Helenka Pantaleoni
| Helenka Pantaleoni | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Helen Tradusa Adamowska November 22, 1900 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 1987 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Humanitarian, actress |
| Known for | Founder and Director U.S. Committee for UNICEF |
| Parent(s) | Józef and Antonina (née Szumowska) Adamowski |
Helen Tradusa "Helenka" Adamowska Pantaleoni (November 22, 1900 – January 5, 1987) was a Polish American silent film actress and humanitarian. She was the founding director of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, a role that she held for 25 years. Her granddaughter is American actress Téa Leoni.
Pantaleoni was the daughter of Polish musicians Józef (July 4, 1862 – May 8, 1930) and Antonina (née Szumowska) Adamowski (born February 22, 1868, Lublin, Poland – died August 18, 1938, Rumson, New Jersey). After studying piano in Poland Antonina became the only known female pupil of Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Paris between 1890 and 1895, when she left for the United States. Józef was a cellist and a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Antonina, Józef, and Józef's brother Tymoteusz (aka Timothee), made up the Adamowski Trio.
After touring Europe and the United States her parents settled in Brookline, Massachusetts, where Helenka was born. She attended Miss Winsor's School in Boston. She studied dramatics and appeared in plays presented by the Junior League and the Vincent Club. "In 1917, on the occasion of Paderewski's presence in Boston in connection with aid for war victims, she appeared in a specially written play entitled "The Spirit of Poland," which was given at Jordan Hall in Boston. In the 1920s, she appeared in silent films as well as on Broadway. She subsequently became head of the Children's Theatre Department of the Junior League of New York.
She married Guido Pantaleoni, Jr., in 1935. Guido, a New York lawyer, was a widower with three children (Guido, Nina, and Hewitt). He was a graduate of Milton Academy, Harvard University and Harvard Law School. Guido was a nephew of Italian economist and politician Maffeo Pantaleoni. He and Helenka had two sons, Anthony and Michael. In 1935, Guido and C. Frank Reavis, Jr., founded the New York law firm Reavis & Pantaleoni.
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