Madeleine Masson

About

Twentieth-century, South African-born author who is most famous for her biographies. She wrote about the lives of author Emma Orczy and British Special Agent Krystyna Skarbek, among others.

Before Fame

She was born in Johannesburg to Emile Levy, a French banker, and Lili Levy, a woman of Austrian heritage.

Trivia

She penned a biography of Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma.

Family Life

She married Baron Renaud Marie de la Minaudiere, who was twenty-two years her senior, but left him when she discovered his long-term mistress. Later, she met Captain John Rayner, with whom she enjoyed a thirty-two-year marriage.

Associated With

She was an acquaintance of renowned painter Pablo Picasso.