The Harry Potter Compendium
The Harry Potter Compendium
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Minister Artemisia Lufkin (17541825) was a witch. A Hufflepuff in her Hogwarts years, Lufkin later became an accomplished Minister for Magic, the first female ever to hold the office.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Artemisia was born in 1754,[2] somewhere in the British Isles. In her youth, she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from around 1765 to 1772, where she was Sorted into Hufflepuff.[1]

As Minister for Magic[]

File:Artemisia LufkinGBA.jpg

An elder Madam Lufkin.

In 1798, Ms. Lufkin rose to the position of Minister for Magic of Great Britain and became the first female ever to have held the office. It is most likely [3] that after her appointment several of the oldest Wizengamot wizards stepped out of their positions in protest.[4] She served as Minister for 13 years, being suceeded in the post by Grogan Stump in 1811.

Death and post-mortem[]

Ms. Lufkin passed away in 1825, aged around 71. She was featured in a Chocolate Frog Card by the 1990s.[2]

On 1 September, 1991, Prefect Gabriel Truman welcomed the Hufflepuff first years to Hufflepuff Basement with a short speech in which he mentioned former Minister Artemisia Lufkin as one of the many notable Hogwarts students who had been Sorted, like them, into Hufflepuff.[1]

Etymology[]

  • Artemisia is a feminine form of Artemisios,[5] a Greek name which derived from Artemis,[6] the name of the Greek goddess of fertility and hunting.[7] Artemisia is also the name of a genus of plants that includes sagebrush and wormwood.[8] Artemisia Gentileschi was a pioneering Italian painter of the Baroque movement, the first woman to join the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze, and one of the first to handle religious and historical subjects.[9]
  • Lufkin is a pet form of the Middle English given name Love,[10] which derived from either the Old English girl's name Lufu, meaning "love," or its masculine equivalent Lufa.[11]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pottermore introduction for Hufflepuffs (transcription available here)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (video game)
  3. This is the most likely answer to the 6-1 question of the Third W.O.M.B.A.T.; as the first female Minister for Magic, it is likely that Lufkin's gender caused a walkout among the oldest (and perhaps more retrograde-minded) wizards of the Wizengamot.
  4. Sixth question of the Third W.O.M.B.A.T. at J. K. Rowling's Official Site.
  5. "Artemisia" on Behind the Name
  6. "Artemisios" on Behind the Name
  7. "Artemis" on Wikipedia
  8. "Artemisia (genus)" on Wikipedia
  9. "Artemisia Gentileschi" on Wikipedia
  10. "Lufkin" on Ancestry.com
  11. "Love" on Ancestry.com


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