I’ve already mentioned that I recently launched a new guided tour project : "The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans” As usual, it exists in two versions — Russian and English.
While preparing it, I couldn’t avoid the classic stories. First and foremost, the Marquise de Païva. She was born in 1819 in Moscow under the name Esther Lachmann, into a tailor’s family. Yet by the mid-19th century, Miss Lachmann had become one of the leading figures of Parisian high-end demi-monde. This was largely thanks to a выгодный marriage with a certain Albino Araújo de Païva. He styled himself a marquis (not Karabas!!), but apparently made his fortune exporting narcotics from Macau.
Marquise de Païva
Having obtained from this wealthy magnate a noble title — fake, but still a title (and who was going to check?) — de Païva separated from him and grew close to a handsome 23-year-old prince, Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck. Thanks to this (genuinely noble) man, the brilliant courtesan settled in a luxurious mansion on the Champs-Élysées.
By the way, while I’m at it, I’d like to wish Esther’s relatives — and everyone else — a happy upcoming Passover on April 1. Eat matzah, remember the Exodus from Egypt, and hope for the best. What else can we do?
Of course, the tour also features the story of Alphonsine Plessis, who burned brightly and faded quickly. She became the prototype for Marguerite Gautier in the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils — and, of course, later for Violetta in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.
Alphonsine Plessis / Marie Duplessis
But we will also remember a woman who can truly be called a courtesan-partisan. And that is… Marthe Richard.
She was born in the late 19th century in Nancy (Lorraine), then still under the surname Betenfeld. Fate, much like in the case of the Marquise de Païva, seemed to offer her a dazzling career as a seamstress in a cheap workshop. However, like de Païva, Marthe decided to radically change her life.
At first, this turning point promised nothing spectacular. She became a prostitute in a soldiers’ brothel. Her life also included police arrests for “immorality” and even various unpleasant diseases.
In Paris, she worked not far from where the “Lady of the Camellias” had lived — just a few hundred meters from the Madeleine Church. In 1907, her life changed dramatically when she met businessman Henri Richer. She broke with her “shameful” (though, really, what’s so shameful?) past, moved to the bourgeois 6th arrondissement near Odéon, and began life as a society lady.
Marthe Richard
Her husband fully supported her unexpected passion for aviation, and by 1913 she had obtained a pilot’s license. She joined an aeroclub and carried out various record flights. In 1914, World War I began. Monsieur Richer went to the front and was killed. She became a second Mata Hari — but unlike the first, she survived the war and in 1933 was awarded the Legion of Honour.
During World War II, Marthe Richard, refusing to accept the occupation of France, responded to the call of Charles de Gaulle and joined the Resistance. She sheltered French underground fighters and Allied paratroopers. In 1944, she took part in the Liberation of Paris and later received a letter of thanks from Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In 1945, she was elected to the municipal council of the 4th arrondissement, part of which is now home to Paris’s modern gay district, the Marais.
Once in office, Marthe Richard — who had herself worked in brothels — launched a fierce campaign against them. Her efforts were successful: in 1946, brothels were banned in France. Nearly 1,400 establishments were closed across the country, including almost 200 in Paris. However, many of them soon reopened under the guise of hourly hotels. It is also worth noting that the ban targeted the establishments themselves: prostitution as an activity was not outlawed.