Eliza Rachel Great French actress Date of Birth: 21.02.1821 Country: France

Biography of Eliza Rachel

Eliza Rachel Felix, a great French actress, was born on February 28, 1821. Her father, Jacob Felix, was a wandering trader and a fluent speaker of both German and French. He had a talent for reciting excerpts from the tragedies of Voltaire and Corneille, and he successfully organized festive processions in fairs, where he played the role of a simpleton. When Eliza turned 12, the Felix family settled in Paris on Rue Traversière-Saint-Honoré, in a furnished room opposite the morgue. "There you will see pitiful little houses with two windows wide, and on each floor nestle vice, crime, and poverty," wrote Honoré de Balzac about such apartments. The Felix family was impoverished. Eliza and her older sister Sophie had to earn money by selling oranges. To make business more enjoyable, they sang various songs they heard on the street, and Eliza also recited fables. One day, a respectable gentleman approached her and said that the song's lyrics were too frivolous for her young age. Eliza replied, "What can I do? I have no other words, maybe you, sir, can come up with some?" According to one version, in response to this, the gentleman (who happened to be Victor Hugo) took out ready-made verses from his pocket. According to another version, he wrote a few words right on the street and handed them to the little singer.

Eliza read quite a lot, and one day she came across Racine's tragedy "Andromache." After reading it, Eliza confidently announced to her parents, "Now I know what I will become, I will play tragedy." Without much thought, her father sent her to a private school of declamation, where she was noticed by Sanson, her future friend and teacher. He was amazed by the "ability to experience tragedy" hidden in Rachel. Sanson began preparing the young actress for admission to the holy of holies - the Comédie-Française.

Since classical tragedy was mainly based on ancient plots, Sanson advised Rachel to visit the Louvre museum. Eliza studied the expressions of marble statues, imitated their poses. The lessons of the marble "instructors" were not in vain: Eliza changed her hairstyle, carefully studied the draperies of clothes and the way they were worn, gradually developing that impeccable taste that would drive all Parisian fashionistas mad. Rachel was not a beauty, and the theater director was reluctant to give her a debut, but Sanson eventually convinced him. On June 12, 1838, Rachel made her first appearance on the stage of the Comédie-Française. Later, eyewitnesses of her first success claimed that the debut of the budding actress was little different from her future outstanding achievements that conquered France, Europe, and America. Theater critic Jules Janin, seeing Rachel on the stage of the famous theater for the first time, wrote, "While I write this, an unprecedented phenomenon has emerged in the Théâtre Français... We have the most amazing and wonderful little girl the present generation has ever seen in the theater. This child (remember her name!) is Mademoiselle Rachel..." Gradually, Rachel became fashionable. The entire aristocratic Paris was at the feet of the quickly becoming famous actress. Chateaubriand, who had recently written that "Mademoiselle Rachel had a soul of purple and a body of rags" (Rachel quickly recovered from malnutrition, became more beautiful, seemed taller, and everyone unanimously said that she was "exquisitely formed"), called her his spiritual daughter and regularly accompanied her to the theater. She was invited to the Chamber of Deputies for parliamentary speeches. When the actress appeared in the chamber, all opera glasses were immediately directed at her. But Rachel came to the chamber not to show off her dresses; she was learning the art of oratory here. Once, while listening to a brilliant speech by the deputy Gizo, she exclaimed, "That's who I would like to play tragedy with!" Her popularity was so high that, according to Stendhal, a person from society could confidently decline a long-agreed visit, citing that he had gotten a ticket to Mademoiselle Rachel, without receiving any reproach for impoliteness.

Her popularity spawned rumors, each more spectacular than the other. For example, gossip circulated about her connections with the third son of Louis Philippe, the young Duke of Juigné. There was a story that the Duke once sent her a visiting card with three words: "Where? When? How much?" to which he received the answer: "Tonight. At your place. Free of charge." Her romantic adventures with Napoleon's illegitimate son and Polish princess Walewska, with the nephew of the Emperor, the future Napoleon III, her connection with A. Dumas, and so on were also discussed. Rachel paid no attention to idle talk and even fueled the curiosity of the crowd. Once, at a formal dinner at her house, a guest exclaimed, "Oh my God, are you made of marble?" In response, Rachel pointed to the prince Jerome sitting next to her and said, "As you can see, sir, he hasn't broken a single tooth yet."

One day, a funny incident occurred: Rachel exchanged an old guitar, passing it off as the very one she played in her childhood, for a diamond necklace and a pearl diadem. The happy owner went to brag about his acquisition to his friend, only to find out that this was at least the fourth "historic" guitar. She loved luxury, but the lion's share of her earnings went to her family. Without hesitation, she spent money on countless outfits for her sister Sophie, and her father demanded 20,000 francs a year from her. To earn more money, Rachel spent all her vacations on tours, traveling to 60 cities in two months and giving 60-70 performances.

During her tour in Russia, Rachel performed in Gatchina, where a theater was specially built for her arrival. She called her journey through Russia "the tour of a French actress with the Russian Emperor playing the role of impresario." Everywhere, in shops and stores, portraits of Rachel were sold. Merchants named everything they saw after her: cakes, hats, fabrics, and even face powder (this name has survived to this day). Officers of the Imperial Guard lined up along the walls of the theater foyer and waited for her to come out after the performance for hours. Rachel walked between two rows on a carpet strewn with roses and camellias, under a military "Hurrah!"

After St. Petersburg, Rachel went to Moscow, where she was supposed to perform on the stage of the famous Maly Theatre. Muscovites warmly welcomed her, presenting the actress with shoes made of a blue ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew. After one of the performances, students unhitched the horses from Rachel's carriage and drove it themselves. The great Mikhail Shchepkin, seeing Rachel in "Phèdre," was thrilled with her performance and with her as a person. After visiting her as a guest, Shchepkin exclaimed, "A smart woman, she hugged me, and I kissed her on both cheeks. A fool wouldn't do that, and it's not bad for an old man."

Returning briefly to Paris, the actress soon embarked on a tour to America. This trip turned out to be fatal for her. The American audience, unfamiliar with the French language, and outraged by the high ticket prices, did not attend her performances much. In Philadelphia, Rachel fell ill and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She was sent to Egypt for treatment, where she wrote to the director of her theater, Arsen Ussé: "Dear Ussé! Remember, we talked about my career, the 'career of marbles'... yes, marble gravestones! I have lived my life because I was the delicacy of life. In a few years, I devoured the days and nights assigned to me: well, let it be so... I ran here in pursuit of life, but around me - I see - only death, just death."

Eliza Rachel Felix, the great French actress, died at the age of 38 on January 4, 1858.