Jeanne Turbe French courtesan. Date of Birth: 18.01.1837 Country: France

1. Biography of Jeanne Tourbe
2. A Life of Luxury
3. Affairs and Marriage
4. Political Influence
5. Jeanne Tourbe was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery.

Biography of Jeanne Tourbe

Jeanne Tourbe was a French courtesan who rose to fame during the Second Empire and the early decades of the Third Republic. Born into a poor and large family, she earned a living as a bottle washer in her childhood. In the mid-1850s, she arrived in Paris under the name Mademoiselle Jeanne de Tourbe and soon made a dazzling career as a mistress.

A Life of Luxury

She settled in the Place des Vosges and became the lover of Marx Furnier, the director of the Porte Saint-Martin theater, whom she completely bankrupted. She then became involved with Prince Napoleon, hosting the cream of literary Paris in her salon. Prominent figures such as Theophile Gautier, Sainte-Beuve, Ernest Renan, Emile de Girardin, Gustave Flaubert, and Ivan Turgenev frequented her salon. She had extensive correspondences with most of them and gained the nickname "The Lady with Violets" (after the model of "The Lady with Camellias").

Affairs and Marriage

Between 1862 and 1870, she received the patronage of the prominent administrator Ernest Barosch, who left her an estate worth 800 thousand francs. In 1872, she married Count Victor Edgar de Luhan, transforming from a demi-mondaine to a social lioness. They moved to the Champs-Elysees, and her salon became a gathering place for both Second Empire and Third Republic stars. Prominent figures such as Clemenceau, Alexandre Dumas fils, Maurice Barres, and young writers close to him joined the constellation of stars in her salon.

Political Influence

In the early 1880s, she met the literary critic Jules Lemaitre, who became her new lover. Under the influence of the countess, who was 15 years older than him, Lemaitre founded the nationalist League of Defenders of the Fatherland (Ligue de la patrie française) in late 1898. He became its first president. The League saw General Boulanger as its leader and adopted anti-Dreyfusard positions. As a result, some of her former friends, such as Clemenceau and Anatole France, distanced themselves from the countess. During this time, she also became involved in assisting Charles Maurras and Leon Daudet in the organization of the royalist movement Action Française.

Jeanne Tourbe was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery.