Yesterday I posted this image on my Beyond Valentino Instagram account and wanted to expand to say more about the gentleman on the left of the photograph, Bernard V. Bothmer. I had a special mission to accomplish in finishing Michael Morris' last book and this involved this iconic Egyptologist.
Left to right: Bernard V. Bothmer, Alexander Piankoff, Helene Piankoff & Natacha Rambova
When Michael Morris published Madam Valentino in 1991, he did not know the identity of the gentleman on the left of this fantastic photo and labeled him as "unidentified Egyptologist". He learned about him after publication and wanted to remedy this oversight in Beyond Valentino. As I completed Michael's book after his death in 2016, I was in contact with the Chicago House in Luxor and it was then I learned Bernard V. Bothmer was devastated that he was not identified in the image.
I made sure he was in Beyond Valentino. I want to share some pages from his diary from his trip to Egypt in 1950; pages in which he speaks about meeting "Miss Rambova" beginning on his "January 20" entry. His entire diary is available. I cite credit to these images to the publication: Oxbow Books, 2003, Edited by Emma Swan Hall. I have also shared a couple of links to the book and to a piece on Bothmer because he was quite a remarkable man. Enjoy!
