Eva Marian Spielmann was born on 13 April 1886, daughter of Sir Meyer Spielmann (1856–1936). Sir Meyer was one of the three surviving sons of the eight children of banker Adam Spielmann (1812–1869), who had emigrated from Schokken (now Skoki), near Posen (now Poznan) with his own two brothers. Eva was therefore the niece of the civil engineer turned art-connoisseur Sir Isidore Spielmann (1854–1925) as well as the renowned art-critic Marion Spielmann (1856–1936) and his wife, the children's author Mabel Spielmann (1862–1938). Through them she was related to the great dynasties of Montagu/Samuel and of Sebag-Montefiore.
