Manci Howard, Lady Howard of Effingham

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Maria Howard, Lady Howard of Effingham
Born
Maria Malvina Gertler[1]: 557 

26 December 1912[2]
Budapest, Hungary[3]
Died2000
Australia
Nationality (legal)Hungarian[4]
Other namesManci
Occupationadventuress

Maria Malvina Howard, Lady Howard of Effingham (née Gertler; 26 December 1912 – 2000), often known as Manci Howard, was a Hungarian adventuress.

Maria Malvina Gertler was born in Budapest, the daughter of Ferenz Joseph Gertler.[1]: 557  She went to England in 1935, and in 1938 married Mowbray, Lord Howard of Effingham, who later became the 6th Earl of Effingham.[1]: 557  Howard, who was bankrupt, was paid a lump sum and a retainer by Gertler's lover, Edward Stanislas Weisblatt, an arms dealer. Gertler joined the British Union of Fascists.[5]: 311 

Even before the outbreak of the Second World War, she was suspected of espionage, and on 10 February 1941 was interned in Holloway Prison. She was released on 16 July 1941 for lack of conclusive proof against her. Her marriage to Howard was dissolved in 1945[4] or 1946.[1]: 557  After Lady Howard was arrested and held in Holloway prison, she appealed, declaring: "There is nothing I would not do for this country." She was released three months later, as there was no evidence she knew of Weisblatt's suspected activities. Weisblatt was her lover before the war. After her divorce, she moved to Australia.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Charles Kidd; David Williamson (eds.) (2003). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin's. ISBN 9780333545775.
  2. ^ 1939 England and Wales Register
  3. ^ New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
  4. ^ a b Richard Norton-Taylor (4 September 2006). Life and loves of peer's wife suspected of being war spy. The Guardian. Accessed May 2015.
  5. ^ Julie V. Gottlieb (2003). Feminine Fascism: Women in Britain's Fascist Movement, 1923–45. London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 9781860649189.
  6. ^ Ben Fenton (4 September 2006). Penniless 'spy' who slept her way to the top. The Daily Telegraph. Accessed May 2015.
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