Zita Jungman, later Zita James (13 September 1903 – 18 February 2006), was one of the

Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemianism, Bohemian young Aristocracy (class), aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant costume party, f ...

Life

Jungman was born on 13 September 1903. Her father, Dutch-born artist Nico Wilhelm Jungmann, was a naturalized British subject who, in 1900, married her mother, Beatrice Mackay, from a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

family in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Her parents were divorced in 1918, after her father had been

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in Germany due to his British citizenship. He died in 1935. Her mother Beatrice then became the second wife of Richard Sidney Guinness (1873–1949), one of the banking Guinnesses, and a paternal uncle of

Thomas Loel Guinness Group Captain Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness, (9 June 1906 – 31 December 1988) was a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath (1931–1945), business magnate and philanthropist. Guinness also financed the ...

. Jungman attended Miss Wolf's school in London and Miss Douglas's school at

Queen's Gate School Queen's Gate School is an independent day school for girls aged 4–18 in Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London, England. The ''Good Schools Guide'' described it as a "Charming popular school, with a mixed intake, which does jolly well by its g ...

. At Queen's Gate she met Lady Eleanor Smith and

Alannah Harper Allanah Harper (6 November 1904 – 3 November 1992) was an English writer. She is best known for founding the journal ''Echanges'' (Exchanges), and for her 1948 autobiography. Biography Harper came from a successful family and traveled extens ...

and together they became early members of what the British press would call the "

". With her sister

Teresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...

she tried to spend the night in Madam Tussaud's chamber of horrors. They removed the wax models of the "Princes in the Tower" to make themselves a bed and they were discovered by security staff during the night. About Zita Jungman, and her sister Teresa,

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 theat ...

wrote: "The Jungman sisters are a pair of decadent 18th-century angels made of wax, exhibited at Madame Tussaud’s before the fire.... Zita has ... smooth polished complexion and shoulders, and unearthly hollow voice, but she has a serpent-like little nose and there is great architectural strength and firmness about her jaw and mouth. With her smooth fringes and rather flat head, like a silky coconut, like a medieval page, and with her swinging gait." On 29 January 1929, she married Arthur James, the grandson of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

. They divorced in 1932. She appeared on television after her 100th birthday and she died in Ireland at the age of 102, survived by her sister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jungman, Zita 1903 births 2006 deaths 20th-century English women 20th-century English people British centenarians English socialites English people of Dutch descent Women centenarians