SARUM U3A

Acting Chairman, Jenny Mawer, welcomed members to the meeting which also included a number of new members.

Ena Baldock then introduced our guest speaker, Dr David Parrott.

The subject of his talk was "Winnaretta Singer, known to her family as "Tante Winni"". She was born into the very wealthy family who founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Born in New York, the second child of the second marriage of Isaac Singer, the family moved to Paignton, England, but Isaac died before the house being built for his extended family was completed. At 18 years old Winni inherited a fortune.

Winaretta with her mother

The family moved to Europe and Winni settled in Paris. She had many female lovers but, even so, married twice. Her first marriage was annulled. He second husband, Prince Edmond de Polignac, was a homosexual but they grew fond of one another and remained friends. She bought him a big house in Venice. Both were very cultured and gave their time and money to promoting the Arts, particularly music. Winni loved Wagnerian music and studied Beethoven Quartets. They sponsored an enormous amount of music in the large salons at her home in Paris. Composers of the day composed music for her or dedicated music to her. Proust was in constant attendance at her salon.

Their social contacts at this time included many Kings, Queens and Presidents, politicians, actors, performing artists, authors, poets and artists (she was a good artist herself).

In the early 1900s, Prince Edmond died. Winni moved to Algiers for a while but at the outbreak of WWI came to England and lived with a younger brother at Normans Court, Tytherley. She was generous with her money, helping the poor and supporting the war effort.

She returned to Paris after the war and remained there until 1939. The list of her lovers during this time read like a Who's Who of the literary world. She was always reticent and discreet about her affairs but not all her lovers followed her example. Princess Winnaretta de Polignac died in 1943 aged 73 and was buried in the family mausoleum in Torquay alongside her husband and father.

Jean Lunnon thanked David Parrott for an amusing and very interesting talk which he illustrated with photos and some of the music associated with 'Tante Winni'.

The next meeting will be the AGM to be held in St Francis Church Hall on 21 March at 10am. An exhibition of work done over the year by various groups will be on display.