25 Facts About Sophie Raffalovich

Sophie Raffalovich O'Brien, was a writer and Irish nationalist.

Sophie Raffalovich's father was a banker, with two sons, Marc-Andre and Arthur.

Sophie Raffalovich translated works on the lives of Cobden and Lord Shaftesbury.

Sophie Raffalovich began to write to O'Brien and eventually met him in 1889.

Sophie Raffalovich married O'Brien on 11 June 1890 and the wedding was attended by Charles Stewart Parnell, a major gathering of the Irish party before they split later in the year.

Sophie Raffalovich moved to Ireland with her husband after the wedding and was accepted quickly into the social groups.

Sophie Raffalovich was particularly close with Anne Deane and Henrietta Mitchel Martin.

Sophie Raffalovich's husband relied heavily on Raffalovich as a funding source, secretary and nurse during the periods of his career where his health was poor.

Sophie Raffalovich was the financial accountant and they lived as simply as possible so they could give as much to the poor as possible.

Sophie Raffalovich wrote a couple of novels which describe the time.

Sophie Raffalovich worked with Sister Mary Eustace Eaton of the Harold's Cross Hospice for the Dying and wrote a biography of her life in 1923.

O'Brien was clear that land redistribution was the means for ameliorating the situation and Sophie Raffalovich became the primary backer of the United Irish League.

Sophie Raffalovich continued to fund his political activities despite the heavy financial expense when he founded the daily newspaper, the Cork Free Press.

Sophie Raffalovich did not believe in a woman's right to vote.

Sophie Raffalovich's mother continued to live in France and Sophie Raffalovich felt very connected to the country where she had grown up.

The couple supported the allied cause and Sophie Raffalovich had no pity for Sinn Fein when they seemed to endanger the allied war effort.

The war eliminated what wealth Sophie Raffalovich had through the loss of the family investments in Russia and Germany.

Sophie Raffalovich's finances had supported her husband's political career and that career ended with the 1918 election.

Sophie Raffalovich felt it was her duty to ensure his memory was intact and she spent some years working through the papers and documents he left behind.

Sophie Raffalovich worked with his biographer, Michael MacDonagh and published some of his work.

Sophie Raffalovich donated his papers to both University College Cork and the National Library of Ireland.

Sophie Raffalovich was awarded a Doctor of Letters in February 1938 from the National University of Ireland for this work.

In earlier years Sophie Raffalovich had considered that she would join her friend's convent if her husband died but in 1933 she realised she was too old for such a change and that her home in Cork was too large for her alone, she moved back to France near Amiens, to live with sisters Fernande and Lucie Guilmart who had been pupils of the Amiens orphanage and school she had supported since the 1880s.

Sophie Raffalovich called them 'the best daughters a childless old woman could have'.

Sophie Raffalovich was still living in France when it was invaded by Germany during the Second World War.