Anne Victoire Dervieux (1752-1826)[1] was a French ballerina, opera singer, and courtesan.[1][2]
Anne Victoire Dervieux | |
---|---|
Born | 1752 |
Died | 1826 Paris | (aged 74)
Nationality | French |
Occupation(s) | Ballerina, opera singer and courtesan |
Spouse | François-Joseph Bélanger |
Dervieux was the daughter of a washer woman in Paris.[3]
She was engaged at the Paris Opera in 1765, (aged 13),[4] where she was active as a ballet dancer before she retrained to become an opera singer.[5] As a singer, she performed at the Concert Spirituel, and her greatest triumph was said to have been her performance in Pygmalion in 1772.
She attracted much fame for her parallel career as a courtesan. She has been referred to as the rival of Madeleine Guimard. Among her clients where the Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti[3] and the brothers of Louis XVI, the count of Artois[3][6] and the count de Provence;[3] she also shared her client Charles, Prince of Soubise[7] with Madeleine Guimard.[3] Derievux, as well as Guimard, were celebrities of their time and frequently portrayed in the scandal press.[3]
She became known for her extravagant residence, a palace she had constructed in rue Chantereine Paris, filled with her valuable fine art collections. The building was originally design by architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart and later re-worked by the architect François-Joseph Bélanger[1]
Dervieux married François-Joseph Bélanger[6] in 1794[7] and retired from her stage career as well as from her career as a courtesan. She adopted a girl around this time.[8] She was imprisoned during The Terror of Robespierre,[9] but avoided execution. Dervieux died in Paris in 1829.[7]