Podcast #72: Miriam Rothschild

In this episode, DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to Dame Miriam Rothschild, a British zoologist, entomologist, and botanist. Coming from a wealthy family (yes, those Rothschilds) with an active interest in nature, she started collecting ladybirds and caterpillars and taking a tame quail to bed with her at the age of four. During a stint of WWII codebreaking at Bletchley Park, she pressured the British government to take in more Jewish refugees, providing housing for 49 children in her own (stately) home. She then became a leading authority on fleas, with sidelines in other parasites, butterflies, and meadow restoration.

DLS co-host Katy Derbyshire joins producer Susan Stone to kick off the fun.

If you are in New York, you can see a Dead Ladies Show July 17 and September 25 at the KGB Bar’s Red Room. Find out more from them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc or join up for their newsletter if you like here.

Don’t forget we have a Patreon! This month, Florian is there telling Susan all about another Rothschild — Pannonica, Miriam’s sister, who was named for a moth, and known as the Jazz Baroness for her patronage of and friendships with musical greats including Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. You can join up for as little as $2 or 2 euros a month and enjoy our full archive of special features, and our eternal gratitude. Here’s the link!

We’d also be grateful if you follow us on social media @deadladiesshow where we share pictures and info about all of the wonderful Dead Ladies we’ve covered so far. You can also drop us a line via info@deadladiesshow.com

Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, RadioPublic, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Acast.

Show notes:

Kennedy Fraser’s Ornament & Silence: Essays on Women’s Lives from Edith Wharton to Germaine Greer is the book in which Florian first encountered Miriam. You can read her New Yorker story, delightfully titled “Fritillaries and Hairy Violets” in their archives.

Miriam’s home in Ashton Wold in all its glory

Here you can see Miriam’s “floppily uncorseted” garden in the flesh!

Miriam’s mother, Rózsika was an avid athlete and an activist on behalf of Zionism.

This documentary about Miriam’s sister Pannonica (by Miriam’s niece) is fascinating in and of itself, but also shows how Miriam grew up.

The British government’s Balfour Declaration, which committed them to “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” was addressed to Miriam’s uncle Walter, seen below perched on a giant turtle.

Miriam’s troubled father, Charles, and the plague flea he discovered

Young Miriam was undecided on what to do with her life.

Miriam’s husband, a Hungarian water polo player who chose the name George Lane when he joined X Troop, a secret commando of exiled European Jews fighting for the British, often behind enemy lines.

A stark contrast between Miriam’s workplace at Bletchley Park and her “billet” at Mentmore Towers

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky’s contrasting portraits of Miriam. You can read her very kind letter here at the Tate.

The results of the special seed mix Miriam concocted called “Farmer’s Nightmare”

Miriam talking about her favorite things

If you’d like to know more about Miriam Rothschild, do listen to her charming Desert Island Discs episode (better than her brother’s appearance on that same show), this episode of The Science Show from Australian radio, or check out these two books below: The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Famous Dynasty by Natalie Livingstone and Miriam’s own, delightful Butterfly Cooing Like A Dove. And if you’d like to know more about the history of Palestine, I most heartily recommend The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi; if you’d like to learn more about its native plants, go see Jumana Manna’s beautiful film Foragers.

******************************************************************************

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women’s history is everyone’s history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.