Wilhelmine-Joséphine Simonin, known as Valérie Simonin, Lady Gustave Fould and Gustave Haller (19 December 1831, Paris – 25 June 1919, Pontaillac) was a French actress and author.

Valérie Simonin
Born
Wilhelmine-Joséphine Simonin

(1831-12-19)19 December 1831
Paris, France
Died25 June 1919(1919-06-25) (aged 87)
Pontaillac, France
Other namesGustave Haller
Occupation(s)actress, writer
Spouses
ChildrenConsuelo Fould, Georges Achille-Fould

Life

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Wilhelmine-Joséphine Simonin was born on 19 December 1831 in Paris.[1] In 1850, she entered the Paris Conservatory, and in 1852, she won the first prize for the comedy and immediately debuted at the Odeon theater.[2]

From 1853 to 1859, Simonin was a board member of the French Comedy (Comédie française).[3] In 1859, she quit theater and went to London to live with her mother and restore old books as she learned from her father.[2] Simonin married Gustave Eugene Fould with whom she had two daughters, Consuello and Achille-Valéri.[3]

Returning to France in 1864, she devoted herself to literature after the pseudonym Gustave Haller.[2] Among her works should be mentioned such novels as L’enfer des Femmes, Le diagnostic, Le professeur d’amour and English novel Sternina.[2] Having widowed in 1884, Simonin married for the second time to George Știrbei.[3]

Valérie Simonin died on 25 June 1919 in Portaillac.[1]

Selected works

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  • Le salon, dix ans de peinture (1902)
  • Le Sphinx aux perles, par G. Haller (1884)
  • Le Duel de Pierrot, pièce en 5 actes (1881)
  • Le Clou au couvent, aimez-vous. 2e éd. (1879)
  • Nos grands peintres, par Gustave Haller. Catalogue de leurs oeuvres et opinions de la presse (1879)
  • Le Clou au couvent (1879)
  • Vertu, par Gustave Haller (1877)
  • Aimez-vous (1877)
  • Le Bleuet, par Gustave Haller. Préface de George Sand (1875)
  • Le Médecin des dames, par Gustave Haller. [Paris, Cluny, 16 janvier 1870.] (1870)[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Gustave Haller (1836-1919)". data.bnf.fr. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  2. ^ a b c d Biographie nationale des contemporains / rédigée par une société de gens de lettres, sous la direction de M. Ernest Glaeser. 1878.
  3. ^ a b c "Haller, Gustave (1831-1919)". IdRef. Retrieved 2020-09-29.