Una Vincenzo, Lady Troubridge

Una Vincenzo, Lady Troubridge (born Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor; 8 March 1887 – 24 September 1963) was a British sculptor and translator. She is best known as the long-time lesbian partner of Marguerite Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness.

Una Troubridge was an educated woman with achievements in her own right. Most notably she was a successful translator and introduced the French writer Colette to English readers. Her talent as a sculptor prompted Nijinsky to sit for her several times.

Born Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor, she was nicknamed Una by her family as a child and chose the middle name Vincenzo herself, after her Florentine relatives. She was raised in Montpelier Square, London, and became a pupil at the Royal College of Art, and after she graduated set up a sculpture studio. Her father died in 1907, leaving her with limited financial support, and marriage became her best practical option.

She married Captain Ernest Troubridge in October 1908; they had one daughter, Andrea. Ernest Troubridge rose to the rank of admiral during and immediately after the First World War, and Una gained her title when Admiral Troubridge was knighted in June 1919, although they were already legally separated at the time.

She was a devoted admirer of the Italian-Russian operatic bass Nicola Rossi-Lemeni [1920-1991], and followed his career all over the world. She later became a close friend of both Rossi-Lemeni and his wife, the soprano Virginia Zeani, and was godmother to their young son.

Hall and Troubridge met in 1915 as Troubridge's cousin, singer Mabel Batten (aka Ladye), was Hall's lover at the time. Batten died in 1916, and Hall and Troubridge moved in together the following year. In the early 1920s, Troubridge and Hall's home was at 10 Stirling Street, London, near where Troubridge had grown up. The property was extensively renovated by the two. She wrote about the intensity of their relationship in her diary: "I could not, having come to know her, imagine life without her."

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