Emma Orczy Emma Orczy Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orci (; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947) was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, the alter ego of Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick-thinking escape artist in order to save ill-fated French royalty from "Madame Guillotine" during the French revolution, establishing the "hero with a secret identity" into popular culture. Opening in London's West End on 5 January 1905, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" became a favourite of British
Emma Orczy unofficial organisation aimed at encouraging women to persuade men to volunteer for active service in the armed forces. Her aim was to enlist 100,000 women who would pledge "to persuade every man I know to offer his service to his country". Some 20,000 women joined her organisation. Orczy was also strongly opposed to the Soviet Union. She died in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on 12 November 1947. Asked how to say her name, Orczy told "The Literary Digest": "Or-tsey. "Emmuska"—a diminutive meaning "little Emma"—accent on the first syllable, the "s" equivalent to our "sh"; thus, "EM-moosh-ka"." Emma Orczy Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália