Léonard-Alexis Autié, also Autier (c. 1751 – 20 March 1820), often referred to simply as Monsieur Léonard, was the favourite hairdresser of Queen
Marie Antoinette and in 1788–1789 founded the
Théâtre de Monsieur, "the first resident theatre in France to produce a year-round repertory of
Italian opera."
Early life and career as a hairdresser
Born in the medieval town of
Pamiers
Pamiers (; oc, Pàmias ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although i ...
in southwestern France, he was the son of Alexis Autié and Catherine Fournier, who were domestic servants. He spent time in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
, where he began to work as a hairdresser.
In 1769 he moved to Paris, where he began styling the hair of Julie Niébert, an actress at the
Théâtre de Nicolet. His unusual hairstyles immediately attracted attention, and he was soon styling the hair of women of the nobility, including
Madame du Barry, Louis XV's mistress and the Marquise de Langeac, a
lady-in-waiting to the Dauphine Marie-Antoinette. By 1772 he had become the hairstylist of the Dauphine herself.
In January 1774, at the request of Marie Antoinette, Autié and
Rose Bertin
Marie-Jeanne Rose Bertin (2 July 1747, Abbeville, Picardy, France – 22 September 1813, Épinay-sur-Seine) was a French milliner ('' Marchande de modes''), known as the dressmaker to Queen Marie Antoinette. She was the first celebrated Fr ...
(her dressmaker) resuscitated the French fashion magazine, the ''Journal des Dames''. The princess funded the venture, and the financially desperate Baroness de Prinzen agreed to lend her name to the project as the "managing editor". Needless to say, the very first issue was highly laudatory of the Dauphine's dress and hair styles. It also featured a new hairstyle invented by Mademoiselle Bertin, the ''ques-a-co'' ("What is it?"), consisting of three feathers at the back of the head, forming something similar to a question mark. Soon it was worn by all the princesses at court, and even by the king's mistress
Madame du Barry. Although Léonard and Rose were "like two good sisters", Léonard could not help feeling a bit jealous, and before long he invented the
pouf
The pouf or pouffe also "toque" (literally a thick cushion) is a hairstyle and a hairstyling support deriving from 18th-century France. It was made popular by the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), when she wore it in June 1775 a ...
, which was first worn in April 1774 by the
Duchess of Chartres, but was soon adopted by Marie-Antoinette, who made it very popular.
File:Title page of the 'Journal des Dames', Paris, Jamuary 1774 - Bashor 2013 p63.jpg, ''Journal des Dames'', 1774
File:The 'ques-à-co' hairdo created by Rose Bertin - Histoire de la coiffure des femmes en France 1886 p159 - Google Books.jpg, The hairstyle,
created by Rose Bertin
Marie-Jeanne Rose Bertin (2 July 1747, Abbeville, Picardy, France – 22 September 1813, Épinay-sur-Seine) was a French milliner ('' Marchande de modes''), known as the dressmaker to Queen Marie Antoinette. She was the first celebrated Fr ...
File:Portrait de Marie Antoinette - Boizot 1775.jpg, The ''coiffure à la Zephyr''
on Marie-Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...
![Léonard-Alexis Autié at work - Bashor 2013 plate9](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/L%C3%A9onard-Alexis_Auti%C3%A9_at_work_-_Bashor_2013_plate9.jpg)
Autié's success allowed him to establish a hair-dressing school and studio, the ''Académie de coiffeur'' ("a virtual House of Léonard"), which was eventually situated in the
rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin
This "quartier" of Paris got its name from the rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. It runs north-northwest from the Boulevard des Italiens to the Église de la Sainte-Trinité.
In the 17th century the ''chemin des Po ...
in Paris. He was joined in this enterprise by his two brothers, Pierre and
Jean-François. Jean-François and their cousin Villanou also worked as hairdressers in the household of Marie-Antoinette, while Pierre worked for the king's sister,
Madame Elizabeth. Taking advantage of their brother's fame, Pierre and Jean-François also used the name Léonard, creating much confusion for subsequent historians.
By 1787 Léonard-Alexis had accumulated sufficient wealth that he no longer needed to dress hair for a living. He was still called ''Coiffeur de la Reine'' (Hairdresser to the Queen) and dressed Marie Antoinette's hair on commission for special occasions, such as galas and balls. His youngest brother, Jean-François, was responsible for dressing her hair on a daily basis and also took over as the head of the ''Académie de coiffure''.
[Bashor 2013, p. 112.]
Théâtre de Monsieur
Marie Antoinette was very fond of opera, especially
Italian opera. She had supported the efforts of
Jacques de Vismes du Valgay, director of the Royal Academy of Music (
Paris Opera), to produce Italian operas on numerous occasions from June 1778 to March 1780, and also those of
Mademoiselle Montansier, director of the
Théâtre de Versailles, to import the Italian troupe of the
King's Theatre, London
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established ...
, for a successful season of
opera buffa
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
in the late summer of 1787.
With Marie Antoinette's encouragement Léonard soon began a new career as an opera impresario. Not having sufficient capital, he formed a partnership with Montansier, who provided 100,000 ''
livres
The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
'' for the enterprise.
The responsibility of being a royal patron of theatre traditionally fell to the elder of the reigning king's younger brothers, who was referred to as Monsieur. The Count of Provence (the future
Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
) was not particularly interested in opera and did not fund the new theatre or participate in any direct way, but he did allow his name to be used. Thus the new theatre was to be called the
Théâtre de Monsieur. However, Montansier and Léonard soon had a major disagreement. Léonard was very ambitious and wanted to present four genres:
French opera, Italian opera,
French plays
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
, and
''Vaudevilles à caractères'', whereas Montansier wanted to focus on Italian opera and the formation of a permanent troupe of first-rate Italian singers. She finally agreed to withdraw, but only if she was repaid her entire investment of 100,000 ''livres'' and an annuity of 20,000 ''livres'' per year for life. Léonard turned to the Italian violinist
Giovanni Viotti, who was also in the service of Marie Antoinette. Viotti was able to provide some money, but not the entire amount. Léonard and Viotti finally persuaded Montansier to accept 40,000 ''livres'' plus the annuity. She would later open
her own theatre in Paris to compete with the Théâtre de Monsieur.
[Péricaud 1909]
pp. 8–9
Bashor 2013, pp. 115–116; Lister 2009, pp. 125–127.
By 7 April 1788 Autié had been given sole ownership of the ''
privilège'' to operate the theatre, with a term of 30 years. On 28 May a society of investors was formed, with a board of directors mainly composed of lawyers and notaries. On 18 June ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' of London reported "Parisian Intelligence, Paris 9 June. Leonard, the Queen's hairdresser, has obtained the patent for the comic Opera-House which is going to be erected at the Luxembourg. Cherubini and Viotti are to be the ostensible managers." In fact, the
Luxembourg Garden
The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' ...
was considered as a site for the new theatre, but the
Théâtre des Tuileries
The Théâtre des Tuileries was a theatre in the former Tuileries Palace in Paris. It was also known as the Salle des Machines, because of its elaborate stage machinery, designed by the Italian theatre architects Gaspare Vigarani and his two sons ...
was the one finally selected. The Italian composer
Luigi Cherubini was not immediately involved but joined the enterprise later. The Théâtre de Monsieur opened on 26 January 1789 and was successful with audiences. It earned the distinction of being the first French theatre to produce Italian opera on a year-round basis. Expenses seemed always to exceed the receipts, and soon Léonard was in even more financial difficulty, but it was other events beyond his control that were to prove more critical to his eventual withdrawal from the project.
French Revolution and after
In June 1791, his brother Jean-François Autié accompanied the
Duke de Choiseul during the royal family's
flight to Varennes. After the royal family's arrest, Jean-François went abroad and was joined there by Leónard-Alexis. After three months, Léonard-Alexis returned to Paris. As the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
progressed and the situation for those associated with Marie Antoinette deteriorated, Léonard-Alexis left France again (probably in late June 1792) and eventually went to Russia. Jean-François remained in France and, due to his involvement in the flight to Varennes, was
guillotined
A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...
on 25 July 1794. Léonard-Alexis did not return to France until 1814, after
Louis XVIII was restored to the throne.
Léonard-Alexis Autié died in Paris.
Personal life
Léonard-Alexis Autié married in Paris around 1779, and on 13 September 1781 his daughter Marie Anne Elisabeth was baptized at the
Church of Saint-Eustache. The baptismal document identifies his wife as Marie Louise Adélaïde Jacobie Malacrida, who was the daughter of Jacques Malacrida, an ''officier de bouche'' (kitchen assistant) for 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. 850 ...
. A second daughter, Louise Françoise Alexandrine, was born on 6 January 1786 and baptized on 8 January with Jean-François Autié acting as her godfather and her maternal grandmother, Louise Catherine Malacrida, as her godmother. A third daughter, Fanny, was born around 1789, and a son, Auguste–Marie, on 27 November 1790. When Léonard-Alexis emigrated, his wife refused to follow and obtained a divorce on 29
messidor
Messidor () was the tenth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word , which means ''harvest''.
Messidor was the first month of the summer quarter (). It started on 19 or 20 June. It ended on 18 or 19 Jul ...
an II (17 July 1794). When he died in 1820, he did not leave a will, and his two surviving children, Alexandrine and Fanny shared 716 francs and a small collection of jewels, the most important of which was a brooch, a bird of paradise valued at 3 francs, which he is presumed to have received for his services to Marie Antoinette.
Memoirs
His supposed memoirs were published posthumously in 1838 by Alphonse Levavaseur in Paris as ''Souvenirs de Léonard, coiffeur de la reine Marie-Antoinette''. The authenticity of this book is disputed: its actual authorship has been attributed to
Louis-François L'Héritier or
Étienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon
Étienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon (1786-1864) was a prolific French author of many novels, apocryphal memoirs, and a controversial historical work.
Biography
Étienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon, a descendant of an old family of Languedoc, was b ...
.
[.]
See also
*
Le Sieur Beaulard
Jean Joseph Beaulard, known as ''Le Sieur Beaulard'' (''d. after'' 1775), was a French fashion merchant and fashion designer.
He was one of the four top fashion merchants alongside Rose Bertin, Madame Eloffe and Mademoiselle Alexandre during the ...
References
Notes
Sources
* Autié, Léonard
uthorship disputed(1838). ''Souvenirs de Léonard, coiffeur de la reine Marie-Antoinette''. Paris: Alphonse Levavaseur. .
* Babeau, Albert (1895). ''Le théâtre des Tuileries sous Louis XIV, Louis XV et Louis VI''. Paris: Sociét´de l'Histoire de Paris
Viewvia
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
.
*
Bashor, Will (2013). ''Marie Antoinette's Head: The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen, and the Revolution''. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. .
* Bord, Gustave (1909). ''La Fin de deux légendes. L'affaire Léonard''. Paris: H. Dragon
Viewvia
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
.
* Di Profio, Alessandro (2003). ''La révolution des Bouffons : L'opéra italien au Théâtre de Monsieur 1789–1792''. Paris: CNRS Editions. .
* Author unknown. Title unknown, ''
L'intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux''
41st year(via
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
). Paris, 1905.
* Fayolle; Michaud jeune (1842). "Léonard" in Michaud 1842
p. 323
* Lenôtre, G.
seudonym_of_ seudonym_of_Théodore_Gosselin">Théodore_Gosselin.html"_;"title="seudonym_of_Théodore_Gosselin">seudonym_of_Théodore_Gosselin(1905)._''Le_Drame_de_Varennes''._Paris:_Perrin
View
via_Google_Books_
Google_Books_(previously_known_as_Google_Book_Search,_Google_Print,_and_by_its_code-name_Project_Ocean)_is_a_service_from__Google_Inc._that_searches_the_full_text_of_books_and_magazines_that_Google_has_scanned,_converted_to_text_using__optical_...
.
*_Lister,_Warwick_(2009)._''Amico:_The_Life_of_Giovanni_Battista_Viotti''_Oxford:_Oxford_University_Press._.
*_Michaud,_Joseph-François,_editor_(1842)._''Biographie_universelle,_ancienne_et_moderne'',_supplement,_vol._71._Paris:_Michaud