Laura Mack Stillman

In memoriam

[translation of Greek inscription on front of monument, by photographer Thanos Foteinos] To Laura Mack, the American Wife of W.J. Stillman Consul of America in Crete. For the Eternal Memory of Her Love and Benevolent Favors/Charities this Column was raised in Gratitude by the Mourning Crete. Athens 1869 [on verso of monument] TO LAURA MACK WIFE OF W. J. STILLMAN AGED 29 YEARS 9 MOS. 4 DAYS. THE HUSBAND, CONSCIOUS THAT NO HONOUR HE CAN RENDER HER WILL EVER COMPARE WITH THAT WHICH SHE HAS DONE HIM CONSENTS THAT THIS TESTIMONIAL SHALL BE RAISED BY THE STRANGERS WHOM SHE HAD MADE HER ERIENDS.

According to her husband, journalist William Stillman, Laura took her own life "in a state of religious exaltation; 'insanity accompanied by religious delusions.'" Greeks who admired the Stillmans' stand against Turkish brutality in Crete erected a monument at her grave. David B. Elliott, A Pre-Raphaelite Marriage, 2006, p. 56.

Locația mormântului