Ganna Walska Perfumes, Inc. was founded in 1927, bearing the name of a woman as bold and unconventional as the perfumes she sought to create. The company operated in Paris and New York, two cities synonymous with luxury and refinement, reflecting Walska’s own extravagant tastes and international lifestyle. Though best remembered as an eccentric socialite and an aspiring opera singer of dubious talent, Ganna Walska was a woman of remarkable ambition. Born Hanna Puacz in 1887 in Brest-Litovsk, then part of the Russian Empire (now Belarus), she reinvented herself on a grand scale. She took on the name Ganna, the Russian form of Hannah, lending an air of exoticism, while Walska was chosen for its evocative reference to her favorite dance, the waltz, a symbol of grace, movement, and romance.
Her life was one of extravagance, reinvention, and scandal, having married multiple wealthy and influential men, including Harold McCormick, heir to the International Harvester fortune. Each marriage and divorce only seemed to fuel her ambitions, as she moved through elite circles in Europe and America, collecting not only jewels and estates but also artistic and philanthropic pursuits. Perfume was yet another extension of her cultivated persona, a means of etching her name into the world of luxury goods.
Though Ganna Walska Perfumes, Inc. never reached the prominence of major fragrance houses, its existence stands as a testament to Walska’s relentless pursuit of personal grandeur. It reflected her desire to be more than just a footnote in high society—she wished to be an icon of beauty, music, and sophistication. Though her operatic career never flourished, her name lives on in the fragrant legacy of her ambitious yet short-lived perfume venture, as well as in the lush botanical masterpiece she later created: Lotusland, a sprawling garden sanctuary in California that became her ultimate artistic expression.
