Lola Montes: one of the brightest intriguers and adventurers in world history (6 photos)

She was born in the family of an officer, but became a liar, a courtesan and a swindler.





Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert was born in 1821. Her father was an officer in the British army. When the girl was 2 years old, the whole family went to India.

There the head of the family fell ill with a fever and died. Elizabeth's mother she did not grieve for long and quickly jumped out to marry a friend of her deceased husband, and sent her daughter to England - where she was placed in a boarding school. Under 16 Lizi I tried to behave decently, but after that I broke loose.



Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert as future Lola Montez

For starters, jumped out to marry a young officer and again went to India. But there was no former romance, the climate was hot, and the locals are unfriendly, so the only outlet for the girls was dancing. For more than two years, she studied the complex and alluring body movements of local mistresses, and then left her husband and went to Spain.

In Spain, Lisey befriended Dolores, a gypsy, and she taught her to dance flamenco. After the death of a friend, Elizabeth took a pseudonym Lola Montez and went to London. There, a wild success awaited her: the hatred of the ladies from high society and the adoration of men. She turned their heads languidly dance and skillfully exposed the necessary parts of the body. Haven't done this before no one, so Lola made a splash.

Then she decided to give a tour of Europe: she visited Paris, Berlin and St. Petersburg. After that, she stopped for a long time in Bavaria and had an affair with the local monarch, Ludwig I. In his youth, he was the one another walker.





Ludwig I of Bavaria

But at the time of meeting Lola, he was already 60 years old, although the years did not calm his violent temperament. He flunked his mistress gifts and money, awarded the title of countess and bestowed an ancient estate. Well, Lola dreamed of becoming the queen of Bavaria, while everywhere appeared in defiant outfits and with a whip in her hands, which shocked local high society.



It got to the point that the Cabinet of Ministers put Ludwig ultimatum: either this lady of easy virtue leaves the country, or they are resigning. And the deceived, loving monarch dissolves the cabinet ministers. In response to this, angry aristocrats incite the people to rebellion and here and there rebellions begin to break out. Ludwig orders suppress them, while he himself basks in the arms of a dissolute Lola. But in the end things had already taken a serious turn, everything could end in a revolution and then... Ludwig and Lola flee from Bavaria.

True, the crazy monarch very quickly realizes what he has done something unthinkable and returns to Munich with repentance. Well, Lola is going dance to London and Paris. Along the way, he publishes memoirs, but a lot of money for did not earn them. To finally resolve the financial issue, madam marries a wealthy businessman. And here he makes his the first miss - she is still officially married to the officer for whom popped up at a young age. So she committed a crime by concluding a second marriage - and she is sent to prison. Tellingly, Lola rescues from there the same unlucky monarch of Bavaria - Ludwig I.

After the release, the dancer goes overseas, gives tours in the USA and Australia. In order not to waste time in vain - it goes out again married and again to a wealthy industrialist. As she wrote in her memoirs:



I always threw a glove to the strong sex and showed him how little moral right he has to place himself above us women. I showed women that if they learned to exploit the weaknesses of men, then they will cease to be the weaker sex.

You can’t argue with this: Lola’s grip, temperament, licentiousness and deceit would be enough for a hundred men.



She soon became a good Christian and attended church services. Confessed, atoned for sins and made donations from the spouse's money. But this did not help her either - irrepressible and out of circulation the dancer died of numerous diseases at the age of 42. Detractors said that the main of her ailments was syphilis.