Aimée Crocker
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Aimée Isabella Crocker (December 5, 1864 – February 7, 1941) was an American mystic,
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...
, author, and member of the wealthy
Crocker family The Crocker family was a wealthy American family based in California. Its fortune was primarily earned through the entrepreneurship of Charles Crocker, a tycoon who co-founded the Central Pacific Railroad and acquired a controlling interest in t ...
. She was known for her cultural exploration of the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
, for her extravagant parties in San Francisco, New York and Paris, and her collections of husbands and lovers, adopted children,
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
s, pearls, tattoos, and snakes.


Early life and family

Crocker was born Amy Isabella Crocker on December 5, 1864, in
Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
, to Judge
Edwin B. Crocker Edwin Bryant Crocker (26 April 1818 – 24 June 1875) was a California Supreme Court Justice and founder of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California. Biography Crocker was born in Jamesville, New York, to Isaac and Elizabeth Crocker. He ...
and his second wife Margaret (née Rhodes). Crocker was the sixth child in a family of four girls, two boys, and a half sister. Three of the children died young. She was the younger sister of Jennie Louise Crocker Fassett, who was the wife of NY Congressman
Jacob Sloat Fassett Jacob Sloat Fassett (November 13, 1853 – April 21, 1924) was a businessman, lawyer, and member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. Early life He was born on November 13, 1853, in Elmira, New York, the son of Newton Po ...
. Crocker's father was the chief legal counsel for the
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete most of the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North Americ ...
and was one of its principal investors along with Mark Hopkins,
Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...
,
Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...
and brother
Charles Crocker Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...
, also known as The Big Four. Together they built the western portion of the world's
first transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...
. Edwin served briefly as Chief Justice of California. Crocker's mother Margaret is also known for founding Sacramento's
Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...
, the longest continuously operating art museum in the West with, for a time, the largest private collection in the country. Crocker was the first cousin of
William Henry Crocker William Henry Crocker I (January 13, 1861 – September 25, 1937) was a member of the wealthy Crocker family and a prominent member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Over the course of his business career, he became the pr ...
, humanitarian and president of three West Coast institutions: the Crocker Bank (once the fourteenth largest bank in the nation), the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
Board of Regents, and the
California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...
. When much of the city of San Francisco was destroyed by the fire from the 1906 earthquake, William Crocker and his bank were major forces in financing reconstruction. William's wife Ethel was one of the leading California patrons of French
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
art. Crocker's grandson Gerald Russell was a naturalist, an adventurer and a
cryptozoologist Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness M ...
who headed several very well publicized expeditions including the
Percy Sladen Walter Percy Sladen (30 June 1849 – 11 June 1900) was an English biologist who specialised in starfish. The son of a wealthy leather merchant, Sladen was born near Halifax, Yorkshire on 30 June 1849. He was educated at Hipperholme Grammar Sch ...
Expedition to Africa, where in the high forests of the British Cameroons, he reportedly encountered a large unclassified animal
Mokèlé-mbèmbé In several Bantu mythologies, mokele-mbembe (also written as "mokèlé-mbèmbé") is a mythical water-dwelling entity that is believed to exist in the Congo River Basin. It is variously described as a reptilian creature, a spirit, or a member ...
, and the Ruth Harkness Asiatic Expedition to Tibet, where he captured the first live giant panda. Russell also led two expeditions in the Himalayas in search of a yeti—the Daily Mail Expedition of 1954 and the Slick Johnson Snowman Expedition of 1958. In 1875, the ten-year-old Crocker inherited $10 million (approximately $ today) when her father "E.B." died. In 1880, her mother Margaret decided to send the boy-crazy Amy to a finishing school in Dresden, Germany. There she was presented at court and had her first love affair and engagement with Prince Alexander of Saxe Weimar. Crocker broke off the engagement and quickly had a brief entanglement with a Spanish bullfighter. In 1883, Crocker made headlines when she was traveling to Los Angeles on her honeymoon with first husband Porter Ashe. The train carrying the eloping couple broke loose at the summit of a hill in Tehachapi, killing twenty-one people and seriously injuring another twelve. Ashe, whose forefathers had given their name to
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...
and whose uncle was the great
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
Admiral
David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first Rear admiral (United States), rear admiral, Vice admiral (United State ...
, was credited with pulling people to safety. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that Ashe “exhibited a great deal of cool heroism at the burning of the cars. After drawing his wife and her maid through the window of the sleeper, he rescued ex-California Governor John G. Downey from between broken timbers, and saved his life.” Not long after the birth of their daughter, Alma, Crocker and Ashe's marriage collapsed. Ashe plunged into a score of speculations, none of which proved successful. He spent a small fortune on horse racing studs, and then sold off many of them to settle gambling debts. His friendship with actress
Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...
was the source of much gossip. The breakup of Crocker's first marriage became a national scandal after Porter and his brother, Sidney, kidnapped Alma in Los Angeles, while Crocker and her mother attended a wedding. Charges and counter charges made daily news during the custody battle. Courthouse proceedings attracted a crowd of hundreds. In spite of Ashe's reputation as a notorious gambler, his kidnapping charge and a weapons charge, he was awarded sole custody of Alma. Crocker was considered the more unsettled of the pair. The child was later adopted by Crocker's mother who changed her name to Gladys.


Family tree


Life in the Far East

After the public humiliation of losing her child to her ex-husband, Crocker decided to accept an invitation that she had received years earlier by
King Kalākaua King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...
to tour Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands. Kalākaua was so enamored of Crocker that he gave her one of his islands and an official title: Princess Palaikalani—Bliss of Heaven. She found an occasional traveling companion in her second husband, Henry Mansfield Gillig, whom she married in 1889. Gillig was a Navy
commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...
, a
prestidigitator Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card fl ...
, and a respected amateur
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
singer who cultivated his voice under the Polish master
Jean de Reszke Jean de Reszke (born Jan Mieczysław Reszke; 14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish dramatic tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a wealthy Polish family with classical and operatic musical traditions. His mother gave him his first singing ...
. Crocker's 1936 autobiography, ''And I'd Do It Again'', chronicles many adventures the heiress had while touring the Far East, sometimes with Gillig and sometimes traveling alone including: an escape from headhunters in
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
, a poisoning in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
; a murder attempt by knife-throwing servants in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
; three weeks in the harem of Bhurlana (She claimed to be the first English speaking woman who had ever seen the inside of a harem); a search for
Kaivalya Kaivalya () is the ultimate goal of aṣṭāṅga yoga and means "solitude", "detachment" or "isolation", a -derivation from "alone, isolated". It is the isolation of purusha from prakṛti, and liberation from rebirth, i.e., moksha. is describ ...
(Liberation) at the cave of the Great Yogin Bhojaveda in
Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
; and two bizarre sensual experiences, one with an Indian
boa constrictor The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also known as the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the Family (b ...
, and another with a Chinese violin in "the House of the Ivory Panels." After touring off and on in “the Orient” for over six years she began appearing at social events in San Francisco and New York sporting tattoos, wearing snakes around her neck at parties and declaring her love for the
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
. Crocker also wrote about her Far East adventures in a book of short stories published in 1910, ''Moon Madness and Other Fantasies,'' which her publisher called "arabesques" and she described as "memoirs in fiction form." During her marriage to Gillig, Crocker had several affairs with powerful Asian men, which were chronicled in her memoirs. She had a three-year affair with literary genius and columnist
Edgar Saltus Edgar Evertson Saltus (October 8, 1855 – July 31, 1921) was an American writer known for his highly refined prose style. His works paralleled those by European decadent authors such as Joris-Karl Huysmans, Gabriele D'Annunzio and Oscar Wilde. ...
, an internationally known figure of the
Decadent movement The Decadent movement (from the French language, French ''décadence'', ) was a late 19th-century Art movement, artistic and literary movement, literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artif ...
. Saltus wrote books about Honore de Balzac and the philosophy of
Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...
. He wrote two well received historical novels about the debauchery of the Roman emperors and the Russian czars. Saltus also wrote a tome about the history of atheism. He later became a
theosophist Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...
.


Life in New York

Crocker met her third husband, songwriter Jackson Gouraud, at a Buddhist colony that she organized (said to be the first in Manhattan). Gouraud wrote the
ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...
melodies “Keep Your Eye on Your Friend, Mr. Johnson,” “She's a 'Spectable Married Colored Lady,” “I'se Workin'—I'se Hustlin,” “He's My Soft Shell Crab on Toast,” and “My Jetney Queen.” He set the town singing with the broadly comic number-one hit of his song writing career, “Waldorf-Hyphen-Astoria.” Marrying a showman was controversial at the time to her family and peers as Jackson was considered an "upper servant" at best and beneath the dignity of New York high society. Jackson's father, George Edward Gouraud, was himself an internationally known figure who acted as an agent for
Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
in Europe. He helped found the Edison Telephone Company of London, and a number of European companies using Edison's technology. Crocker and Gouraud adopted three children, Reginald, Yvonne and Dolores (she would later adopt another daughter, Yolanda), and acquired numerous bulldogs. The couple lived in Oriental-themed homes in Manhattan and on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. They also had tattoos of each other's initials inscribed inside coiling snakes. Crocker then reunited with her daughter, Gladys, who went on to marry Gouraud's brother, Powers, making her daughter (who was already legally her sister) a sister-in-law. The couple became well known Broadway “First Nighters” attending all of the opening nights of the biggest plays at the grandest theaters. Crocker befriended all of the popular performers of the era including
Anna Held Helene Anna Held (19 March 1872 – 12 August 1918) was a Polish-born French stage performer of Jewish origin on Broadway. While appearing in London, she was spotted by impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who brought her to America as his common-law ...
,
David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...
, John Drew, and the
Barrymore family The Barrymore family, and the related Drew family, form a British–American acting dynasty that traces its acting roots to the mid-19th-century London stage. After migrating across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, members of the family ...
. Her good friend, Italian tenor
Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...
, often visited and sometimes performed at her New York homes. Crocker would eventually be invited to play herself on Broadway at the grand opening of the
Folies Bergère 150px, Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg">Walery, 1927 The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the arc ...
Theater in Rennold Wolf's
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
“profane satire” piece ''Hell'', with music by
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
. Another Aimée Crocker-inspired character would turn up in a modern society comedy "The Lassoo," by Victor Mapes, a few years later at the Lyceum. Broadway legend
George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
wrote a comedy "Broadway Jones," and a musical "Billie," with an Aimée Crocker character. The Gourauds made headlines in the early 1900s when their lavish mansion on
Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...
burned to the ground, and when, on another occasion, several of Crocker's prize winning French bulldogs were poisoned. The power couple was known to go on "slumming" tours through the dregs of lower New York City with good friend and self-proclaimed mayor of
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
Chuck Connors, whom Crocker claimed silently ruled the underworld. Around this time, Crocker began hosting lavish parties that shocked and embarrassed New York's conservative upper crust. She threw a
Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...
-themed party in Parisian treetops in 1905. At a country circus party at the
Hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...
, then the largest theater in New York, she appeared as a dairy maid and arrived on the back of an elephant. Her co-host that evening was the legendary scallywag/carnival barker
Wilson Mizner Wilson Mizner ( ) (May 19, 1876 – April 3, 1933) was an American playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur. His best-known plays are '' The Deep Purple'', produced in 1910, and '' The Greyhound'', produced in 1911. He was manager and co-owner o ...
, who would later become a co-owner of the
Brown Derby Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chai ...
restaurants in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. Crocker knew the Mizner family from her San Francisco days and was linked romantically in print to Wilson's brother Lans. Another memorable appearance was as
Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
,
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
's mistress, in a costume party in Paris, and yet another gala that she hosted where her pet boa constrictor, Kaa, was the guest of honor. Crocker's crowning achievement as “Entertainer of Entertainers,” which received press all over the world, would be “The Dance of All Nations.” The program that evening featured the very frank “Salome” dance, the curious Vienna Viggle, and the “cannibal” dancer Dogmeena, whose costume consisted of coconut oil and a red sash, and who enthusiastically danced in La Danse des Igorrotes. Crocker, appearing in pearls “that would clothe a baby and ransom a king,” delighted the company when she danced La Madrilena, an
Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a Time signature, or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in pat ...
(then denounced and forbidden by the Catholic Church) with one of her most recent admirers. A little later, with a twelve-foot snake twined round her neck, she appeared in La Danse de Cobra. When her guests backed away from the snake's emerald eyes and darting tongue, she exclaimed, “It's as gentle as a powder puff." Because of her frenetic and lascivious lifestyle, Crocker was shunned by much of New York society including some members of her extended family. The public, however, was mesmerized by her. ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' named her "The Most Fascinating Woman of Her Age" and "The Queen of Bohemia." The Bohemian set in New York worshiped her. They were spellbound by the adventurous stories of the well-traveled heiress. They were impressed by her bevy of young male admirers. They were inspired by the guest lists at her gatherings, which were brimming with both illustrious and infamous merrymakers. She sometimes co-hosted events with Bohemian artist friend Edmund Russell, a well-known " Delsartean" lifestyle coach, an actor, an apostle of Madame
Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian-born Mysticism, mystic and writer who emigrated to the United States where she co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an internat ...
, and Aimée Crocker's portrait painter.


Later years

In 1910, Gouraud died of an acute attack of tonsillitis. The devastated heiress was hospitalized in Paris. Later that year, a publicity tour for her first book catapulted her into the spotlight. For the next 20 years she was America's most eccentric personality whose every move made headlines. She changed the spelling of her name from “Amy” to “Aimée” for the book and moved her children to an estate in Paris dubbed “The House of Fantasy.” Crocker would live off and on for the next 27 years in the City of Light, throwing sensational and neurotic parties and housing young artists and exiled Russian nobles. She briefly lived in an artist colony at
Hôtel Biron The Hôtel Biron (), known initially as the Hôtel Peyrenc-de-Moras and later as the Hôtel du Maine, is an located at 77 rue de Varenne, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, that was built from 1727 to 1732, to the designs of the architect Jean ...
whose other residents included
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
,
Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
,
Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...
and
Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American-born dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. Bor ...
. After Gouraud's death, Crocker was romantically linked to many high-profile men, including: Eduardo García-Mansilla, the great Argentinean musician, composer and diplomat, with whom she wrote a song, ''Mon Amour''; operatic baritone Genia D'Agarioff, credited with being the first to sing in the Russian language in London and Paris; composer, performer, designer, director, and arranger Melville Ellis; Jacques Lebaudy, the self-proclaimed "Emperor of the Sahara"; and legendary French actor
Édouard de Max Édouard Alexandre de Max (born Eduard-Alexandru Max Romalo; 14 February 1869 – 28 October 1924) was a Romanian actor who became a star in Parisian theatre. As a student at the Paris Conservatoire he won prizes for tragedy and comedy, but it was ...
, “The Most Beautiful Man in Paris.” Another notable suitor during this period was famous ceremonial magician, occultist, Tantra master and hedonist
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
, who wrote about their memorable decade-long affair in graphic detail in his journals. He proposed marriage to Crocker nearly every time he saw her or wrote to her. Though she kept the name Gouraud for the rest of her life, Crocker went on to marry and divorce two more times, both to Russian princes decades younger than herself. Her fourth husband, Alexander Miskinoff, caused a stir on two continents when he was accused of having an extramarital affair with Crocker's then 15-year-old adopted daughter, Yvonne. Aimée would marry her fifth and final husband, Prince
Mstislav Galitzine Mstislav Galitzine, Count Osterman (21 January 1899-28 February 1966), was a Russian prince belonging to the House of Golitsyn. Life Mstislav Galitzine was born in Kyiv as the son of Alexander Mstislavovich Golitsyn and Anastasia Aleksandrovn ...
, when she was 61 and he was 26. When asked by a friend who lost count of her marriages whether Mstislav was her fifth or sixth husband, she said, “The prince is my twelfth husband if I include in my matrimonial list seven Oriental husbands, not registered under the laws of the Occident.”


Death

File:Gravesite of EB Crocker & Family.jpg, Crocker Family Gravesite File:Aimee crocker gouraud grave.jpg, Aimée Crocker Gouraud grave File:Aimee Crocker grave.jpg, Crocker's urn as well as those of her husband Jackson Gouraud and her daughter Yolanda were stolen. Her daughter's urn was recovered and is in storage. Crocker died on February 7, 1941. She was interred in the Crocker family plot along with her third husband, Jackson, and two of her daughters in the
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery (or Old City Cemetery), located at 1000 Broadway, at 10th Street, is the oldest existing cemetery in Sacramento, California. It was designed to resemble a Victorian garden and sections that are not locat ...
. The brass urns holding both her ashes and the ashes of her third husband, Jackson Gouraud, were stolen.


References


Further reading

* Taylor, Kevin (2017). ''Aimée Crocker: Queen of Bohemia'', Los Angeles: City of Angels Books. *


External links


www.aimeecrocker.com

The Exhausting and Exhilarating Tale of Aimée Crocker by Libby Purves
at the-tls.co.uk
Meet Aimée Crocker: Sacramento's Bohemian Princess & ArtMix Muse
at the
Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Aimee 1863 births 1941 deaths 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers American art collectors American women art collectors American Buddhists American expatriates in France 20th-century American memoirists American socialites American women poets American women short story writers Writers from Sacramento, California Crocker family American women memoirists 20th-century American Buddhists