Pélissier, Olympe |
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BORN 9 May 1799, Paris - DIED 22 Mar 1878, Paris BIRTH NAME Descuilliers, Olympe Louise Alexandrine GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 04, avenue Principale, ligne 01 (Rossini chapel)) |
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Olympe Pélissier was the daughter of an unmarried mother who later married a man named Joseph Pélissier. Her mother offered her to a young duke who installed her in a small house. After he contracted a venereal disease, he gave her up and another man took his place. She made herself independent from her mother and had further lovers. She held a salon in Paris, where she was visited and admired by Émile de Giardin and Baron Jean Georges Schikler. In 1829 she posed for Horace Vernet's painting "Judith et Holopherne". She was his lover as well. In 1830 she had an affair with the writer Eugène Sue. He introduced her to Honoré de Balzac and an affair with Balzac followed later that year. After a year she their relationship and he called her 'an evil courtesan'' afterwards. He based his character Fedora in "La Peau de chagrin" (1831) on her. Further lovers were Alfred d'Orsay and Vincenzo Bellini. She continued her affair with Sue until she met Gioachino Rossini, who had left his first wife Isabella Colbran in 1830. She lived with him and took care of his affairs. In 1836 they moved to Bologna where they lived in separate houses to keep up appearances. In Bologna she met Rossini's first wife Isabella Colbran. In 1837 she convinced him to move to Milan. They held musical evenings on Fridays that were frequented by Franz Liszt, but Marie d'Agoult noticed that women of standing stayed away from them. After Isabella died in 1845, they married on 16 August 1846. They left Bologna at the time of the uprisings of 1848 and went to Florence. They lived there for seven years. Rossini's health declined and she nursed him for years. She wanted to seek medical help for him Paris and she missed Paris herself. In 1855 they finally returned to Paris, where Rossini's health soon improved. Their musical evenings were restarted and visited by Alexandre Dumas fils, Eugène Delacroix, Franz Liszt and Giuseppe Verdi. From 1859 they lived in Rossini's new villa in Passy. After his death in 1868 she was a rich woman and she continued to live there. Olympe died in 1878 and she was buried in Rossino's mausoleum at Père Lachaise. In 1887 his remains were transferred to Florence and hers remained in Paris. Family • Husband: Rossini, Gioacchino (1846-1868) Related persons • was the lover of Balzac, Honoré de • was the lover of Bellini, Vincenzo • met Colbran, Isabella • was visited by Girardin, Émile de • was painted by Vernet, Horace • was the lover of Vernet, Horace |
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 The mausoleum of Gioacchino Rossini at Père Lachaise in Paris. His remains were transferred to Florence in 1887. Picture by Androom (07 Nov 2024) |
