Helen Tradusa "Helenka" Adamowska Pantaleoni (November 22, 1900 – January 5, 1987) was an American silent film actress and humanitarian. She was the founding director of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, a role that she held for 25 years. Her granddaughter is American actress Téa Leoni.
Family and career
Pantaleoni was the daughter of Polish musicians Józef (July 4, 1862 – May 8, 1930) and Antonina (née Szumowska) Adamowski (born February 22, 1868, Lublin, Poland – died August 16, 1938, Rumson, New Jersey). After studying piano in Poland Antonina became the only known female pupil of Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Paris between 1890 and 1895, when she left for the United States. Józef was a cellist and a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Antonina, Józef, and Józef's brother Tymoteusz (aka Timothee), made up the Adamowski Trio.
After touring Europe and the United States her parents settled in Brookline, Massachusetts, where Helenka was born. She attended Miss Winsor's School i