Drouet, Juliette (1806–1883)
Drouet, Juliette (1806–1883)
French actress and paramour. Born Juliette Josephine Guavain, April 10, 1806, in Rillé, France; died 1883; dau. of a tailor and a housemaid; orphaned when young, was reared by an uncle; children: (with Pradier) daughter Claire.
Had relationships with Prince Anatole Demidov and journalist Alphonse Karr; appeared as Princess Negroni in Victor Hugo's Lucrèce Borgia at the Porte-Saint-Martin and became his mistress (1833), remaining devoted to him for the rest of her life; went into exile with Hugo to Guernsey, Channel Islands, and acted as his secretary; was the subject of many of his poems; modeled and had an affair with sculptor Jean Pradier and was the inspiration for his "Statue de Strasbourg" in the Place de la Concorde; left a large collection of letters.