| Alice Drakoules | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Alice Marie Lambe c. 1850 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 15 March 1933 (aged 83) Regent's Park, London, England |
| Other names | Alice Marie Lewis |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation(s) | Philanthropist, activist |
| Known for | Animal welfare advocacy |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 1 (adopted) |
Alice Marie Drakoules (née Lambe; other married name Lewis; c. 1850 – 15 January 1933) was a British philanthropist and activist. She was a notable organiser and supporter of humanitarian, animal welfare, and vegetarianism organisations, including the Vegetarian Society, Humanitarian League, Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society, and the League Against Cruel Sports.
Biography
Early life
Alice Marie Lambe was born near Brussels to English parents around 1850. Her father was Henry Lambe of Truro. She grew up in Cornwall.
Philanthropy and activism
Drakoules, a lifelong vegetarian, joined the Vegetarian Society as an associate in 1886, and was a committed advocate for the movement. She supported the Vegetarian's Special Mission Fund and inspired James Burns's "Pure Food" campaign in 1889. That same year, she spoke on vegetarianism at the Paris Women's Congress and contributed to the Women's Penny Paper. Drakoules hosted a Vegetarian Rambling Society meeting in 1891, wrote "The Ethics of Diet" in 1892, and delivered a Vegetarian Federal Union address in 1897, later published as Humanity and Food Reform in 1902.
In 1887, she founded a Band of Mercy in Weybridge. In 1891, the Humanitarian League was founded by Henry Stephens Salt with her support. The League's first meeting was held at her home and established her as honorary treasurer. She was recognised as an unfailing organiser.
Drakoules was a founding member of the executive council of the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society, established by Louise Lind af Hageby in 1906. She was a keen supporter of the society, helping it campaign for licensed slaughterhouses, humane slaughter, and for an end to performing animals.
The Humanitarian League ended in 1919, but out of its end was formed, with her support, what was to become the League Against Cruel Sports.
Personal life and death
In 1876, she married William Lewis who was the managing director of the Union Assurance Company. Her husband died in 1907, leaving her with an adopted daughter. Her second husband, Platon Eustathios Drakoules (or Drakoulis), was a Greek socialist and ex-member of the Greek Parliament. They shared a common interest in humanitarianism.
Drakoules died at her home in Regent's Park, London, on 15 January 1933, at the age of 83. Henry B. Amos commented that she dedicated nearly 50 years of her life to promoting the cause of animals. Following her death, nearly £10,000 of Drakoules's estate was allocated, after her husband’s death, to support organisations advocating for vegetarianism, anti-vivisection, anti-vaccination, and related causes.
Four years after Drakoules' death, her friends arranged for a monument to be constructed in St John's Wood churchyard, which includes a wide range of sculpted animals.
References
- "West of England News". The Western Morning News. 1942-05-29. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-12-21 – via Findmypast.
- ^ Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF). Vol. 2. University of Southampton. p. 36. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
- ^ "Drakoules , Alice Marie". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50748. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Mrs. Drakoules' Memorial" (PDF). Cruel Sports. 8 (5): 38. 1934.
- "Deaths Mar 1933". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
- "Bequests for Vegetarianism". Daily Herald. 1933-03-11. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-12-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- Kean, Hilda (March 2011). "Traces and Representations: Animal Pasts in London's Present" (PDF). The London Journal. 36 (1): 54–71. doi:10.1179/174963211X12924714058724. S2CID 145641120. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- 1850s births
- 1933 deaths
- 19th-century British philanthropists
- 19th-century women philanthropists
- 20th-century British philanthropists
- 20th-century women philanthropists
- Activists from Brussels
- Belgian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- British anti-vivisectionists
- British animal welfare workers
- British charity and campaign group workers
- British vegetarianism activists
- British women activists
- Women of the Victorian era
- People from Cornwall
- People associated with the Vegetarian Society
- British women philanthropists