But Russia proved too small a stage for her ambitions, or possibly she just had a better sense of political trends than Tsar Nicholas, because she soon divorced the baron and departed for New York (the baron celebrated the divorce by being instantly shot in the head during the opening battles of WWI). Shortly afterward, Walska married a wealthy young baron.

How did she pull that off? Well, it's a pretty incredible story, involving hypnotic yoga cults, anti-masturbation sleeping harnesses, a mad scientist hoping to implant serial killer testicles in his patients, a second mad scientist with a death ray, unsolved Himalayan murders, and some of the worst opera concerts ever staged.Ĭharmed the Tsar, who declared her the most beautiful woman at the ball and even commissioned a special portrait of her, because being Tsar meant your wife wasn't allowed to punch you.

Along the way, she would marry no less than six wealthy oddballs, each progressively weirder than the last, becoming an international celebrity in the process. But despite these unpromising beginnings, Walska managed to force her way to the top through nothing more than sheer force of will (and some truly great divorce lawyers). It was a bleak time for women, and also men, and frankly most of the animals didn't have it great either. Walska had been born into a humble family in Russian-occupied Poland, where the main exports were depressing poetry and even more depressing life expectancy statistics. George Grantham Bain Collection Walska, seen here dressed for a quiet evening at home. Although the New York Times rather gleefully reported that a muscular young man was seen being wheeled out of the hospital, having 'acquired some of McCormick's wealth in return for a sacrifice.' But while McCormick's procedure caused something of a stir, nobody could blame him too much, since he had just got engaged to the most famous socialite of the age: Ganna Walska. Whether the glands in question came from the testicles of a monkey or a human remains a little disputed (the doctor in question specialized in grafting tissue from both animal and human donors). Back in 1922, Harold McCormick, chairman of the International Harvester Company and one of the wealthiest men in America, checked himself into a Chicago hospital to have 'youthful glands' inserted into his testicles in order to enhance his virility.

Ganna cracked version