Anne Victoire Dervieux (1752-1826) was a French ballerina, opera singer, and courtesan.

Life

Dervieux was the daughter of a washer woman in Paris.

Stage career

She was engaged at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

in 1765, (aged 13), where she was active as a ballet dancer before she retrained to become an opera singer. As a singer, she performed at the

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, Londo ...

, and her greatest triumph was said to have been her performance in ''

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

'' in 1772.

Courtesan

She attracted much fame for her parallel career as a courtesan. She has been referred to as the rival of

Madeleine Guimard Marie-Madeleine Guimard (27 December 1743 — 4 May 1816) was a French ballerina who dominated the Parisian stage during the reign of Louis XVI. For twenty-five years she was the star of the Paris Opera. She made herself even more famous by her lo ...

. Among her clients where the

Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti Louis François Joseph de Bourbon or Louis François II, Prince of Conti (1 September 1734 – 13 March 1814), was the last Prince of Conti, scion of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, whose senior branches ruled France until 1848. His titl ...

and the brothers of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

, the

count of Artois The count of Artois (French: Comtes d'Artois, Dutch: Graven van Artesië) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric (c. 850s) ...

and the count de Provence; she also shared her client

Charles, Prince of Soubise Charles de Rohan (16 July 17151 July 1787), Prince of Soubise, Duke of Rohan-Rohan, Seigneur of Roberval, and Marshal of France from 1758, was a soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the Hou ...

with

. Derievux, as well as Guimard, were celebrities of their time and frequently portrayed in the scandal press.

Residence

She became known for her extravagant residence, a palace she had constructed in rue Chantereine Paris, filled with her valuable fine art collections. The building was originally design by architect

Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (; 15 February 1739 – 6 June 1813) was a prominent French architect. Biography Born in Paris, France. A prominent member of Parisian society, in 1767 he married Anne-Louise d'Egremont. The couple became frie ...

and later re-worked by the architect

François-Joseph Bélanger François-Joseph Bélanger (; 12 April 1744 – 1 May 1818) was a French architect and decorator working in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassic style. Life Born in Paris, Bélanger attended the Académie Royale d'Architecture (1764–1766) whe ...

Later life

Dervieux married

in 1794 and retired from her stage career as well as from her career as a courtesan. She adopted a girl around this time. She was imprisoned during

The Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

, but avoided execution. Dervieux died in Paris in 1829.

References

Bibliography

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