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Losing a World

Agrand and rather beautiful lady died in London the other day, a month shy of her 90th birthday. Late in life, she used to do Russian translations and advise on period detail for British stage and film directors, which is how I came to meet her. She was Tania Alexander by then, but she was born Tatiana von Benckendorff and was an Estonian émigrée. “Emigré” is one of those words you can only apply to those from Mitteleuropa and east thereof. When I was in London, as I recall, no one ever referred tomeasan émigré Canadian. The term conjures not just someone from another country but someone from a lost world. Indeed, Mrs. Alexander’s autobiography, published in London under the matter-of-fact title An Estonian Childhood, was re-christened by her American publisher Tania: Memories Of A Lost World.

About the Author

Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human-rights activist.

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Losing a World

Agrand and rather beautiful lady died in London the other day, a month shy of her 90th birthday. Late in life, she used to do Russian translations and advise on period detail for British stage and film directors, which is how I came to meet her. She was Tania Alexander by then, but she was born Tatiana von Benckendorff and was an Estonian émigrée. “Emigré” is one of those words you can only apply to those from Mitteleuropa and east thereof. When I was in London, as I recall, no one ever referred tomeasan émigré Canadian. The term conjures not just someone from another country but someone from a lost world. Indeed, Mrs. Alexander’s autobiography, published in London under the matter-of-fact title An Estonian Childhood, was re-christened by her American publisher Tania: Memories Of A Lost World.