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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | Perle Mesta |
| Address |
, Rhode Island , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 12, 1889
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| Died | March 16, 1975
(85 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Thomas Walker
Jul 10, 2006 03:11pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Perle Mesta (October 12, 1889, Sturgis, Michigan - March 16, 1975, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) was an American society figure, political hostess, and ambassador to Luxembourg (1949 - 1953). Her name is sometimes wrongly given as Pearl Mesta.
Mesta was known as "the hostess with the mostest" for her lavish parties featuring the brightest stars of Washington, D.C. society -- such stars included artists, entertainers and many top-level national political figures.
Mesta was the daughter of Bill Skirvin, an original 89er who became a wealthy oilman (his Skirvin Hotel remains an elegant Oklahoma City fixture). She married manufacturer George Mesta but was a widow by age 36. She settled in Newport R.I. but moved to Washington D.C. in 1940. 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 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 bi-partisan 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 Eisenhower administration in 1953.
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. 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.
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