Thérésa (born Désirée Emma Valladon but cited simply as Emma Valladon; 7 September 1836 — 14 May 1913) was a French singer. She often worked with

Suzanne Lagier Suzanne Lagier (30 November 1833 – 1893) was a French theatre actress and an opera singer. She often performed with Thérésa and made many appearances in Paris and Saint Petersburg. Biography Lagier was born in Dunkirk on 30 Novembe ...

and had cartoons (

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s) drawn by

André Gill André Gill (17 October 1840 – 1 May 1885) was a French caricaturist. Born Louis-Alexandre Gosset de Guînes at Paris, the son of the Comte de Guînes and Sylvie-Adeline Gosset, Gill studied at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. ...

of her for the newspaper ''

La Lune ''La Lune'' ("The Moon") was the name of a nineteenth-century French weekly four-sheet newspaper edited by Francis Polo. The illustrator André Gill became known for his work for this journal, in which he drew caricatures for a series entitled ...

''.

Biography

Désirée Emma Valladon (but often cited simply as Emma Valladon) was born the daughter of a musician in

La Bazoche-Gouet La Bazoche-Gouet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure-et-Loir department The following is a list of the 363 communes of the Eure-et-Loir department of France. The ...

in the

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.department of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the Regions of France, administrative regions a ...

on 7 September 1836. As a child, Valladon dreamt of being a singer but began her career working in fashion studios. She began her singing career by performing in small

café chantant A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

s (cafe concerts) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, such as in the

Café Moka A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin () is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to hou ...

and the Café des Giants, enjoying modest success. During a Christmas show, Valladon was noticed by Arsène Goubert, the director of the café chantant Alcazar, who offered her three hundred

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

s to sing there; at this she began to use the stage name Thérésa. Within a month of her arrival at the Alcazar, Thérésa enjoyed great success both with the public and critics, and also later went to perform in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia. She often worked with

and in the case of "El", they were appreciated by the public but not the critics. Increasing her popularity, Thérésa was depicted in several cartoons (caricatures) by

in the newspaper ''

''. From 1867 to 1869, she took a break from singing as a result of

laryngitis Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box). Symptoms often include a hoarse voice and may include fever, cough, pain in the front of the neck, and trouble swallowing. Typically, these last under 2 weeks. Causes Laryngitis is cat ...

, which made her lose her voice, but then returned with the "popular" ''Les canards tyroliens''. Some of her most successful songs' choruses were sung by many people, including ''La gardeuse d'ours del'' (1863), ''Rien n'est sacré pour un sapeur!'' (1864) and ''La femme à barbe del'' (1865). She was "admired" by

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (; 14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier ...

Pauline von Metternich Pauline Clémentine Marie Walburga, Princess of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (''née'' Countess Pauline Sándor de Szlavnicza; 25 February 1836 – 28 September 1921) was an Austrians, Austrian socialite, mainly active in Vienna and Paris. Kn ...

and

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

. She was financially very successful; earning around 100,000 francs a year. She retired in 1893, but returned to the stage for an evening to perform

Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th century entertainment establishment in the Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by impresario Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897 not long ...

the following year. She retired for good in 1895 when she went to live in

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

, where she died in 1913. She was buried at

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

Caricatures

Thérésa Gill 1866.jpg, Caricature by

(1866). Thérésa Gill 1867.jpg, Caricature by André Gill (1867). Thérésa Gill 1869.jpg, Caricature by André Gill (1869). Thérésa Gill 1873.jpg, Caricature by André Gill (1873). Thérésa 1874.jpg, Caricature by André Gill (1874). Touchatout - Le Trombinoscope, Num. 73 (portrait).jpg, Caricature dans ''Le Trombinoscope'' de

Touchatout Léon-Charles Bienvenu (25 March 1835, in Paris – January 1911, in Paris) was a French journalist and writer known for his satires on political and social life during the Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the Frenc ...

(1873). Thérésa Moloch 1874.jpg, Caricature par

Moloch Moloch, Molech, or Molek is a word which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the Book of Leviticus. The Greek Septuagint translates many of these instances as "their king", but maintains the word or name ''Moloch'' in others, ...

(1874)

References

Sources

de Thérésa, écrits par elle-même'', Paris, E. Dentu éditeur, 1865 (sur Gallica)
*''Thérésa et ses chansons'', Paris, Le Bailly éditeur, 1866 * Jacqueline Blanche, ''Thérésa, première idole de la chanson française (1837-1913)'', La Fresnay-sur-Chedouet, 1981. * Pierre-Robert Leclercq, ''Thérésa, la diva du ruisseau'', Paris, A. Carrière, impr., 2006.

External links

Documents iconographiques sur Gallica

Caricatures de Thérésa (Banque d'images de l'université de Heidelberg)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theresa People from Eure-et-Loir French women singers 1836 births 1913 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery