British Author. She was the daughter of Alice Keppel, a former mistress to King Edward VII. She had an affair with Lady Victoria "Vita" Sackville-West Nicolson. Their affair was chronicled by Vita's son, Nigel, in his book, "The Portrait of A Marriage" published in 1973 and in Virginia Woolf's "Orlando." She married Denys Trefusis. Since 1923, she became a lover to the Singer sewing machine heiress, Winnaretta Singer, daughter of Isaac Singer and wife of the Prince Edmond de Polignac, who introduced her to the artistic beau-monde in Paris. In 1924, Mrs Keppel bought L'Ombrellino, a large villa overlooking Florence, where once Galileo Galilei had lived. Eventually, after her parent's death in 1947, Violet would become the chatelaine of L'Ombrellino, till the end of her life. In 1929, Denys Trefusis died, quite estranged from his seemingly unfeeling wife. After his death, Violet published several novels, some in English, some in French, that she had written in her medieval "Tour" in Saint-Loup-de-Naud in the Seine-et-Marne department in France, a gift from Winnaretta. During the Second World War, in London, Violet participated in the broadcastings of La France Libre, which earned her a Légion d'Honneur after the war.
British Author. She was the daughter of Alice Keppel, a former mistress to King Edward VII. She had an affair with Lady Victoria "Vita" Sackville-West Nicolson. Their affair was chronicled by Vita's son, Nigel, in his book, "The Portrait of A Marriage" published in 1973 and in Virginia Woolf's "Orlando." She married Denys Trefusis. Since 1923, she became a lover to the Singer sewing machine heiress, Winnaretta Singer, daughter of Isaac Singer and wife of the Prince Edmond de Polignac, who introduced her to the artistic beau-monde in Paris. In 1924, Mrs Keppel bought L'Ombrellino, a large villa overlooking Florence, where once Galileo Galilei had lived. Eventually, after her parent's death in 1947, Violet would become the chatelaine of L'Ombrellino, till the end of her life. In 1929, Denys Trefusis died, quite estranged from his seemingly unfeeling wife. After his death, Violet published several novels, some in English, some in French, that she had written in her medieval "Tour" in Saint-Loup-de-Naud in the Seine-et-Marne department in France, a gift from Winnaretta. During the Second World War, in London, Violet participated in the broadcastings of La France Libre, which earned her a Légion d'Honneur after the war.
Bio by: Genet
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