Constance Smith, Mrs Spencer Smith (née Constanze Baronne de Herbert Rathkeal; 1785–1829[1]) - wife of a British diplomat John Spencer Smith, known as Florence in several Byron's poems.
Constance Smith (Mrs Spencer Smith) | |
|---|---|
| Born | Constanze Baronne de Herbert Rathkeal 1785 Istanbul |
| Died | 1829 Vienna |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Known for | Byron's Florence |
| Spouse | John Spencer Smith |
| Parents |
|
Daughter of baron Herbert, Austrian ambassador to Constantinople. Heroine of Marquis de Salvo's book about her escape from Napoleon and Memoirs of the Duchess D' Abrantés.
Poems
editLord Byron fell in love with her in Malta in 1809.[2]
- To Florence (September 1809)
- Lines written in an album at Malta (September 14, 1809)
- Stanzas composed during a thunderstorm (October 11, 1809)
- Stanzas written in passing the Ambracian gulf (November 14, 1809)
- The spell is broke... (Athens, January 16, 1810)
- Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, II, xxxii-xxxiii.
Sources
edit- Marquis de Salvo. Travels in the year 1806 from Italy to England: through the Tyrol, Styria, Bohemia, Gallicia, Poland and Livonia : containing the particulars of the liberation of Mrs. Spencer Smith from the hands of the French police. (Translated from the original mss. in Italian, by W. Fraser) Troy, N.Y. : Wright, Goodenow, & Stockwell, 1808
- Memoirs of the Duchess D' Abrantés (Madame Junot). J. & J. Harper, 1832
- Francis Henry Gribble. The Love Affairs of Lord Byron.
- Grosskurth, Phyllis: Byron: The Flawed Angel. Hodder, 1997. ISBN 0-340-60753-X.
Links
editReferences
edit- ^ Smith, John Spencer (1829). Notice necrologigue (sur Madame Constance Spencer Smith, nee Baronne de Herbert Rathkeal, decedee a Vienne le 21. Octobre 1829.) (in French). Chalopin.
- ^ Curtis, Paul M. (2014-04-13). "Mrs Constance Spencer Smith". Paul M. Curtis. Retrieved 2020-12-03.