Documented
Elfriede “Elfi” Arkus-Duntov was born 25 April 1915 and died 23 October 2008. The National Corvette Museum inducted her in 2022, Enthusiast Category. The museum states that her ashes, and Zora’s, are interred there.
After his death she enabled the book that remains the standard life: Jerry Burton’s Zora Arkus-Duntov: The Legend Behind Corvette. The museum’s Hall of Fame page calls her indispensable to that biography.
Museum narrative
The National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame copy calls her the First Lady of Corvette. Biographers use the same phrase. It is museum language and biographer language, not a formal title. The working title of the forthcoming novel takes that tradition as its name.
The same Hall of Fame copy names August 1994 as their proudest moment, when they were guests of honor at the museum’s grand opening.
The forthcoming novel is independent. It is not in the museum shop.
Sources: National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame page for Elfi Arkus-Duntov (2022, Enthusiast Category); museum statement of dates, interment, and the Burton biography. Portrait credit: National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame portrait, already in use on this site.