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


Madox Brown, Ford

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 20 Jul 2008