Macri, Teresa |
(GREECE) |
BORN 15 Nov 1797, Athens - DIED 4 Oct 1875, Athens |
During their travels in 1809/1810 Lord Byron and his companion Hobhouse stayed with Tarsia Macria, the widow of a former consul of England. There Byron met her three pretty daughters. His famous "Maid of Athens" is dedicated to one of them, Teresa. To H. Drury he wrote on 3 May 1810: " . . . I almost forgot to tell you that I am dying for love of three Greek Girls at Athens, sisters...". The girls were all under fifteen years old. On 28 January 1829 she married the Englishman James Black (1803-1868) and they had four children. Twenty four years after the poem was written it was observed that Teresa lived in poor circumstances and all her beauty had disappeared. Related persons met Byron, George Noel Gordon |
Sources Minta, Stephen, On a Voiceless Shore, Byron in Greece, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1998 Authors - Collection at Bartleby.com |