Fernande Grudet (6 July 1923 – 15 December 2015), also known as Madame Claude, was a French brothel keeper. In the 1960s, she was the head of a French network of

call girls A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.

who worked especially for dignitaries and civil servants.

Biography

Born on 6 July 1923 in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

, France, there are conflicting accounts of Grudet's origins, ranging from an aristocratic father in politics and an education by nuns to a father who ran a small cafe and early work selling food from a pushcart. Another unverified tale about her past includes work as an agent of the French Resistance during the

German Occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

during World War II and imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp. After the war, she worked as a prostitute but claimed she "was never pretty enough" and was better suited to management. By 1961, she had set up what became the most exclusive prostitution network in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

for the next decade. At this time she ran a brothel in the expensive 16th arrondissement of Paris. "There are two things that people will always pay for: food and sex. I wasn't any good at cooking", she is reputed to have said. Her wealthy clientele included political figures and members of the Mafia, and her status as an informant for the police ensured she was protected. Her address book, Grudet claimed, had included the names of the

shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, and

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

, the one-time head of Fiat. In 1976, judge Jean-Louis Bruguière began dismantling Grudet's organization. She was being pursued for unpaid taxes, amounting to 11m francs (around £4.9m), and fled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, but returned to France in 1986, serving a four-month jail sentence. After her release, she attempted to set up a prostitution organization, but in 1992, she was sentenced to a term in

Fleury-Mérogis Prison Fleury-Mérogis Prison (''Maison d'arrêt de Fleury-Mérogis'') is a prison in France, located in the town of Fleury-Mérogis, in the southern suburbs of Paris. With more than 4,100 prisoners, it is the largest prison in France. It is operated b ...

for procuring. Her life was the basis of the feature film '' Madame Claude'' (1977), directed by

Just Jaeckin Just Jaeckin (8 August 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a French film director, photographer, and sculptor. Early life Jaeckin was born in Vichy, Allier, French State during the Second World War, but left with his mother and father for Englan ...

, and starring

Françoise Fabian Michèle Cortes (born 10 May 1933), known professionally as Françoise Fabian (), is a French film actress. She has appeared in more than 100 films since 1956. In 1971, Fabian signed the Manifesto of the 343 The Manifesto of the 343 (), was a F ...

. Grudet died in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

on 19 December 2015. In 2021,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

released another biographical film based on her life titled '' Madame Claude''. She is also namechecked in the

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone ...

song "If It Takes All Night", from their 1974 album '' Country Life''.

Bibliography

* ''Madam'', by Claude Grudet, ed. Michel Lafon (1994): history of Madame Claude by Madame Claude. * ''Les filles de Madame Claude'', by Elizabeth Antébi and Anne Florentin, Stock-Julliard (1974). * ''Madame Claude'', by William Stadiem (2018), St. Martin's Press.

References

External links

''Behind Claude’s Doors''
- 2014 article in Vanity Fair by William Stadiem {{DEFAULTSORT:Claude, Madame 1923 births 2015 deaths People from Angers French expatriates in the United States French white-collar criminals French autobiographers French brothel owners and madams French female criminals French Resistance members