Rachel Félix
| Rachel Félix | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Mlle Rachel by William Etty, 1840s
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| Born |
Elisa Félix 21 February 1821 Mumpf, Rheinfelden, Aargau, Switzerland |
| Died | 3 January 1858 (aged 36) Le Cannet, France |
Elisabeth "Eliza/Élisa" Rachel Félix (also Elizabeth-Rachel Félix), better known only as Mademoiselle Rachel (February 21, 1821 – January 3, 1858), was a French actress. She became a prominent figure in French society, and was the mistress of, among others, Napoleon III and Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte. Efforts by newspapers to publish pictures of her on her deathbed led to the introduction of privacy rights into French law.
Rachel Félix was born Elisa Félix on February 28, 1821, in Mumpf, Rheinfelden, Aargau. Her father, Jacob Félix, was a peddler and her mother, Esther Hayer, was a Bohemian dealer in second-hand clothes. She had four sisters (Sarah, Rebecca, Dinah, and Leah) and one brother, Raphael.
As a child, Félix earned money singing and reciting in the streets. She arrived in Paris in 1830 intending to become an actress. She took elocution and singing lessons, eventually studying under the instruction of the musician Alexandre-Étienne Choron and Saint-Aulaire. She also took dramatic arts classes at the Conservatoire. She debuted in La Vendéenne in January 1837, at the Théâtre du Gymnase. Delestre-Poirson, the director, gave her the stage name Rachel, which she chose to keep in her private life.
Rachel was described as a very serious and committed student. She was admired for her intelligence, work ethic, diction, and ability to act. Auditioning in March, 1838, she starred in Pierre Corneille's Horace at the Théâtre-Français at the age of 17. During this time she also began a liaison with Louis Véron, the former director of the Paris Opera, which became the subject of much gossip. From 1838 to 1842, she lived in a third-floor apartment in Paris's Galerie Véro-Dodat.
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