Therese Mirani

Therese Mirani (2 December 1824 – 24 May 1901) was an embroiderer and teacher, who was director of the Imperial and Royal School for Art Embroidery of the Ministry of Commerce in Vienna. She invented a new type of lacework, points imperial, and a new technique of embroidery, broderie dentelle, which was collected by Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was awarded an Imperial and Royal Warrant of Appointment.

Biography

Mirani was born on 2 December 1824 in Prague, Bohemia. Her father was the writer Johann Heinrich Mirani (1802–73). Interested in both the technique, theory and history of embroidery from a young age, Mirani related in later life that she always wanted to be self-employed and described herself as a "voluntary spinster".

In 1863, she began to supply the royal court and, in 1865, she was awarded with an Imperial and Royal Warrant of Appointment. ''

In 1867, a sample of Mirani's white embroidery work was exhibited at the Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie. In the same year, she was awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris and was the first woman on the Austrian jury. After the death of the director Emilie Bach (1840–1890), she became director.

Upon her retirement in 1899, she was awarded the Civil Service Cross (de). She died on 24 May 1901 in Vienna.