Olimpia Maidalchini

Olimpia Maidalchini
Contemporary portrait by Diego Velázquez
Born(1591-05-26)26 May 1591
Viterbo, Papal States
Died27 September 1657(1657-09-27) (aged 66)
San Martino al Cimino, Papal States

Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj, Princess of San Martino (26 May 1591[1] – 27 September 1657), (also spelled Pamphili and known as Olimpia Pamphili), was the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X (Pamphili). She was perceived by her contemporaries as having influence regarding papal appointments.

She is not to be confused with her daughter-in-law Olimpia Aldobrandini, who married her son Camillo.

  1. ^ Ludwig von Pastor: History of the Popes vol. 30, London 1940, p. 32, says that she was born in 1594 and this date is followed by many other authors. However, Eleanor Herman, a recent biographer of Olimpia, indicates that she was born on 26 May 1591 and that she died at the age of 66. She adds that this date is confirmed by the baptismal registers in the episcopal archive of Viterbo. An account on the website of the Galleria Doria-Pamphilj also says that she was born in 1591. Archived July 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine