Helen Tradusa "Helenka" Adamowska Pantaleoni (November , â€" January
, ) was a Polish American silent film actress and humanitarian. She
was the founding director of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, a role
that she held for years. Her granddaughter is American actress Téa
Leoni.Pantaleoni was the daughter of Polish musicians Józef (July ,
â€" May , ) and Antonina (née Szumowska) Adamowski (born February , ,
Lublin, Poland â€" died August , , Rumson, New Jersey). After studying
piano in Poland Antonina became the only known female pupil of Ignacy
Jan Paderewski in Paris between and , when she left for the United
States. Józef was a cellist and a member of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. Antonina, Józef, and Józef's brother Tymoteusz (aka
Timothee), made up the Adamowski Trio.After touring Europe and the
United States her parents settled in Brookline, Massachusetts, where
Helenka was born. She attended Miss Winsor's School in Boston. She
studied dramatics and appeared in plays presented by the Junior League
and the Vincent Club. "In , on the occasion of Paderewski's presence
in Boston in connection with aid for war victims, she appeared in a
specially written play entitled "The Spirit of Poland," which was
given at Jordan Hall in Boston. In the s, she appeared in silent films
as well as on Broadway. She subsequently became head of the Children's
Theatre Department of the Junior League of New York.She married Guido
Pantaleoni, Jr., in . Guido, a New York lawyer, was a widower with
three children (Guido, Nina, and Hewitt). He was a graduate of Milton
Academy, Harvard University and Harvard Law School. Guido was a nephew
of Italian economist and politician Maffeo Pantaleoni. He and Helenka
had two sons, Anthony and Michael. In , Guido and C. Frank Reavis,
Jr., founded the New York law firm Reavis & Pantaleoni.
, ) was a Polish American silent film actress and humanitarian. She
was the founding director of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, a role
that she held for years. Her granddaughter is American actress Téa
Leoni.Pantaleoni was the daughter of Polish musicians Józef (July ,
â€" May , ) and Antonina (née Szumowska) Adamowski (born February , ,
Lublin, Poland â€" died August , , Rumson, New Jersey). After studying
piano in Poland Antonina became the only known female pupil of Ignacy
Jan Paderewski in Paris between and , when she left for the United
States. Józef was a cellist and a member of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. Antonina, Józef, and Józef's brother Tymoteusz (aka
Timothee), made up the Adamowski Trio.After touring Europe and the
United States her parents settled in Brookline, Massachusetts, where
Helenka was born. She attended Miss Winsor's School in Boston. She
studied dramatics and appeared in plays presented by the Junior League
and the Vincent Club. "In , on the occasion of Paderewski's presence
in Boston in connection with aid for war victims, she appeared in a
specially written play entitled "The Spirit of Poland," which was
given at Jordan Hall in Boston. In the s, she appeared in silent films
as well as on Broadway. She subsequently became head of the Children's
Theatre Department of the Junior League of New York.She married Guido
Pantaleoni, Jr., in . Guido, a New York lawyer, was a widower with
three children (Guido, Nina, and Hewitt). He was a graduate of Milton
Academy, Harvard University and Harvard Law School. Guido was a nephew
of Italian economist and politician Maffeo Pantaleoni. He and Helenka
had two sons, Anthony and Michael. In , Guido and C. Frank Reavis,
Jr., founded the New York law firm Reavis & Pantaleoni.
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