Baroness Orczy

Baroness Orczy
Orczy in 1920
Born
Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci

23 September 1865 (1865-09-23)
Died12 November 1947(1947-11-12) (aged 82)
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, UK
OccupationNovelist
NationalityHungarian, British
GenreHistorical fiction, mystery fiction and adventure romances
Notable worksThe Scarlet Pimpernel
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Spouse
Henry George Montagu MacLean Barstow
(m. 1894; died 1942)
ChildrenJohn "Jack" Montague Orczy-Barstow

Baroness Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci (/ˈɔːrts/; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published), was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring The Scarlet Pimpernel, the alter ego of Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick-thinking escape artist in order to save French aristocrats from "Madame Guillotine" during the French Revolution, establishing the "hero with a secret identity" in popular culture.

Opening in London's West End on 5 January 1905, The Scarlet Pimpernel became a favourite of British audiences. Some of Orczy's paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.

She established the Women of England's Active Service League during World War I with the intention of empowering women to convince men to enlist in the military. Orczy was also a founding member of the White Feather Movement, a shaming ritual in Britain during WW1 in which women gave white feathers to non-enlisting men, symbolising cowardice and shaming them into signing up.