Romola de Pulszky
Who was Romola de Pulszky?
Hungarian noble; wife and biographer of dancer-choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Romola de Pulszky (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Romola de Pulszky was born on 20 February 1891 in Budapest, Hungary, into a well-connected family with ties to politics and the arts. Her father, a politician, was exiled during her childhood and died by suicide in Australia, a loss that deeply affected her early life. Her mother was an actress, and through her, Romola was introduced to performance and cultural life from a young age. This upbringing, marked by both privilege and instability, shaped her determined and unconventional nature.
As a young woman, Romola became fascinated by ballet and especially by Vaslav Nijinsky, the leading male dancer of his time and a star of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. She pursued the company with tenacity, traveling with them on their South American tour in 1913. On 10 September 1913, she and Nijinsky married in Buenos Aires. Their marriage surprised many, including Diaghilev, who consequently fired Nijinsky from the Ballets Russes. Despite the upheaval, the couple had two daughters, Kyra and Tamara.
Nijinsky's mental health declined after their marriage, and he was eventually institutionalized with schizophrenia, a condition that kept him confined for about thirty years. Romola spent much of her life advocating for her husband's well-being, seeking treatments, and trying to preserve and share his artistic legacy. She consulted numerous doctors and psychiatrists for him and arranged experimental treatments, but these efforts had limited success.
In 1934, Romola de Pulszky published a biography of Nijinsky, drawing from her personal knowledge of him and his early career with the Ballets Russes. The book brought attention to his life and significant contributions to twentieth-century dance. Two years later, in 1936, she published a version of Nijinsky's diary, which he wrote shortly before being institutionalized. Her edition was later criticized for omitting or changing passages she found too explicit or disturbing. A more complete version of the diary was published decades after her death.
After Nijinsky's death in London in 1950, Romola published a second biographical volume in 1952 about his later years. She continued to write and speak about him for much of her life. Romola de Pulszky died on 8 June 1978 in Paris, France, having spent decades as the main guardian of her husband's memory and the key source of information about one of dance’s most celebrated and troubled figures.
Before Fame
Romola de Pulszky grew up in Budapest around the early 1900s. Her family's life was shaped by her father's political role and her mother's work in theater. When her father was exiled and later died abroad, it put the family in a tough spot, teaching Romola about loss and how to cope with hard times. She got an education suitable for someone of her noble background and was part of the cultural scene in the late days of the Habsburg Empire.
Though not a performer herself, Romola became deeply interested in ballet during her early adulthood. She went to see the Ballets Russes, a company that was changing European views on dance, music, and visual art at the time. Her obsession with Nijinsky led her to get closer to the company by taking dance lessons and making connections, which eventually allowed her to join their 1913 South American tour. This decision dramatically altered the course of her life.
Key Achievements
- Published the first major biography of Vaslav Nijinsky in 1934, establishing the primary historical record of his life and career
- Edited and published Nijinsky's personal diary in 1936, making a unique document of artistic and psychological significance available to the public
- Published a second biographical volume on Nijinsky in 1952, covering the decades of his institutionalization and final years
- Served as the principal advocate for Nijinsky's medical care and public reputation throughout his thirty years of institutionalization
- Preserved correspondence, documents, and personal materials relating to Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes that became important to dance scholarship
Did You Know?
- 01.Romola de Pulszky married Vaslav Nijinsky on a South American tour in 1913, a union that so angered impresario Sergei Diaghilev that he dismissed Nijinsky from the Ballets Russes shortly afterward.
- 02.The version of Nijinsky's diary that Romola published in 1936 was significantly edited, omitting passages related to his sexuality and the full extent of his psychological crisis; a more complete edition was only published in 1995.
- 03.Her father, Karoly de Pulszky, was a Hungarian politician and art collector who died by suicide in Sydney, Australia, after being implicated in a scandal involving missing museum funds.
- 04.Romola spent years taking Nijinsky to various specialists and clinics across Europe, including sessions involving insulin coma therapy, in attempts to treat his schizophrenia.
- 05.She outlived her husband by nearly 28 years and died in Paris, having spent more of her marriage with him institutionalized than living freely beside her.