Henriette Caillaux
| Henriette Caillaux | |
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A glass-plate photograph of Henriette Caillaux, c.1910 to c.1915
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| Born |
Henriette Raynouard 5 December 1874 Rueil-Malmaison |
| Died | 29 January 1943 (aged 68) |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Socialite, art historian |
| Known for | Killing the newspaper editor, Gaston Calmette |
| Spouse(s) |
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Henriette Caillaux (5 December 1874 – 29 January 1943) was a Parisian socialite and second wife of the former Prime Minister of France, Joseph Caillaux. On March 16, 1914, she shot and killed Gaston Calmette, editor of the newspaper Le Figaro.
Henriette Caillaux was born Henriette Raynouard, at Rueil-Malmaison on 5 December 1874. At the age of 19, she married Léo Claretie, a writer twelve years her senior. They had two children. In 1907 she began having an affair with Joseph Caillaux while both he and she were still married. In 1908, she divorced Léo; Caillaux had more difficulties in divorcing his wife, but he eventually did so and they married in October 1911. Their joint assets were worth around 1.5 million francs, placing them among France's wealthiest couples.
While serving as Minister of Finance in the government of France, Caillaux came under bitter attack from his political foes. The editor of the Le Figaro newspaper, Gaston Calmette, had been a severe critic. Calmette received a letter belonging to Caillaux that journalistic etiquette at the time dictated should not be published. The letter seemed to suggest that improprieties had been committed by Caillaux. In this letter he appeared to admit having orchestrated the rejection of a tax bill while publicly pretending to support its passage. Calmette published the letter at a time when Caillaux, in his capacity as Minister of Finance, was trying to get a progressive taxation law passed by the French Senate. The publication of his letter severely tarnished Caillaux's reputation and caused a great political upheaval.
Henriette Caillaux believed that Calmette would publish other private letters that would demonstrate that Caillaux and she had had intimate relationships while he was still married to his first wife. She felt the only way for her husband to defend his reputation would be to challenge Calmette to a duel, which, one way or another, would destroy her and her husband's life. Madame Caillaux made the decision to protect her beloved husband by sacrificing herself.
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