Perle Mesta

Perle Skirvin Mesta (October 12 1889 – March 16 1975) was an American socialite, political hostess, and U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg (1949-1953).

Mesta was known as the "hostess with the mostes [sic] " for her lavish parties featuring the brightest stars of Washington, D.C., society, including artists, entertainers and many top-level national political figures.

She was born Pearl Skirvin, in Sturgis, Michigan, a daughter of William Balser Skirvin, an original 89er who became a wealthy Oklahoma oilman and founder of the Skirvin Hotel. Her younger sister was a silent-film actress, Marguerite Skirvin (1896-1963). She married steel manufacturer and engineer George Mesta in 1916, but was widowed in 1925; she was the only heir to his $78 million fortune. ["George Mesta, Noted Engineer, Dies Here", The New York Times, 23 April 1925, page 25.] Mesta settled in Newport, Rhode Island, but moved to Washington, D.C., in 1940. Four years later, Mesta changed the spelling of her first name to Perle. [Abbott, James, "Jansen", NY: Acanthus Press, 2006, pages 174-179]

She was active in the National Woman's Party and was an early supporter of an Equal Rights Amendment. She switched to the Democratic Party in 1940 and was an early supporter of Harry S. Truman, who rewarded her with the ambassadorship to Luxembourg where she launched the Nordstrom Sisters.

But Mesta is most noted for her parties, which brought together senators, congressmen, cabinet secretaries, and other luminaries in bipartisan soirées of high-class glamour. Invitation to a Mesta party was a sure sign that one had reached the inner circle of Washington political society. Her influence waned somewhat, though, with the ascension of the Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower administration in 1953. Nevertheless, she remained an avid hostess until her later years.

Mesta wrote an autobiography "Perle: My Story", published in 1960, and was the subject of a book by Paul Lesch, "Playing Her Part: Perle Mesta in Luxembourg". Lesch also directed a documentary film about Mesta's stay in Luxembourg entitled " [http://www.cna.public.lu/film/liste-films/documentaire-long-alphabetique/call/index.html?highlight=Perle%22Mesta Call Her Madam] " (Samsa Film, 1997).

She was the inspiration for Irving Berlin's musical, "Call Me Madam", which starred Ethel Merman as the character based on Mesta in both the Broadway play and movie. She appeared on the March 14, 1949 cover of "Time Magazine".

Mesta lived in a palatial co-op apartment at ( [http://3900watsonplace.com 3900 Watson Place] ) in the NW of Washington, DC until early 1974, and then she moved to a rest home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mesta died on March 16 1975, aged 85. She is interred in Homewood Cemetery, a nonsectarian burial ground in Pittsburgh.

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*findagrave|10169|Perle Mesta

Persondata
NAME=Mesta, Perle
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Skirvin, Perle
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Socialite
DATE OF BIRTH=October 12, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sturgis, Michigan
DATE OF DEATH=March 16, 1975
PLACE OF DEATH=Oklahoma City, Oklahoma