Polidori, Frances |
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BORN 27 Apr 1800, London - DIED 8 Apr 1886, London BIRTH NAME Polidori, Frances Mary Lavinia GRAVE LOCATION London: Highgate Cemetery West, Swain's Lane, Highgate |
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Frances Polidori was the daughter of the Italian exile Gaetano olidori (1764-1853) and Anna Maria Pierce. Her father was the former secretary of Vittorio Alfieri and her mother was English. John Polidori, Lord Byron's physician, was one of her four brothers. Although she was strictly Anglican herself, she married the catholic Italian exile Gabriele Rossetti in 1826. Her oldest daughter Maria finally became an Anglican nun. Their other children were the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet Christina Rossetti and the author William Michael Rossetti. She posed for some of the early paintings of Dante, including "The Girlhood of Virgin Mary" (1849). After Gabriele in 1854 died she quickly burned the remaining copies of his book "Mistero dell'Amor Platonico". In 1863 the Rossetti family was photographed by their friend Lewis Carroll. She died in 1886 in London and was buried in the grave of her husband and Dante's wife Lizzy Siddall at Highgate Cemetery. Family • Son: Rossetti, Dante Gabriel • Daughter: Rossetti, Christina • Son: Rossetti, William Michael • Husband: Rossetti, Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe (1826-1854) |
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 The grave of Gabriele Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Lizzie Siddal at Highgate Cemetery West, London. Picture by Androom (28 Mar 2016) |
 The grave of Gabriele Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Lizzie Siddal at Highgate Cemetery West, London. Picture by Androom (28 Mar 2016) |
Sources • Crawford, Anne and others, The Europa Biographical Dictionary of British Women, Europa Publications Ltd, London, 1983 • Jones, Kathleen, Learning not to be first, the Life of Christina Rossetti, The Windrush Press, Gloucestershire, 1991 • Rossetti Archive Chronology Exhibit • Frances Polidori - Wikipedia |
