Liane de Pougy

Birth of Liane de Pougy: a Wife, a Mother, a courtesan, a princess and a Nun ~ all in one lifetime

.

Liane de Pougy was born as Anne Marie Chassaigne on 2nd July 1869, in Pays de la Loire region in France.

Her early life was spent in a Nunnery, but at the age of 17, she fell pregnant, and married a naval officer Armand Pourpe.

The marriage of Anne-Marie and Armand was difficult and painful.

In her memoirs, she wrote that her husband was violent and abused her, which resulted in scars on her body which were visible until the end of her life.

When Anne-Marie decided leave her husband, she sold her piano and used the money to run away to Paris.

She left behind their young son, Marc, who was raised by his grandparents.

Later, she filed for divorce, which at the time caused a scandal.

Her son, Marc Pourpe, became one of the pioneering pilots of French aviation and died aged 27 in 1914, during World War I.

In Paris, Anne Marie started her career as a cabaret dancer and courtesan.

She performed under the name of Liane de Pougy, taking the last name of one of her lovers.

She danced at the Folies Bergère, and was considered a beauty, who was extremely popular among the men, who visited the Folies.

She would become one of Paris's most beautiful and notorious courtesans.

The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, was a regular client.

In 1899 Liane de Pougy met an American writer Natalie Clifford Barney with whom she fell in love.

The passionate relationship lasted for around a year.

Natalie was young and curious, and didn't want to commit to a long-term relationship.

The two women would keep strong feelings for each other for the remainder of their lives.

At the height of her career in 1910, Liane met the Romanian prince Georges Ghika.

They fell in love and were married a few months later.

The famous Liane was much more wealthy than Prince Georges, whose family, though they were noble, were impoverished.

She honoured her new title as Princess, and as a result, changed her lifestyle, and settled down.

They were happily married for sixteen years until Georges left Liane for young female artist Manon Thiébaut, who, coincidently, was also a former lover of Liane.

Liane, not to be outdone, also took many lovers.

Georges returned to her, but their relationship was never the same.

In 1928, Liane met and became friends with the Mother Superior of the Saint Agnès Asylum - an institute which took care of disabled children.

Liane supported the asylum by fundraising money among her rich Parisian friends, including Coco Chanel.

Thanks to Liane's fundraising efforts, Coco Chanel became the "leading benefactress" of the asylum.

Liane and Georges then moved to Lausanne in Switzerland.

There, she met Father Rzewuski, a Dominican priest who brought her closer to religion and spiritual life.

When Georges died in 1945, Liane joined the monastic order Saint-Dominic.

She remained there, as a nun, until her death in Lausanne on 26th December 1950, and was buried in the enclosure of the sisters of the Sainte-Agnès asylum, in Saint-Martin-Le-Vinoux.

Her Biography - 'Chasing the dream' is available on Amazon.

.

https://www.europeana.eu/.../from-folies-bergere-to-order...

.

https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders