Étienne Balsan (February 11, 1878 – 1953) was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, as Fulcran Étienne Balsan.

Life

A French

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

and

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

, he was born into the family of wealthy industrialists from

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Ch ...

(

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

) who created Balsan (Company) and provided the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

with uniforms and originated the famous cloth known as "blue horizon." Balsan is best known in the present day as having kept

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

as his mistress. Among his other lovers was famed French actress and

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

Émilienne d'Alençon Émilienne d'Alençon (17 July 1870 – 14 February 1945) was a French dancer, actress, and courtesan. Biography Born in Paris, d'Alençon made her début at the Cirque d'été in 1889 before appearing at the Casino de Paris, Menus-Plaisirs, F ...

. While the Balsan family was a part of the upper class circle, Étienne (and his brother

Jacques Balsan Louis Jacques Balsan (September 16, 1868 – November 4, 1956) was a French aviator and industrialist, born at Châteauroux (Indre) in 1868, who was the second husband of society beauty Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough. He married h ...

) were neither

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

nor titled aristocrat.http://womenineuropeanhistory.org/index.php?title=Consuelo_Vanderbilt_Balsan An officer in the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

, he renounced his career, to breed horses and participate in races. A polo-player, he owned the estate Chateau de Royallieu (destroyed during World War II) near

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

(

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

). The chateau was located near the site of the

Prix de Royallieu The Prix de Royallieu is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,800 metres (about 1 mile an ...

, a Group 2 flat horse race, which has been active since 1922. He noticed Coco Chanel in Moulins (

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

) and became her lover. They remained friends throughout their lives. In 1909, when Chanel settled in

, he lent her his

bachelor flat ''Bachelor Flat'' is a 1962 DeLuxe Color comedy film starring Terry-Thomas, Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer, and Celeste Holm. Filmed in CinemaScope in Malibu, California, the film is a revised version of director Frank Tashlin's own ''Susan Slept H ...

on the ground floor, 160 Boulevard Malesherbes, and helped her to open a boutique in

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...

. Balsan introduced her to Paris society, including Englishman Arthur "Boy" Capel who later became Chanel's lover, and who helped Chanel to finance her early fashion business. His brother,

, married

Consuelo Vanderbilt Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan (formerly Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt; March 2, 1877 – December 6, 1964) was a socialite and a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. Her first marriage ...

, the former Duchess of Marlborough.

In popular culture

Balsan was portrayed by actor

Benoît Poelvoorde Benoît Poelvoorde (, ; born 22 September 1964) is a Belgian actor and comedian. Early life His mother was a grocer and his father a driver, who died when Poelvoorde was still a minor. He attended the Jesuit Boarding School of Godinne before ...

in the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

'' Coco avant Chanel'' (2009), by

Sagamore Stévenin Sagamore Stévenin (born 9 May 1974, in Paris) is a French actor, sometimes also listed Thomas Stévenin in film credits. Personal life Sagamore's father is the actor Jean-François Stévenin. Also in the acting profession are his brother Rob ...

in the television film

(2008), and by

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

in the 1981 release ''

Chanel Solitaire ''Chanel Solitaire'' is a 1981 British- French- American historical drama film directed by George Kaczender and starring Marie-France Pisier, Timothy Dalton, Rutger Hauer, Brigitte Fossey, Karen Black, Lambert Wilson. The film's subject was Coc ...

''.

References

1878 births 1953 deaths French Army officers French racehorse owners and breeders {{France-horseracing-bio-stub