly 100 years to the day before the end of the Mayan Calendar, which ends on December 21, 2012.
- In the 1940's Norina Matchabelli gave a series of well-attended public talks in Carnegie Hall, New York City in which she said she was delivering "thought-transmission" messages directly from Meher Baba. When speaking, the personal "I" switched to "I, Meher Baba." This startled some of Meher Baba's followers and they questioned Baba on it in India, but he did not appear concerned. [1] Thus Norina gained the reputation of a mystic or clairvoyant, an eccentric, and relatively occult in her thinking in comparison with other followers of Meher Baba of that time period.
- Norina Matchabelli confided with a friend that she believed her second husband Georges Matchabelli had the unique ability to detect and chemically reproduce "astral" fragrances in his perfumes, apparently accounting for his success as a perfumer. [2]
[edit] External links
- Stage presence as Maria Carmi
- Maria Carmi at the Internet Movie Database
- Princess Norina by Prince Matchabelli (Perfume line named for Norina)
- Awakener Article (Excellent biography)
