Montansier, Marguerite (1730–1820)

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Montansier, Marguerite (1730–1820)

French actress, theater manager and salon hostess. Name variations: Marguerite Brunet; Mademoiselle or Mlle Montansier. Born Marguerite Brunet, Dec 19, 1730, in Bayonne, France; died July 13, 1820, in Paris; studied at Convent of Ursulines of Bordeaux; m. Honoré Bourdon de Neuville (actor).

Prominent figure during ancien régime and after French Revolution, lived with an aunt who owned a fashionable shop named Montansier; taking the name, began an unsuccessful career as an actress; with support of Queen Marie Antoinette, became manager of Théâter de Versailles (1768), then built a new theater at Versaille, Théâter Montansier; opened several provincial theaters and effectively controlled all theatrical productions in northern France; went to Paris at outbreak of Revolution, where she presided over salon situated in the foyer of her Theatre National in the Palais-Royal; accused of being a Royalist, was imprisoned for 10 months (1794) but saved from guillotine during 9th Thermidor coup; opened the Variétés Montansier theatre (1795); was given the task of reorganizing the Italian opera by Napoleon; dominated Parisian theatre life for over 50 years.

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