Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) was a romantic era German, French composer and impresario. A child prodigy, at four he studied violin with his father; at nine he fell in love with the cello. At 14 he was accepted as a student to the prestigious Paris Conservatoire. International Fame But Offenbach grew bored and left after a …
Category Archives: France
Sir Kenelm Digby
Dashing 17th century courtier Sir Kenelm Digby (1603 –1665) was a dashing 17th century courtier. During his time on the continent Marie de Medici fell madly in love with him and wrote about him in her memoirs. An English courtier, diplomat, philosopher, and astrologer Digby was also a privateer. Privateer A privater is a government …
The Affair of the Necklace
The Affair of the Necklace is a scandalous swindle that helped spark the French Revolution and because of its unbelievable plot twists it has been repeatedly retold in film and books. The Con Artist It all started with Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy. She came from a family distantly, very distantly related to Henry II. She married …
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit Viaduct. But he is most famous for the Eiffel Tower with its wrought-iron lattice …
Sarah Bernhard
Famed stage actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a French stage actress. She starred in some of the most popular theater productions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her most famous French plays including La Dame Aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas fils; Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, Fédora and La Tosca by Victorien Sardou, …
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was a British nurse, social reformer. She was the founder of modern nursing. Known as “The Lady With the Lamp,” her experiences as a nurse during the Crimean War were foundational in her views about sanitation. Nightingale was a manager and nursing trainer during the Crimean War, organizing care for wounded soldiers …
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. He was widely admired by writers as different as Balzac, Baudelaire, the Goncourt brothers, Flaubert, Pound, Eliot, James, Proust, and Wilde.Amazon T-shirts available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR983XHXand in France https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BR8Z5312
André Le Nôtre
Versailles gardens architect André Le Nôtre was the principal gardener for French King Louis XIV. Nôtre, (1613-1700) was born in Paris and became a successful French landscape architect. He designed the gardens of Versailles. The gardens were his masterpiece, earning him a fortune and international fame. He was originally named André Le Nostre. Amazon T-shirts …