╪PARA ╨PAR@ ` PTEXT ` BCurzon, Mary Victoria Leiter
1870╨1906
vicereine of India
Born in Chicago on May 27, 1870, Mary Leiter was the daughter of Levi Z. Leiter, merchant and early partner of Marshall Field. From 1881 she grew up in Washington, D.C., where her family entertained the most distinguished native and foreign personages. In April 1895, after a two-year engagement, she married George Nathaniel Curzon, member of the British Parliament, diplomat, and Asian expert. Her wealth no less than her beauty had attracted his serious attentions, while her devotion to him was uncomplicated and unquestioning. In 1898 he was appointed viceroy of India and created Baron Curzon of Kedleston, Mary Curzon became Baroness Curzon and vicereine of India, to that time and for long afterward the highest political rank ever attained by an American woman. She proved fully up to the elegant pomp and pageantry that Curzon relished, and she was furthermore his most steadfast supporter, especially as his early successes in the post gave way to frustration and failure. Her ceremonial responsibilities, together with the climate and other difficulties, bore heavily on her health, however. Trips to England did not restore her, and by the time they returned to England after Curzon╒s resignation in August 1905 she was failing. She died in London on July 18, 1906.
