Anne-Marie Gaillard (12 July 1843 – 22 July 1884, in a clinic at Vanves), known as Nina de Villard de Callias, Nina de Callias or Nina de Villard, was a French composer, pianist, writer, and salon hostess. The daughter of a rich

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

lawyer, after her marriage to Hector de Callias (comte de Callias, a writer and journalist on ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'') she hosted one of the most prominent literary and artistic salons of Paris. She was married to de Callias from 1864 to 1868, and had a decade-long love affair (1867-1877) with Charles Cros, whom she inspired to paint ''Coffret de santal''. She is also the ''Dame aux éventails'' by

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

. Guests who attended her salons included

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

, Anatole France, Augusta Holmes,

Stéphane Mallarme Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: *Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer *Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé football player *Stéphane Allagnon, ...

, Manet, Arthur Rimbaud, and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

, among others. By 1869 she was hosting young poets in search of new forms of expression, known collectively as the

Parnassians ''Parnassius'' is a genus of northern circumpolar and montane (alpine and Himalayan) butterflies usually known as Apollos or snow Apollos. They can vary in colour and form significantly based on their altitude. They also show an adaptation to h ...

. She composed works for piano and voice, and contributed two poems to '' Le Parnasse contemporain'' (2nd volume): ''La Jalousie du jeune Dieu'' and ''Tristan & Iseult''. The Franco-Prussian War forced her to flee with her mother to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, where she adopted her mother's maiden name (Villard), and stayed three years before returning in 1873 to re-assume the dissolved artistic circles there. Back in France, she contributed to the collective anthology ''Dixains Réalistes'' and to the circle known as The Hydropaths, a group considered to be a vital link in the development of Symbolism. Her works include:

Piano

*''Fantaisie sur Rigoletto'' *''Nocturne'' *''Romance'' *''Souvenir de Vichy'' *''Valse Brillante''

Prose

*''Feuillets parisiens'', 1885
Gallica
*''La Duchesse Diane'', 1882 *''La Jalousie du jeune Dieu'' *''Tristan & Iseult''

Voice

*"Paroles d'une Rose à un Rayon de Soleil"

External links

*http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Nina_de_Callias

*The Lady with Fans - Nina de Callias, Manet's mode

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callias 1843 births 1884 deaths French women poets 19th-century French women writers 19th-century women writers 19th-century French poets French salon-holders French women classical composers