MARIE DUPLESSIS : COMPOSER FRANZ LISZT A FRIEND : MARRIAGE TO AN OLD BEAU: HER INESCAPABLE DEATH

It was at a concert in Paris that Maria Duplessis met the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.  They were introduced by the doctor who had Maria as a patient and had bogus cures he treated rich women with. But the doctor also had the composer's mother and ex-mistress as patients. (His mistress and the mother of his children was Marie d'Agoult.) She remet him as a guest at parties where he entertained, playing piano. He knew that she was terminally ill. And she wanted to go with him on tour, travel, be taken from Paris, which was a plan that never happened.

Excerpt page 49 : (From Liszts own reportage)

... she told me ... fifteen months ago: I shall not live; I am an odd gierl and I shan't be able to hold on to this life which I don't know how to lead and that I can equally no longer endure.  Take me, take me anywhere you life; I shan't bother you.  I sleep all day; in the evening you can let me go to the theatre; and at night you can do with me what you will!'

Maria was never one to depend on one man and for a woman in her position was wise about this. Because she went to London and met up with Count Edouard de Perregaux at the Kensington Register Office where a civil marriage was performed. She signed in as Mlle. Alphonsine Plessis of Paris, age 22. Though the couple gave an address in London, the two never did live together.  And she kept her surname Duplessis. She returned to Paris alone. But I surmise that perhaps this man granted her a great wish, to be a married woman before she died. 

Excerpt page 50 : With the help of a specialist she designed her own coat of arms, using part of the arms of her husband, and had them emblazoned on her carriage, her linen, and her silverware.

By this time, Marie was desperately ill. You could say she tried everything. She traveled to spas in Germany hoping have a cure. Her gambling was out of control, her visits to pawn shops numerous, both Count Gustav Von Sackelberg abandoned her as had the seven men who had shared her. Yet, she had possessions removed from her lavish apartment, renting other apartments to store furniture and valuables to prevent creditors from seizing them.*** She saw various doctors and ran up debt. Some of these doctors gave her advice that was useless really, recommending walks in nature and good food. We would say some of them were quacks but the fact is there was no cure for tuberculosis. 

Most of her friends left Marie to die alone. But three of her patrons did remain in her life to the end - men less significant in her life whose names do not appear here in this reportage.  At only twenty three years old, the woman who had inspired artists and writers, died on February 3, 1847, having been last seen in public weeks earlier. Among the few mourners were some prostitutes who she had helped financially. Count Edouard de Perregaux, her husband who had made a Countess out of Marie, appeared overcome with grief as the small funeral processions of those who had not abandoned her completely went to the cemetery of Montemarte where her grave remained unmarked for years.

FIND A GRAVE : MARIE DUPLESSIS

Missy here!  Thank you for sticking with me as we explored the life of Parisian Courtesan Marie Duplessis.  You can bring up archived posts by searching for the word Courtesan or Paris ... 

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ELDERLY COUNT GUSTAV VON SACKELBERG SET MARIE DUPLESSIS UP IN LUXURY BUT OUTDID HER AS A LIAR

Marie Duplessis was an acknowledged liar. She was said to explain her lying by saying that the habit whitened one's teeth; her teeth were beautiful. What all did she lie about? I don't know. That blog post title is my opinion and here I speculate. 

The octogenarian Count Gustav Von Sackelberg met the 21ish year old Maria in the late fall of 1844 or early 1845. He said he wanted to "rescue" her from the life she lead and that she reminded him of his daughter... He claimed to be a widower, but the truth was he was married to a woman who had given birth to eleven children and would outlive him by eighteen years. He hid his wife by setting up Maria in an apartment across the street from where he lived with his wife... My guess is his wife knew all about him.

He was said to keep a list of all the virgins he had deflowered, a hobby of his. While Maria was no virgin, perhaps her delicate femininity and youth appealed to a fantasy he had. He wanted her for himself and was willing to spend to have her. Of all the men who provided for Maria, perhaps this man spent the most to keep her. And perhaps despite his sexuality, he was also influenced by pending death.

Besides the substantial apartment, Von Sackelberg bought Maria furs and jewels, horses, carriages and drivers, maid, cook, chambermaid, the services of hairdressers and other craftsmen who created and repaired and kept up, and allowed her to spend, spend spend. Gourmet meals and baked goods were ordered in. She was now eating sweets and drinking wine - Maria bought herself an expansive wardrobe - dresses, hats, and boots by the dozens, fine furniture, and much else. She claimed to spend about five hundred francs a day. Author Virginia Rounding mentions school teachers were paid about three hundred francs a year.

While he thought of keeping her to himself, Maria was pragmatic. What came first? Her acceptance of other men or his waning interest? She went out on the town and was seen at the theatre and concerts, still advertising herself as courtesans did. In the spring of 1845 Maria met the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, who seems to have been taken enough by the young woman to care about her health.

I wonder if knowing she had not long fueled Maria's desire to have as much as possible and to live life to the fullest. When she met the composer she had about two years to live. 

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