Théroigne de Méricourt

Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (born Anne-Josèphe Terwagne; 13 August 1762–9 June 1817) was a singer, orator and organizer in the French Revolution. She was born at Marcourt (Prince-Bishopric of Liège) (from which comes the appellation "de Méricourt"), a small town in Luxembourg province, in modern Belgium. She is known both for her portrayal in the French Revolutionary press and for her subsequent mental breakdown and institutionalization.

She was born Anne-Josèphe Terwagne in Marcourt, Rendeux, to Pierre Terwagne (b. 1731) and Anne-Élisabeth Lahaye (1732–1767). Her mother died after giving birth to her third child, leaving Anne-Josèphe alone with her father and two brothers; Pierre-Josèphe (b. 1764) and Josèphe (b. 1767). After her mother died, she was sent to live with her Aunt in Liége and was put into a convent school where she learned how to sew. About a year after Anne-Josèphe began school, her aunt married and stopped paying for her school. Anne-Josèphe fled back to her father after he remarried because she was forced to be a house maid and tend to her aunt's children. Life at her father's was no better, her stepmother treated her just as poorly as her aunt did. Her eldest brother went to Germany to stay with relatives by the name of Campinados. At the age of thirteen, Anne-Josèphe and her younger brother went to Xhoris to stay with some of their father's relatives. While in Xhoris, she was constantly snubbed and overworked to the point where she could not take it any longer. As a result she went back to her aunt in Liège, but found that she was still mistreated. After realizing the need to start her own life, she learned to herd cows in Sougné, a province in Limburg. A year later she went back to Liège to work as a seamstress, only to face the same discontent with her life as before. She proceeded to seek refuge with a different aunt by the name of Clamend who lived in Xhoris. Before long, a lady asked Anne-Josèphe to come to Antwerp with her to care for her daughter. The lady abandoned her at the inn they were staying at after a few weeks. Luckily for Anne-Josèphe, a lady by the name Madame Colbert saw something within her and took her in as the governess to her children. Anne-Josèphe was sixteen when she started living with Madame Colbert; her life consisted of teaching Madame Colbert's children and studying operatic singing in several European capitals. They ended up at Madame Colbert's house in London where eventually a rich Englishman set his eyes on Anne-Josèphe. One night when Madame Colbert was out, the Englishman entered the home begging for Anne-Josèphe to elope with him. According to her account after she declined, she was abducted and taken by force. When he became of age and inherited his fortune, the unmarried couple went to Paris to live their lives. She quickly caught onto his lavish ways and tried to work with him, but in 1787 he returned to England leaving her in Paris with two hundred thousand livres. At some point between 1784 and 1787 she crafted a relationship with sixty year old Marquis de Persan, a Councillor of the Parliament of Paris. Much about their relationship remains a mystery, but what is known is that they communicated through letters, and that he gifted her very generously. Anne-Joseph operated under the alias Mademoiselle Campinado whenever she worked as a courtesan. After meeting a renown Italian tenor, Giacomo David, for the first time she was inspired her to break away from Marquis de Persan and pursue her singing career. She found a noteworthy castrato teacher named Giusto Fernando Tenducci and since she could not afford the full cost of the lessons with the help of Tenducci's attorney they drafted up an agreement. She had no idea of Tenducci's plan to scam her out of money so he could pay off his debts. While traveling towards her father, she got news that her father had died and so she was forced to change her plans. Tenducci was not able to execute his plan because she no longer had a reason to visit and drop off a large sum of money. Tenducci proceeded to convince her to travel to Italy with him, her two brothers, and her half brother Pierrot. She was under the impression that she was going to be reimbursed for the travel expenses. They left to Genoa, Italy at some point between May 1787 and February 1788. After recognizing his true intentions, she sought help from friends and lawyers who assured her that the contract was invalid. In order to go to Rome like she now desired, Anne-Josèphe needed money. In March of 1789 she wrote to Jean-Frédéric Perregaux, a swiss banker, thanking him for his assistance in acquiring payment from Marquis de Persan, asking for a loan to buy her eldest brother a managership, and requesting letters of recommendation for Rome and |Naples. Rumors about the revolution began surfacing in Rome. In May 1789, after her younger brother was situated in Rome, she traveled from Italy to Paris, where she became swept up in the early stirrings of the Revolution.

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