d'Alençon, Émilienne

COURTESAN, DANCER, ACTOR (FRANCE)
BORN 18 Jul 1870, Paris - DIED 14 Feb 1945, Monte Carlo, Monaco
BIRTH NAME André, Émilienne Marie
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière des Batignolles, 8 rue Saint-Just (division 01, ligne 1, numéro 19 (Normand mausoleum))

Émilienne d'Alençon was born Émilienne Marie André. Her mother was a janitor at the rue des Martyrs in Paris. When she was fifteen years old she ran away from home with a gypsy violinist. She debuted as a dancer in 1889 and from 1889 to 1892 she had an affair with Duke Jacques d'Uzès who wanted to marry her. His family objected and sent him to Congo, where he died in 1893. Another lover was Étienne Balsan and she had also relations with Leopold II of Belgium and the Prince of Wales. She, Liane de Pougy and Caroline Otero were nicknamed Three Graces of the Belle Époque.

There were rumours of affairs with La Goulue (in 1889) and Renée Vivien (1908) and also with Liane de Pougy. In 1905 she married the jockey Percy Woodland (1882-1958). She left the stage in 1906 and invested in horse racing. In 1922 she almost died of a flying accident. By 1931 she had gambled her fortune away and her expensive posessions were sold at the Hotel Drouet. After her death in Monaco in 1945 she was buried in Paris.

Related persons
• was the lover of Leopold II, king of Belgium
• was photographed by Nadar

Images

The grave of Émilienne d'Alençon at the Cimetière des Batignolles, Paris.
Picture by Androom (02 Nov 2017)

 

The grave of Émilienne d'Alençon at the Cimetière des Batignolles, Paris.
Picture by Androom (02 Nov 2017)

 

Sources
Émilienne d'Alençon — Wikipédia


Dalida

Published: 08 Aug 2021
Last update: 24 Feb 2022