The New International Encyclopædia/Montez, Lola

MONTEZ, mṓn'tĕs,. The assumed name of Maria Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, an adventuress, born probably in Ireland, in 1818 according to some, in 1824 according to her own statement. When very young she married a Captain James, followed him to India, grew weary of him and came back to Europe. She appeared as a danseuse in all the Continental capitals, and attracted a fair amount of notoriety by her beauty and escapades. In 1847 she became the mistress of King Louis I., of Bavaria, who made her Countess of Landsfeld and allowed her to have considerable influence in the government. An insurrection in 1848 drove the King from his throne, and Lola from Munich. She went to London, married Stafford Heald, a guardsman, was divorced from him quickly, and came to America in 1851. She traveled over the country, acting in a play entitled Lola Montez in Bavaria, married a number of times, lectured, published books, and finally settled in New York, devoting herself to rescue work. She died at Astoria, Long Island, January 17, 1861. Her writings comprise The Arts of Beauty, and Lectures (1858), the latter containing an autobiography.