Desiree Lubovska, also Desiree Lubowska, was the professional name of American dancer Winniefred Foote (1893 – 1974). Foote was born in Minnesota. She changed her name, adopted an accent in her speech, and created a backstory of dancing in Russia; she also said that she studied Egyptian art at the British Museum. She went on a diet and fitness regimen in pursuit of a more angular physique, and her dances reflect this focus. ‘I finally felt I was one of them, a reincarnated spirit of the Nile’; she said in a 1921 interview.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia entry (in English)

The text “Egyptian dance of mourning taken from tombs of Egypt” can be read on the verso of the photograph, written in pencil amongst the stamps of press agencies.