Montez

Montez, Lola [Maria Dolores] (1818-61), was born in Limerick, daughter of an English officer and a Spanish lady. She went to India, where her father died, and then returned to Europe, and, to escape an uncongenial marriage, she eloped with a Captain James. This marriage ended in a separation, and in 1842 she was again in India. She then went on the stage, and appeared at Her Majesty's theatre, and then made a tour of Europe till, in 1846, she became the favourite of Louis I. of Bavaria. The king made much of her, and her influence was great, but the revolution of 1848 sent her again on her travels. Her next sphere of operations was the United States, where she was married three times. Then after a tour in Australia she began lecturing in New York. The last years of her life were spent in penitence, and she died at Long Island.