Baroness Marie Liliane Matilda d'Erlanger, later Princess Jean-Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge (1901–1945), nicknamed "Baba", together with Paula Gellibrand, "the Gellibrand", were known as "The Twins" and became

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...

's models. Baba was also the Gellibrand's fashion stylist and she is considered a style icon of the 1920s.

Biography

Marie Liliane Matilda, Baroness d'Erlanger, was born in 1901, the daughter of

Baron Emile Beaumont d'Erlanger Baron Emile Beaumont D'Erlanger (4 June 1866 – 24 July 1939) was a French-born British merchant banker. Life He was the second eldest son of Frédéric Emile d'Erlanger, a banker working in Paris at the French branch of Emile Erlanger and Co ...

and Marie-Rose Antoinette Catherine de Robert d'Acquéria de Rochegude. Her siblings were: Robert "Robin" Emile Frédéric d'Erlanger Regis; Sir Gerard John Regis Leo d´Erlanger; and Bianca d'Erlanger. Born in France, she was educated in England. She became a lifelong friend of Paula Gellibrand, "the Gellibrand", who became

's favorite model. Baba became her fashion stylist and they were so inseparable that became known as "The Twins". In 1919

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...

painted the portrait ''Portrait of Baronne Baba d’Erlanger (1901–1945) and Miss Paula Gellibrand (1898–1964)''. It was commissioned by

Freddie Guest Frederick Edward "Freddie" Guest, (14 June 1875 – 28 April 1937) was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party, 1917–1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air be ...

, Winston Churchill's cousin, who, at the time, had an affair with Gellibrand. In March 1923 she was the bridesmaid to Gellibrand when she married the Marques de Casa Maury. On 14 November 1923 Baba married Prince Jean-Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge, a French aristocrat, descendant of Louis IX of France. She is the mother of Isabel Catherine Emilie Ratisbonne De Ravenel (b. 1925); Ariel Marie Roberte de Faucigny-Lucinge (b. 1926); Prince de Faucigny-Lucinge. Baba, Princesse de Faucigny-Lucinge, and her husband were patrons of José Maria Sert,

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

and

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...

. Baba's friend of this time was Natalie Paley, cousin of Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

and wife of the couturier

Lucien Lelong Lucien Lelong (; 11 October 1889 – 11 May 1958) was a French couturier who was prominent from the 1920s to the 1940s. Career Born in Paris as the son of Arthur Lelong, the owner of a fashion store, he trained at the Hautes Etudes de Commer ...

, and Baba became a model for him. About Baba,

said "Baba d’Erlanger-Lucinge was the first to bring into fashion the exotic, simian grace of the jungle and thereby created an astonishing effect of originality".Self-portrait with Friends: The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton 1926-1974, ed. Richard Buckle, London 1979, p.151.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erlanger, Baba d' 1901 births 1945 deaths English female models English people of Jewish descent Baba French baronesses French princesses French people of Jewish descent House of Faucigny Princesses by marriage