Princess Norina Matchabelli (born Eleanora Erna Cecilia Gilli; 3 March 1880 – 15 June 1957) was co-founder of the perfume company

Prince Matchabelli Prince Matchabelli is a perfume line, first designed by Prince Georges V. Matchabelli who was an amateur chemist. Matchabelli was born in Georgia within the Russian Empire but when the Czarists fell Georgia seceded. From 1918 until 1921 Georgia wa ...

, a stage and screen actress, publisher, and a disciple of Indian spiritual teacher

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...

. Her stage name was Maria Carmi.

Acting career as Maria Carmi

Gilli was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Italy, the daughter of confectioner Luigi Gilli, originally from

Samedan Samedan (, ) is a town and municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and by the Samedan Airport. History Samedan is first mentioned in 1139 as '' ...

, and his wife Emma Troll from

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria ...

. She was the youngest of five children and spent her youth in Florence and Fiesole. She began her stage career at Max Reinhardt's acting school at the Deutsches Theater and belonged to his company from 1907 to 1909. Under the stage name Maria Carmi, she played in Italian and German theater and in silent films. Her most notable performance was as the Madonna in the original spectacle-pantomime play '' The Miracle'' written by

Karl Vollmöller Karl Gustav Vollmöller (or Vollmoeller; 7 May 1878 – 18 October 1948) was a German philologist, archaeologist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and aircraft designer. He is most famous for the elaborate religious spectacle-pantomime '' The Mira ...

whom she married in 1904. The play was originally produced in Germany. It opened in London on 23 December 1911 at the Olympia Arena. On 23 December 1923 it was revived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, then went on a tour of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

and

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. In the New York version she alternated nightly with

Lady Diana Manners Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrat ...

, another international beauty of the period. In all Norina gave over 1,000 performances of the play.

Princess and perfume

After divorcing Vollmöller, Norina married

Georges V. Matchabelli Prince Georges Vasili Matchabelli ( ka, გიორგი მაჩაბელი) (July 23, 1885 – March 31, 1935) was a Georgia (country), Georgian perfumer. A nobleman and diplomat, he emigrated to the United States after the 1921 Red Army ...

, the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

prince and diplomat, in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1917. Georges was the Georgian ambassador to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

until the 1921 Bolshevik takeover of Georgia, and lived in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The couple moved to the United States in 1923. Georges was an amateur

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and with Norina co-founded the now-famous perfume company ''

'' in 1926. In 1933, the couple divorced. Georges died in 1935 and in 1936 Norina sold the company to Saul Ganz for $250,000.

Meher Baba

In 1931 Matchabelli met spiritual teacher

and became a devotee. She introduced many notable figures of the day to Meher Baba including

Gabriel Pascal Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom. Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...

Mercedes de Acosta Mercedes de Acosta (March 1, 1892 – May 9, 1968) was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. Although she failed to achieve artistic and professional distinction, de Acosta is known for her many lesbian affairs with celebrated Broadway and ...

and

(her first husband). She also founded the periodical ''Meher Baba Journal'' in 1938. In the early 1940s Matchabelli co-founded the Meher Spiritual Center with Elizabeth Chapin Patterson in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S. In the 1940s Norina Matchabelli gave a series of well-attended public talks in Carnegie Hall and other places 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.

Death

Norina Matchabelli died at Youpon Dunes, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1957, aged 77. Her ashes were interred close by Meher Baba's samadhi on

Meherabad Meherabad (''meher'' meaning "friend" from Iranian "Mihir", ultimately from Old Persian "Mithra"; ''abad'' meaning a prosperous settlement, or a flourishing colony) was originally an ashram established by Meher Baba near Arangaon village, Ind ...

Hill, near Ahmednagar,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Her grave marker bears the inscription: ''Princess Norina was and will ever remain Baba's''.Meher Baba Trust Website
avatarmeherbaba.org; accessed 7 August 2014.

Filmography

*1912: '' The Miracle'' *1914: ''Eine venezianische Nacht'' *1914: ''L'Accordo in minore'' *1914: '' Lost in the Dark'' *1915: '' 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 A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...

, Teil I'' *1916: ''

, 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: ''

The Path of Death ''The Path of Death'' (German: ''Der Weg des Todes'') is a 1917 German silent drama film directed by Robert Reinert and starring Maria Carmi, Carl de Vogt and Conrad Veidt. It marked the screen debut of Veidt.Bock & Bergfelder p.497 The film wa ...

'' *1917: '' When the Dead Speak'' *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''

References

External links

* *
Stage presence as Maria Carmi

* ttp://www.meherbabatravels.com/his-close-ones/women/norina-matchabelli/ Photos at meherbabatravels.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Matchabelli, Norina 1880 births 1957 deaths Italian stage actresses Italian silent film actresses 20th-century Italian actresses Women mystics Followers of Meher Baba Businesspeople from Florence Italian emigrants to the United States Actors from Florence