Lady Ottoline Morrell

Passions

Vocation

Notable

English aristocrat and society hostess of the Bloomsbury group. Her circle of friends (and lovers) included many authors, artists, sculptors and poets. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence, and artists including Mark Gertler and Gilbert Spencer. In February 1902, she married the MP Philip Morrell, with whom she shared a passion for art and a strong interest in Liberal politics. They shared what would now be known as an open marriage for the rest of their lives. His extramarital affairs produced several children who were cared for by his wife. The Morrells themselves had two children (twins): a son, Hugh, who died in infancy, and a daughter, Julian. Ottoline Morrell's lovers may have included the philosopher Bertrand Russell, the painters Augustus John, and Henry Lamb, the artist Dora Carrington, the art historian Roger Fry, and in her later years, there was even a brief affair with a gardener. During World War I, the Morrells were notable pacifists, not a popular position then. They invited conscientious objectors such as Duncan Grant, Clive Bell, and Lytton Strachey to take refuge at their home. Siegfried Sassoon recuperated there after an injury. In 1928 she was diagnosed with cancer, which resulted in a long hospitalization and the removal of her lower teeth and part of her jaw. She died on 21 April 1938. Link to Wikipedia biography