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Marie Lesieur (8 October 1799, Paris – 6 April 1890,
Marie Lesieur (8 October 1799, Paris – 6 April 1890, Ixelles
(French, ) or ( Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the munic ...
, Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
), known as Lesueur, was a French ballet dancer.
Life
The daughter of Hébert Lesieur and Marie Calliaud, Lesieur made her debut at the Théâtre deMarseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
in 1816, as a 'sujet de la danse'. In the course of a production of the ballet ''La Naissance de Vénus'' (''The Birth of Venus'') in July 1817 she was noted for turning her back on the public, in an inconvenient attitude, but she was pardoned for this and quickly became Marseilles's favourite dancer. Two years later she moved to Brussels to join the ballet troupe formed there by Jean-Antoine Petipa with some of the dancers from Marseille. The ''Almanach des spectacles'' for 1820 stated:
She made her Brussels debut at the Théâtre de la Monnaie
The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...
on 20 May 1819 in the ballet ''Almaviva et Rosine'' and was an immediate and massive success with the public. The 1822 ''Revue des spectacles'' described her as a dancer
In a production of the ballet ''Psyché'' in April 1823, Mlle Lesueur was the victim of a set-operator's negligence:
Very quickly she won a reputation as a major dancer, but also as a woman of character, who was in the ballet come rain or shine. The famous painter Jacques-Louis David made her the model for Venus in his 1824 '' Mars Being Disarmed by Venus'' (in which Lucien Petipa
Lucien Petipa (December 22, 1815 – July 7, 1898) was a French ballet dancer in the early 19th century ( Romantic period), who was the brother of Marius Petipa, the famous ballet master of the Russian Imperial Ballet. He was born in Marseilles ...
also appeared as Cupid). In January 1826 Mlle Lesueur fell seriously ill and, after a few brief returns to the stage, she announced that her health would not allow her to continue her career. With her protector, the comte van Gobbelschroy, interior minister to William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
, she set up home in the rural property (later known as the château Malou) he had acquired at Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert () or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the nineteen municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It is a prosperous residential area, with a mixture of flats and detached, semi-detached and terraced hou ...
near Brussels. Van Gobbelschroy committed suicide in 1850, having used up his fortune setting up the first candle factories in France and Belgium. Some sources state that he and Lesueur married, though the comte's death certificate states he was unmarried. After the comte's death, Mlle Lesueur devoted herself to acts of charity, taking a small apartment in rue de la Grosse Tour, before moving to Ixelles
(French, ) or ( Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the munic ...
. She died in complete poverty aged 90 in a small house on rue Keyenveld. In 1824 a lithograph by Eeckhout portrayed her as Venus.
References