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Julie Talma
Julie Talma, born Louise-Julie Careau (8 January 1756 – 5 May 1805), was a French dancer at the Paris Opera who became a courtesan in the years before the French Revolution. She had three sons by three different fathers. She used the gifts from her protectors to make a small fortune in real estate speculation. She married the well-known tragic actor François-Joseph Talma a few days before giving birth to twin sons. Her husband was unfaithful and ruined her. They separated and eventually divorced. Julie Talma was charming, intelligent, strong-willed, rational and a firm republican. She held an influential salon before and during the revolution and at the start of Napoleon's rise to power, and became a close friend of Benjamin Constant. Their lengthy correspondence has been preserved.
Louise-Julie Carreau was born on 8 January 1756. Her mother was Marie Careau. Her father, Francois Pioch de Pézenas, did not recognise her until much later. Julie's mother abandoned her when she was very young. Pierre Gueullette de Maucroix, the king's adviser-in-Council of the Indies, rescued her from the streets. He taught her to read and write, taught her polite manners and after two years enrolled her in the Opera's ballet corps. As a dancer she performed in Jean-Philippe Rameau's ballet Castor et Pollux.
Julie Carreau became the mistress of François-Antoine de Flandre de Brunville, with whom she had a son, Alexis-Pierre-Louis (1777). She was then the mistress of the viscount Joseph Alexandre de Ségur, who established her in a private mansion and with whom she had another son, Alexandre-Félix Ségur (1781–1805). Ségur, who loved her, thought she would be the Ninon de l'Enclos of the 18th century. Finally she was the mistress of a M. Saint-Léger, who gave her a third son, Jules. All of her sons would die during her lifetime.
Julie Carreau used the money from her protectors in real estate speculation in the Chaussée d'Antin district, with architects such as Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart and Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and made a small fortune. She bought a town house on the Rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin in 1776. In 1781 the architect François-Victor Perrard de Montreuil sold her the Hôtel de Ségur, the house on the Rue Chantereine where Ségur had installed her. Julie Carreau held a salon in this house. Her private room was decorated with an anonymous frieze that represented the Arts, the Muses, Apollo, Venus and Cupid.
In 1787 Julie Carreau met François-Joseph Talma (1763–1826), an actor who had just started at the Comédie-Française, and they began an affair. Talma gave his support to the French Revolution in 1789, causing a split in the Comédie-Française. He took several leading democratic actors with him, including Monvel (Jacques Marie Boutet), Rose Vestris and Amélie-Julie Candeille. Juie became pregnant and the couple decided to marry. They had difficulty finding a priest who would perform the ceremony since Talma insisted on giving his profession as an actor, a sinful occupation, and therefore could not receive communion. After several months the vicar of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette agreed to marry them as long as Talma registered as a bourgeois of Paris rather than an actor. They married on 19 April 1791. François-Michel Talma, a dentist who was the actor's brother, was the witness.
On 30 April, twelve days after the ceremony, Julie gave birth to twin sons. The next day the infants were baptised Henri-Castor and Charles-Pollux. Another child was born, named Tell, who died on 31 May 1794. François-Joseph Talma met the actress Charlotte Vanhove, wife of the orchestra musician Louis-Sébastien Olympe Petit. They started an affair, and in 1794 Charlotte divorced her husband. During the 1790s Talma ran through his wife's fortune, but it was not until 1801 that François-Joseph and Julie Talma divorced by mutual consent. François-Joseph married Charlotte Vanhove the next year.
"Mlle Julie" was far from an ordinary courtesan, and her drawing room soon became a bureau d'esprit, a place of intellectual discussion. Although Julie was not outstandingly beautiful, she was very charming and had a strong character. Alexander von Humboldt met her and said she clearly had more wit than other French women and was very patriotic. Julie had great respect for Mirabeau. After the publication of Mirabeau's letters, she remarked, "Infatuated friends—Mirabeau at their head—gave me the flattering nickname Aspasia. That was at the time [Nicolas] Chamfort was smitten by a terrible fever of love I had sparked in him, without the least intention of doing so." Mirabeau died at Julie Talma's house on the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin on 2 April 1791.
The meetings organized by Madame de Lameth, Madame de Montmorin and Madame de Staël, and those held in the homes of Lucile Duplessis and Julie Talma, continued to play an essential role in the society of Paris after the revolution. Thomas Okey wrote,
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Julie Talma
Julie Talma, born Louise-Julie Careau (8 January 1756 – 5 May 1805), was a French dancer at the Paris Opera who became a courtesan in the years before the French Revolution. She had three sons by three different fathers. She used the gifts from her protectors to make a small fortune in real estate speculation. She married the well-known tragic actor François-Joseph Talma a few days before giving birth to twin sons. Her husband was unfaithful and ruined her. They separated and eventually divorced. Julie Talma was charming, intelligent, strong-willed, rational and a firm republican. She held an influential salon before and during the revolution and at the start of Napoleon's rise to power, and became a close friend of Benjamin Constant. Their lengthy correspondence has been preserved.
Louise-Julie Carreau was born on 8 January 1756. Her mother was Marie Careau. Her father, Francois Pioch de Pézenas, did not recognise her until much later. Julie's mother abandoned her when she was very young. Pierre Gueullette de Maucroix, the king's adviser-in-Council of the Indies, rescued her from the streets. He taught her to read and write, taught her polite manners and after two years enrolled her in the Opera's ballet corps. As a dancer she performed in Jean-Philippe Rameau's ballet Castor et Pollux.
Julie Carreau became the mistress of François-Antoine de Flandre de Brunville, with whom she had a son, Alexis-Pierre-Louis (1777). She was then the mistress of the viscount Joseph Alexandre de Ségur, who established her in a private mansion and with whom she had another son, Alexandre-Félix Ségur (1781–1805). Ségur, who loved her, thought she would be the Ninon de l'Enclos of the 18th century. Finally she was the mistress of a M. Saint-Léger, who gave her a third son, Jules. All of her sons would die during her lifetime.
Julie Carreau used the money from her protectors in real estate speculation in the Chaussée d'Antin district, with architects such as Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart and Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and made a small fortune. She bought a town house on the Rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin in 1776. In 1781 the architect François-Victor Perrard de Montreuil sold her the Hôtel de Ségur, the house on the Rue Chantereine where Ségur had installed her. Julie Carreau held a salon in this house. Her private room was decorated with an anonymous frieze that represented the Arts, the Muses, Apollo, Venus and Cupid.
In 1787 Julie Carreau met François-Joseph Talma (1763–1826), an actor who had just started at the Comédie-Française, and they began an affair. Talma gave his support to the French Revolution in 1789, causing a split in the Comédie-Française. He took several leading democratic actors with him, including Monvel (Jacques Marie Boutet), Rose Vestris and Amélie-Julie Candeille. Juie became pregnant and the couple decided to marry. They had difficulty finding a priest who would perform the ceremony since Talma insisted on giving his profession as an actor, a sinful occupation, and therefore could not receive communion. After several months the vicar of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette agreed to marry them as long as Talma registered as a bourgeois of Paris rather than an actor. They married on 19 April 1791. François-Michel Talma, a dentist who was the actor's brother, was the witness.
On 30 April, twelve days after the ceremony, Julie gave birth to twin sons. The next day the infants were baptised Henri-Castor and Charles-Pollux. Another child was born, named Tell, who died on 31 May 1794. François-Joseph Talma met the actress Charlotte Vanhove, wife of the orchestra musician Louis-Sébastien Olympe Petit. They started an affair, and in 1794 Charlotte divorced her husband. During the 1790s Talma ran through his wife's fortune, but it was not until 1801 that François-Joseph and Julie Talma divorced by mutual consent. François-Joseph married Charlotte Vanhove the next year.
"Mlle Julie" was far from an ordinary courtesan, and her drawing room soon became a bureau d'esprit, a place of intellectual discussion. Although Julie was not outstandingly beautiful, she was very charming and had a strong character. Alexander von Humboldt met her and said she clearly had more wit than other French women and was very patriotic. Julie had great respect for Mirabeau. After the publication of Mirabeau's letters, she remarked, "Infatuated friends—Mirabeau at their head—gave me the flattering nickname Aspasia. That was at the time [Nicolas] Chamfort was smitten by a terrible fever of love I had sparked in him, without the least intention of doing so." Mirabeau died at Julie Talma's house on the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin on 2 April 1791.
The meetings organized by Madame de Lameth, Madame de Montmorin and Madame de Staël, and those held in the homes of Lucile Duplessis and Julie Talma, continued to play an essential role in the society of Paris after the revolution. Thomas Okey wrote,
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