Died unknown Name Manci Lady Occupation adventuress | Other names Manci Nationality Hungarian | |
Full Name Maria Malvina Gertler | ||
Maria Malvina Howard, Lady Howard of Effingham, née Gertler, often called Manci, was a Hungarian adventuress.
Maria Malvina Gertler was born in Budapest or in Poland, and was the daughter of Ferenz Joseph Gertler.:557 She went to England in 1935, and in 1938 married Mowbray, Lord Howard of Effingham, who later became the 6th Earl of Effingham.:557 Howard, who was bankrupt, was paid a lump sum and a retainer by Gertler's lover, Edward Stanislas Weisblatt, an arms dealer. Gertler joined the British Union of Fascists.:311
Even before the outbreak of the Second World War, she was suspected of espionage, and on 10 February 1941 was interned in Holloway Prison. She was released on 16 July 1941 for lack of conclusive proof against her. Her marriage to Howard was dissolved in 1945 or 1946.:557