Hannah Leavesley was born in England but she had a dual Swiss citizenship which enabled her to travel around central Europe in WW11 posing as a Swiss antique dealer, but in fact she was working undercover feeding information to the British regarding movements of the Nazis plus helping many people to escape the terrible times in occupied Europe. Being a beautiful intelligent woman and speaking fluent German and French in her mid-twenties with a huge personality many of the top ranking German officers took to her and even asked her to furnish their ill-gotten properties with beautiful furniture. This worked well for her regarding information she passed on and the money she was paid by the Germans especially in Paris was given directly to the persecuted families which aided them to escape mainly to Switzerland. She out witted the Germans many times but she played a very dangerous game! Her love for beautiful furniture and objects was true and she collected many exquisite pieces whilst posing as an antique dealer. Many of the things Hannah collected were shipped to England after the war and stored for many years. For different reasons the collection now exists in the Madrid shop and in London named in her honour “Madame Leavesley interiors” Hannah sadly died in 2016 at 95, but her name will now live on, so will many people she helped in her days.                         

She once said:- in all of her time in Paris and Germany undercover she would never let herself be kissed by the enemy!!