Dame Louise Margaret Leila Wemyss, Lady Paget, GBE (born 9 October 1881 – died 24 September 1958) was a British humanitarian, active in the cause of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n relief, beginning in World War I.

Family

The daughter of General Sir Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget (1851–1928) and his wife, Mary Fiske Paget (née Stevens; died 1919), she married her third cousin once removed, Sir Ralph Spencer Paget, son of Sir

Augustus Berkeley Paget Sir Augustus Berkeley Paget GCB (16 April 1823 – 11 July 1896) was a British diplomat. In 1876, Paget was appointed a member of Queen Victoria's privy council. Biography Augustus Berkeley Paget was born on 16 April 1823, the son of the dip ...

and Countess Walburga Ehrengarde Helena von Hohenthal, on 28 October 1907; the union was childless.

Philanthropic work

Ralph Spencer Paget was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(KCMG) in 1909 and Louise encouraged him to accept a transfer to the Balkan

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

in July 1910. Encouraged by Mabel Grujić, the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

wife of the Serbian Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Lady Paget helped set up a military hospital in Belgrade during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

(1912–13). In 1914, Paget became the president of the

American Women's War Relief Fund American Women's War Relief Fund was an expatriate organization in the United Kingdom started by American women to fund and aid World War I support efforts. The group was made up of wealthy socialites, politicians' wives and humanitarians. Many ...

. The group, dedicated to helping those hurt in the war, was conceived of as an idea by Paget only three days after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out. In 1915 she set up a hospital in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

to treat wounded Serbs, but also to help fight the epidemic spreading through Serbia. Lady Paget contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

, but recovered. Paget also helped raise money to support the needs of wounded servicemembers. Dame Louise Paget was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor of the Federation of Women's Clubs of New York City in 1917; other recipients included humanitarian Evelyn Smalley (1919), activist

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...

(1922, decoration without the eagle), physicist

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...

(1929), Madame Chiang Kai-shek, First Lady of the Republic of China (1939), and Austrian-born pioneer atomic scientist

Lise Meitner Elise Meitner ( , ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on rad ...

(1949).

Honours

Louise, Lady Paget was invested as a Dame Grand Cross, Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1917. She was later decorated with the Grand Cordon, Order of St Sava.

Death

She died on 24 September 1958, aged 76, at

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

Citations

Charles Mosley, editor, ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition'', 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, pp. 73, 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paget, Louise 1881 births 1958 deaths British humanitarians Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Grand Crosses of the Order of St. Sava

Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...