D'Antigny, Blanche (1840-1874)

D'Antigny, Blanche

COURTESAN, ACTOR, SINGER (FRANCE)

BORN 9 Apr 1840, Martizay, Indre - DIED 30 Jun 1874, Paris
BIRTH NAME Antigny, Marie Ernestine
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 36, ligne 03, Q, 35)

Blanche D'antigny was born as Marie Ernestine Antigny. Her father was a carpenter. She eloped with a lover to Bicharest when she was fourteen years old. She left him and lived with gypsies for a while. She returned to Paris where she worked in a circus and in dance halls. She was also the model for "The Penintent Madeleine" by Paul Baudry. After she became the mistress of police chief Mesentzov she followed him to St. Petersburg. After the tsarina ordered her to leave Russia she went to Wiesbaden.

She decided to become an operetta singer and she met with immediate ucces. Hervé gave her the part of "Frédégonde" in Chilpéric (1868) and in his "Le petit Faust" (1869) he was with her on the stage together. Further successes followed and she had lovers who gave her expensive gifts and money, but she spent it all. After a lover was ruined she left for Egypt, where she entered the stage as well as the bed of the Khedive.

She returned from Egypt to Paris, but she had contracted a fever and she died penniless and abandoned by her friends. She was buried at Père Lachause in Paris. In 1880 Émile based his character Nana on her in his novel of the same name.

Related persons
• worked as a model for Baudry, Paul
• was the lover of Bischoffsheim, Raphaël

Events

24/10/1868	Premiere of "Chilpéric" by Hervé at the Folies-Dramatiques in Paris. Blanche d'Antigny was Frédégonde.
23/4/1869	Premiere of Hervé's "Le petit Faust" at the Folies-Dramatiques in Paris. It was a parody on Goethe's "Faust". Blanche d'Antigny was Marguerite and Hervé played Faust himself.