Baroness Emma Orczy (23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947) was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. Although born into a lordly title via Hungarian parents, Baroness Orczy had little money when she and her husband settled in London, England. Determined to write for a living, she eventually conceived and wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel in five weeks. After a stageplay of the story was initially panned, she achieved huge popular success, developing the story into a series of 18 books. The story of her career is presented in her autobiography, Links in the Chain of Life.

Asked how to pronounce her name, she told The Literary Digest: “Or-tsey. Emmush-ka — a diminutive meaning ‘little Emma’.”

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