Royal House Isabel II, rowdy and disastrous queen but protector of women artists
Royal house A Cuban, a disease ... The story of the true successor of Alfonso XIII who would have prevented his nephew, Don Juan Carlos, from reigning
On the day of the
execution by vile stick
of Javiera Fernández and Mariana García, convicted of murdering
his wife,
Dona Narcisa
, the newspapers reported in great detail the gruesome story of the
crime on Calle de la Luna
. The chronicle was published along with the column of the outrage of the day (the trams were causing havoc), the political chronicle and the last party of the Duchess or Marchioness on duty. Between
miseries, deaths by starvation and murders,
the Madrid aristocrats threw the palace out the window and
competed to be the best hosts in the capital.
It was by chance, in the search for documentation on the execution of Doña Narcisa's maids, that
Marisol Donis
came
across
Madrid's social chronicle of the late 19th century, so opulent and fascinating that
it made her change the black chronicle for the rose
. Pharmacist, criminologist and writer, Donis is the author of several books of crimes, especially committed by women, (
Poisoners
, from La Esfera de los Libros, is her
best-seller
) but has ended up publishing
Amphitronas
(Ed. Turner), the
chronicle social of the salons of Madrid between the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX.
The book, full of
unpublished photographs
of the great Spanish families, opens the doors of Madrid's palaces to narrate
how they organized their great parties
, how they received their children's weddings at home,
how the pink press was born and
who were its protagonists .
It has not been easy, Donis confesses to LOC, who has been going through all the archives of the capital since 2016 and diving among files tied with ropes to unravel the secrets of the
Duchesses of Medinaceli, Fernán Núñez, Montellano or Dúrcal
, the Countess of Montijo , Emilia Pardo Bazán ... All of them stroll through
Hostesses,
where their
chroniclers
play a prominent role
. Writers such as
Juan Valera
(
Pepita Jiménez
) or
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
, Alfredo Escobar (father of Luis Escobar) or
Montecristo
, could
sink businesses and abort marriages with a stroke of the pen.
"They had enormous power,
without them the aristocrats were nothing
. If they were not cited in the chronicles, it is over," says the author. And, although from time to time an envelope was put into their jacket, the chroniclers did not allow themselves to be bought just like that. "They won well and hated the careerists. It is true that they adorned the texts with a lot of adjectives, especially for the more senior ladies, but they also threw darts. Valera, for example,
called Eugenia de Montijo an unbearable and rude girl
, and he spoke of the
'fine mustache' of the Duchess of Medinacelli "
. Donis also maintains that he was the forerunner of the style of Jaime Peñafiel, "the last true social chronicler," he highlights.
"Valera began to use initials to relate a case of adultery. He could not reveal the names, although he gave so much information that the alleged cuckold threatened to challenge him to a duel.
He invented the Chsss ... of Peñafiel."
One of the theaters of Merceditas Cejuela, 'La Cenicienta'.
She appears dressed as a prince in the center of the image.
Among the hosts Donis stands out as her favorites
Mercedes Cejuela, Gloria Laguna and Nini Castellanos
. The first is the
mother of Margarita Gómez-Acebo
, the wife of Simeón of Bulgaria, who organized a memorable children's parties. "Merceditas was a
girl hostess, she was the one who received, at the age of 11, not her parents
. She was an only child, a very spoiled but very clever and esthete girl, she did not perform eccentricities. She organized theater performances, costume exhibitions of her dolls ... The chroniclers adored her and chased her like the
paparazzi,
"she says. Mercedes cut her ringlets and married Manuel Gómez-Acebo in 1929. They both
died tragically.
a month after the outbreak of the Civil War on his family farm.
She was 32 years old.
Gloria Laguna, Carolina Carvajal, the Marquis of Bayamo and other guests at a theatrical evening.
Gloria Laguna, Countess of Requena
, is another of the author's favorites, "a real discovery", she assures. The chroniclers predicted a brilliant future as a
celebrity for
the daughter of the Marquises of La Laguna
. She was rather ugly - "in fact, very few were pretty, they
wore jewels but they didn't use much makeup,
" says Donis - but very intelligent and funny. Laguna was a lesbian and did not hide it, although she was married. "She was part of the group of
Carmen de Burgos
Colombine
, Alberto Insúa and Antonio Hoyos.
From the Royal box she went on a revelry to the underworld of Madrid with
Jacinto Benavente and Tórtola Valencia,
who was beautiful. She was also a
very good friend of Pardo Bazán ,
that put her in the Athenaeum. "The chronicles said that she smoked like a highway.
The third is
Mercedes
Nini
Castellanos
, friend of Queen Victoria Eugenia and the
secret
girlfriend
of Miguel Primo de Rivera
.
"He, who was a widower, did not want to make the relationship public, but it was the talk of Madrid. The journalist César González Ruano stood at Nini's house one day and asked her if they were going to get married. The exclusive was on the cover of the magazine
Estampa
but the wedding broke.
Primo de Rivera left her standing
as soon as he saw the publication, but she, despite the scandal, continued with her life. She was an independent woman, much richer than him. She ended up married to a military man.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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