Louise Medbery von Brockdorff (1887-1975) was a painter and designer based in New York, New York who worked briefly for the Works Progress Administration. She was also an astrologist and a socialite with many friends in the arts including choreographers, dancers, artists, and poets.
Known to friends as Fifi, Louise Medbery was born in Columbus, Ohio and studied at Vassar College. Shortly after graduation, she moved to Europe and studied painting in Munich, Germany. She married Count Hugo von Brockdorff in 1910 and remained in Germany while he fought in World War I. The couple lived in Denmark after the war but Louise ultimately returned to Columbus and the two divorced, after which she completed a secretarial course and worked at an office in Columbus and took other jobs around Ohio.
Von Brockdorff moved often seeking out new interests and professions. In 1924 she moved to New York City to study fashion design and pursued an interest in astrology which ultimately became a career. During the Depression, she supported herself through mail-order star charts and would find clients through word-of-mouth. Briefly, she worked for the Works Progress Administration and continued to move in and out of New York City. Later in life, von Brockdorff took an interest in theater and dance and became close with choreographers, poets, and artists.
She died in 1975 in New York City.