Croizette, Sophie

ACTOR (FRANCE)
BORN 7 Mar 1847, St. Petersburg - DIED 19 Jan 1901, Paris
BIRTH NAME Croisette, Sophie Alexandrine
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Passy Cimetière, 2 Rue du Commandant Schloesing (division 08, 1e ligne Nord, numéro 1 Ouest)

Sophie Croizette was born in Russia of French parents. Her mother Louise Carbonna Croizette was a dancer at the Marinsky theatre in St. Petersburg. In her youth she became friends with Sarah Bernhardt, who described her as gay and talkative.

From 1868 until 1882 she was engaged at the Comédie Française. She became its 296th sociétaire in 1873. Her biggest success was the part of Blanche in "Le Sphinx" (1873) by Ostave Feuillet. Sarah Bernhardt played the part of Berthe de Savigny and the public divided themselves between Croizettists and Bernhardtists. The two stars remained on friendly terms and Bernhardt wrote in her memoirs that they were amused by it. In 1873 she played Suzanne in "Le Mariage de Figaro" next to Bernhardt who played Cherubin. In 1882 she left the stage. On 5 August 1885 she married the rich banker Jacques Stern (1839-1902). He was the son of Antoine Stern (1805-1888) who founded a bank in Frankfurt am Main. Stern had been her lover for a long time and they already had a son, Michel (1877-1902).

Her sister Pauline (1839-1912) married the painter Carolus Duran, who painted Sophie's portrait.

Related persons
• was a friend of Bernhardt, Sarah
• was photographed by Nadar

Images

The grave of Sophie Croizette at Passy Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (18 May 2005)

 

Drawing of Sophie Croizette in The Illustrated London News.
(1879)

 

The grave of Sophie Croizette at the Passy cemetery, Paris.
Picture by Androom (29 Mar 2010)

 

Sources
• Beyern, Bertrand, Guide des tombes d'hommes célèbres, Le Cherche Midi, Paris, 2003
Sophie Croizette — Wikipédia


Crookes, William

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 30 Jan 2024