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Topsy Lavish
From Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
| Topsy Lavish | |
| [[Image:|thumb|center|200px|{{{1}}}]] | |
| Name | Topsy Turvy |
| Age | old |
| Race | Human |
| Occupation | former chairman of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork |
| Looks | small old woman, traces of her former red hair |
| Residence | Bank, Ankh-Morpork |
| Death | after an illness, at old age, during Making Money |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | nephew Hubert Turvy |
| Children | Cosmo Lavish and Pucci Lavish |
| Marital Status | married to Joshua Lavish |
| Books | Making Money |
| Cameos | |
Topsy (formerly Turvy) Lavish, now deceased, was in charge of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork before Moist von Lipwig, and is partly responsible for his ascension to the position. A former mistress of Joshua Lavish, who later became his wife, she was left 50% of the Bank by her husband. The other 1% of the controlling share was left to her dog, Mr Fusspot. A very clever woman, she spent most of her time in charge of the Bank fending off her in-laws, the Lavishes, who wanted to run the place further into the ground than it already was. Wary of assassination attempts, she spent all of her time in her suite at the Bank, and had multiple crossbows pointed at the door, ready to be unleashed on a threatening visitor at any time.
She saw right through Moist on his first visit to the Bank, recognizing him for the all-around liar and crook that he really is. Naturally, she liked him immensely, and when she finally did pass away, she left her 50% of the Bank shares to Mr Fusspot, making him the official Chairman - and she left the dog to Moist.
Tried to shoot Death when he showed up to collect her, saying "you can't blame a body for trying".
Annotations
It is possible that Topsy Lavish is a reference to Livia Drusilla, later Livia Augusta of the Roman Empire. August can mean one who is an heir to a large fortune, both Livia and Lavish fitting this bill. Also, Topsy replaced Joshua Lavish's first wife, again following Livia's experience with Emperor Octavian (later Augustus). Also, Topsy's deft manipulation of the Lavish family she married into resonates well with the amount of children and grandchildren Livia had that became emperors.
