Good morning! Ever since I’ve heard about the story of Olga Ivanovna (Jovan) Lazovic eight years ago, the granddaughter of Marko Miljanov and wife of the greatest American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, I’ve been persistent in repeating that we must preserve and promote the ties between the two countries. Looks like it’s time for me to deal with the challenge.
A Montenegrin – Wife of “the man who built America”
About eight years ago I found myself in Scottsdale, Arizona. That’s when I learned about two people from Montenegro, who left a strong mark in this American federal state. The first was the then Supreme State Attorney, the second man of the state, Mark Brnovic, while the second was Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, the wife of Frank Lloyd Wright, the greatest American architect ever.
When you ask a question on Chat GPT “who is the greatest American architect ever?”, it says:
“The most famous American architect is often considered to be Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright is known for his innovative designs and philosophy of organic architecture, which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. Some of his most famous works include the Fallingwater House in Pennsylvania, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Robie House in Chicago. His influence on architecture and design was profound and lasting, making him a central figure in American architectural history.”
If you google Olga’s and Frank’s full name together, among the many photos, you will come across one in which they are wearing the traditional Montenegrin costume.
Olga wrote and published many books about their joint life. After the death, she continued to run the School of Architecture, TSOA, in Scottsdale near Phoenix, Arizona. Recently, a biographical book was published about her, the author of which is a professor from the main air force academy in Colorado Springs, Maxine Fawcett-Yeske. The life of Olgivanna Lloyd Wright: From Montenegro to Taliesin – From Black Mountain to Shining Brow.
Olga wasn’t just an ordinary woman and wife of Frank Lloyd Wright. Olga was the daughter of Jovan Lazović, a judge of the Great Court of Montenegro, and Milica, the daughter of Marko Miljanov. Early on, Olga went to live with her older sister Julija in Russia, who was among the first women possessing the university degree in Montenegro.
Following the revolution in Russia, Olga and her then-husband became devotees of the philosopher and mystic Gurdjieff, whom she and her husband followed and then moved to France. After that, they traveled to America, where they divorced. After that, in 1924, Olga met Wright and became his third and last wife; he spent the rest of his life with her.
I find Olga’s friendship with Stalin’s daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva interesting, with whom she would later have disagreements. But let’s leave the story about it for now. Olga was the co-architect of Wright’s legacy, and the manager of his estate. After her death, their ashes were deposited in the aforementioned Taliesin Museum in Arizona.
I was encouraged to deal with Olga and her legacy again by a scholar from Phoenix, who on the occasion of a recent event, after learning that I was from Montenegro, approached me and shared with me details about her life that I had not known until then.
We have to talk about these people. They never forgot where they came from even though their homeland forgot about them. Olga named her and Frank’s daughter after her father – Jovana Lloyd Wright, who passed away in 2015.
If we don’t inspire Montenegrins to make something out of their lives by following the examples of Olga, Mila Jovovic or Greg Popovic, they will be discussed by others, whose agenda has long been to assimilate and erase the identity of Montenegrins around the world.
You can watch the PBS documentary about Olga’s life here:
That’s all for today. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM observer and columnist
(The opinions and views of our columnists aren’t necessarily those of the CdM news team)
