Diane deriaz biography

          Part I. The Divorce and Suicide of Nimet

In the fall of 1931, Lee Miller’s roommate and best friend, Tanja Ramm introduced Lee to her friend Aziz Eloui Bey, a wealthy Egyptian businessman.  At the time, Aziz was married to Nimet Eloui Bey, (née Khairy).  According to Antony Penrose’s Lives, Lee and Aziz entered into an affair during the holiday season of 1931-32 in St.

Moritz.  Aziz, like Man Ray was almost twenty years older than Lee, who was twenty-four at the time.

Aziz and Nimet are a very important component of the Lee Miller story and deserve a deeper examination than that which has been presented to date.

 According to the first edition of Lives (1985):

“Aziz, using the Muslim husband’s prerogative, and with all the lack of ceremony inherent in a Muslim divorce, severed his ties with Nimet.  Distraught, she took a room in the Hȏtel Bourgogne et Montana where, wi