Rie, Lucie (1902–1995)

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Rie, Lucie (1902–1995)

Austrian-born British potter. Name variations: Dame Lucie Rie. Born Lucie Gomperz, 1902, in Vienna, Austria; died 1995; studied at Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule; m. Hans Rie, 1926 (div. 1940).

Fled Nazism (1938); shared a workshop with Hans Coper, producing ceramic jewelry and buttons; started working in stoneware and porcelain (1948), creating a style rooted in modernism; became the most famous potter in the United Kingdom; was also internationally acclaimed, and had solo exhibition at New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (1994). BBC film by Sir David Attenborough documented her life and work (1982); made OBE (1968), CBE (1981) and DBE (1991).

See also Women in World History.