Aglaia Coronio (''née'' Ionides; 1834 – 20 August 1906, el, Αγλαΐα Κορωνιού) was a British embroiderer, bookbinder, art collector and patron of the arts. Of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

descent, she was the elder daughter of businessman and art collector

Alexander Constantine Ionides Alexander Constantine Ionides ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Ιωνίδης), also known as Konstantinos Ioannou or Iplixis (; 1 September 1810 – 10 November 1890) was a British art patron and collector, of Greek ancestry. Life Alexander Cons ...

, who had immigrated to London from

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(present day Istanbul) in 1827. Her older brother was

Constantine Alexander Ionides Constantine Alexander Ionides (14 May 1833 in Manchester – 29 June 1900 in Brighton, el, Κωνσταντίνος Αλέξανδρος Ιωνίδης) was a British art patron and collector, of Greek ancestry. He was born in Britain on 14 Ma ...

(b. 1833); her younger siblings were Luca (b. 1837), Alexandro (b. 1840) and Chariclea (b. 1844). Aglaia became a confidante of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

and a friend of

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

. She and her cousins

Marie Spartali Stillman Marie Stillman (née Spartali) (Greek language, Greek: Μαρία Σπαρτάλη; 10 March 1844 – 6 March 1927) was a British member of the second generation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Of the Pre-Raphaelites, she had one of the longe ...

and

Maria Zambaco Maria Zambaco (29 April 1843, London – 14 July 1914, Paris), born Marie Terpsithea Cassavetti ( el, Μαρία Τερψιθέα Κασσαβέτη, sometimes spelled Maria Tepsithia Kassavetti or referred to as Mary), was a British artist and m ...

were known among friends as "the Three Graces", after the

Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ...

of Greek mythology (the youngest of whom was also "

Aglaia ''Aglaia'' is a genus of 117 species of woody dioecious trees belonging to the Mahogany family (Meliaceae). These trees occur in the subtropical and tropical forests of Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and the Pacific. Some species are impo ...

"). On 20 August 1906, the day after the death of her daughter, Coronio died after stabbing herself in the neck and chest with a pair of scissors.''ODNB''

References

*; cited as ''ODNB'' 1834 births 1906 suicides Arts and Crafts movement artists Bookbinders British people of Greek descent British embroiderers English art collectors Women art collectors English philanthropists Suicides by sharp instrument in England Women of the Victorian era 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English artists 19th-century British women artists {{UK-artist-stub