Special event at Highgate Cemetery for the 150th anniversary of Lizzie Siddal’s death.

February 11th is the 150th anniversary of Lizzie’s death. To commemorate this, Highgate Cemetery (Lizzie’s final resting place) is having a Talk at the cemetery on that day by Lucinda Hawksley, author of Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites.  Being in the U.S., I will not be able to attend but my ever-faithful friend Kirsty Stonell Walker, author of Stunner, the Fall and Rise of Fanny Cornforth will be there!
From the Highgate Cemetery website:

This is a unique and historic occasion as it is in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Lizzie Siddal’s death: she died on February 11th 1862 and was buried at Highgate Cemetery six days later.

Lizzie Siddal was a nineteenth-century phenomenon: a working-class girl whose beauty made her the Pre-Raphaelite movement’s most celebrated, iconic face. Dante Rossetti, founder and leading light of the movement, painted and drew her obsessively a thousand times. She soon became a poet and artist in her own right.

However, as his lover and finally his wife, Lizzie’s relationship with Rossetti was blighted by his infidelities and neglect. In despair, Lizzie resorted to laudanum to numb her senses. In 1862 she took an overdose and left a suicide note.

Lucinda’s illustrated and vivid account of Lizzie’s meteoric but brief career and her tortured relationship breathes new life into the images of Lizzie frozen in time in galleries around the world.

Doors open at 6 pm for refreshments. The talk commences at 6.30 and will last around an hour.

Booking: is in advance by email only at events@highgate-cemetery.org.

Tickets: cost £10 each (£8 for students) including refreshments and nibbles.

Space is limited so early booking is advised.

Venue: in our Grade I listed Chapel which has just been beautifully refurbished.