Zina Rachevsky, also Zenaïde Rachewski or Zina Rachewsky (russian: Зинаида Владимировна Рашевская; 1 September 1930 – 20 August 1973) was a Russian-born French-American socialite, film actress, and

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. Her Buddhist name is Thubten Changchub Palmo.

Biography

Zina Rachevsky was born on 1 September 1930 to an American mother of German-Jewish descent and a Russian emigrant Vladimir Rachevski, the son of Sergei Rachevski, a Russian colonel killed at Port Arthur in 1904. She was born in New York City at the Ambassador Hotel, owned by SW Straus & Co. Zina's mother, Harriet Straus Rachevsky, was the daughter of American millionaire Simon W. Straus, for whom the company was named. Vladimir Rachevski was the brother of Zinaida Rachevskaya, who had married the exiled

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia (russian: Борис Владимирович; 24 November 1877 – 9 November 1943) was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and a first cous ...

. Zina would spend her childhood in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, living through the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and married on 4 November 1948 French aristocrat Count Bernard d'Harcourt (1925-1958) whom she divorced in 1950, then moving to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. While in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, Rachevsky took a course in drama and theater.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rachevsky, Zina 1930 births 1973 deaths Tibetan Buddhist nuns Gelug Lamas Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition 20th-century Buddhist nuns