Eliza Davis Aria (1866–1931) was an English fashion writer and gossip columnist known as "Mrs Aria". She was the editor of a fashion magazine titled ''The World of Dress'', author of books on costume and motoring, and a society hostess. She was also the long-time lover of Henry Irving,Stetz, Margaret D
"‘To defend the undefendable’: Oscar Wilde and the Davis Family"
. ''Oscar Wilde, Jews & the Fin-de-Siècle'', ''The OScholars'', Summer 2010, accessed 26 July 2011 from the 1890s until his death in 1905.

Early life

Eliza Davis was born in London on 11 August 1866 to portrait photographer Hyman Davis and his wife Isabella (Bella). She spent her early years in the house attached to her father's Bruton Street,

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

studio. She attended Miss Belisario's school and was afterward tutored by Madame Paul Lafargue, the daughter of Karl Marx. Eliza's seven siblings included several writers: novelist and art historian Julia Frankau (pseudonym Frank Danby) and their eldest brother James (pseudonym Owen Hall), a racing correspondent, theatre critic and librettist. "While James was still living at home, he brought to the house literary and theatrical figures, including Oscar and Willie Wilde, who would play tennis in a nearby public garden with Julia and Eliza." A younger sister, Florence Collins, published one novel, ''The Luddingtons'' (Heinemann 1905), about which Mrs Aria had this to say: You are the beauty of the family,' we advised her, and she accepted the verdict as condemning the volume to solitude." Her nephew

Gilbert Frankau Gilbert Frankau (21 April 1884 – 4 November 1952) was a popular British novelist. He was known also for verse (he was a war poet of World War I), including a number of verse novels, and short stories. He was born in London into a Jewish fa ...

became a journalist and novelist, and Gilbert's younger brother Ronald Frankau went onto the stage.

Marriage and Career

In 1884, Eliza married Jamaican-born merchant David Bonito Aria, and gave birth to their daughter the following year, but there was "little of real love between" the couple, and his precarious finances proved a poor match for her view of luxuries as "the absolute necessities of existence," leading to a permanent separation with David Aria's departure for South Africa after five years of marriage. The separation served as a stimulus to her journalistic career. She became a prominent fashion columnist, eventually founding her own magazine, ''

The World of Dress ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', which she edited from 1898 to 1908. In 1898 she began an affair with prominent actor Henry Irving which lasted until his death in 1905. Mrs Aria's literary and artistic salon included H. G. Wells,

Isidore de Lara Isidore de Lara, born Isidore Cohen (9 August 18582 September 1935), was an English composer and singer. After studying in Italy and France, he returned to England, where he taught for several years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama an ...

, and C. R. W. Nevinson who painted a view of Fitzroy Square from the window of her flat. Gilbert Frankau's novelist daughter Pamela recalled that Mrs Aria "was the friend of such gods as George Moore,

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

, Michael Arlen,

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...

and Rebecca West. She sent her great-nieces a collection of autographs that looked like the Milky Way." Mrs Aria's sister Julia Frankau "was wont to say, 'Unless Eliza receives each morning four letters from leading actresses which commence "Dearest" she looks unhappy.'" "All celebrated people," commented Pamela Frankau, "were called 'Darling' by Aunt Eliza, and in her presence at least greeted one another by the same title. So much so that, leaving Buckingham Gate on one occasion, the copywriter said to a taxi-driver during controversy, 'I ''did'' hail you first, darling.'"

Later life

Eliza Aria went with actor

Frank Vosper Frank Permain Vosper (15 December 1899, in London – 6 March 1937) was an English actor who appeared in both stage and film roles and a dramatist, playwright and screenwriter. Stage Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for p ...

to attend the London opening night of the stage play ''Grand Hotel'', and died at the Adelphi Theatre just before the curtain went up – "'Which is odd because I have often heard her say she would like to die in a theatre.'"Pamela Frankau, ''I Find Four People'', Ivor Nicholson and Watson 1935 - p265

References

Publications

*''The May Book: compiled by Mrs Aria in aid of Charing Cross Hospital'',

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

1901 *Mrs Aria. ''Woman and the Motor Car: being the autobiography of an automobilist'', Sidney Appleton 1906 *Mrs Aria. ''Costume - Fanciful, Historical, and Theatrical'',

1906 *Mrs Aria. ''My Sentimental Self'', Chapman and Hall 1922

External links