From the daughter of a tailor to the Countess: three marriages most famous courtesan of the XIX century

• From the daughter of a tailor to the Countess: three marriages most famous courtesan of the XIX century

Marquis Paiva - woman of mystery, the favorite of the Parisian beau monde, the hostess of a literary salon, and ... perhaps one of the most famous courtesans of the XIX century. A Jew by birth, she was born in Moscow, her father was a simple tailor, and seemed Dowry expected a bleak future. However, she quickly realized that the ticket to a happy life become a successful marriage. And indeed, most of her life she lived in a family house on the Champs Elysees, hosting visiting French bohemia.

The present name of the girl - Esther Lashmanov. Her parents were impoverished Jewish refugees from Silesia (Poland region, bordered by Germany), ukryvshimisya in Moscow. When the girl turned 17, she was married Francois Villot, a Frenchman by birth. The guy was from a poor family, has mastered sewing. In the department of registration of marriages Esther was given a new name - Russian. Before you change the name to Villot, she became Borisovnoj Esther Lachmann. By the way, the name of her husband was the only of benefits for newly-made "French". Family life is not long relish Esther, shortly after the birth, she ran away from her spouse, leaving him with a baby on their own. Itself - went to seek his fortune in Paris. For greater fidelity she called herself a widow and changed her name to Theresa.

Esther Lachman and her jewelry, estimated in millions of euros

In Paris, she huddled in the slums, but struggling to get on the social events. By hook or by crook she meets with musician Henri Herz. Therese admired his playing, and the heart melts pianist. Despite the raging passions, their union is fleeting: while Henry was in America during the next tour, his family insisted that the mistress immediately left their house. Apparently, the rumors about her true origins are not hid from the famous musician's relatives. During the life of Henri Teresa had time to get acquainted with the best composers of the era - Liszt and Wagner, she moved closer and with Theophile Gautier. And suddenly, all her hopes were dashed in an instant, I had to urgently go to England.

Adolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli. Evening at Paiva

The courtesan Marquis Paiva

In London, Teresa acted on already-established pattern: this time she won the heart of Lord Stanley, who three times in the history of Great Britain held the chair of the Prime Minister. The novel was bright, but the Lord has appeared married, and did not intend to divorce. Then Therese went on vacation in Baden, where the game in the casino met with the Marquis Albino Paiva. He was young and unmarried, and to get his attention from the first minute, Esther Teresa appears under the name Pauline Villot. It was almost 7 years older than her new elect and quickly ohmurit him, promising that after the wedding will reveal to him the mysteries of love joys. If you believe the rumor, Paiva and did not enjoy the promised reward in full on the night after the wedding the newly formed Marquis Paiva admitted in a cold calculation and soon broke up with her next husband.

The Marquis de Paiva

The possible portrait of the Marquise Paiva

Truly become rich courtesan could last for years of marriage, this time down the aisle, she went with Count Donnesmarkom from Germany. It was this man embodied in the reality of Esther's dream of a family house on the Champs Elysees, he turned her life into a fairy tale. Family happiness prevented political events: during the impending Franco-Prussian War, the couple accused of spying, and they had to leave France. Nervous feelings crippled health Countess von Donnersmarck, and she died of a heart attack in '64. According to legend, the inconsolable widower embalmed body of his dead wife and spent next to him all night for several more years.