Hortense Schneider

Born in Bordeaux, where she studied with Schaffner, she made her debut in Agen in 1853, as Inès in La favorite.

An accomplished singer and actress, she was much admired for her brio and verve on stage, was the toast of the Second Empire and a favourite of royal visitors to Paris.

La Snédèr was reputedly one of King Edward VII's mistresses (because of the favours which she liberally granted to the members of the nobility, she was known as Le Passage des Princes.).

[2] She retired after her marriage in 1878 and died in Paris in 1920; her body rests at the Protestant cemetery in Bordeaux.

[3] Schneider was the subject of the 1950 film La Valse de Paris by Marcel Achard, where she was played by Yvonne Printemps.