Lily Pastré

[1] Beyond the Noilly Prat fortune, her family had become large landowners thanks to the dowry systems and good marriages.

[1][2] She appeared in Man Ray's 1929 film set at the Villa Noailles, Les Mystères du Château de Dé.

[2] In 1940, she established a philanthropic foundation to support the arts known as Pour que l’esprit vive (May the spirit live).

[4] During World War II, she sheltered Jewish artists in the Château Pastré, including the harpist Lily Laskine, the pianists Youra Guller and Monique Haas, the painter Rudolf Kundera, etc.

[4][5] She was also asked by her friend Édith Piaf to shelter her Jewish lover, Norbert Glanzberg, and she agreed to do so.

[6] Moreover, she arranged for the pianist Clara Haskil to receive medical care and then escape to Vevey, in Switzerland.

[4][5] She also hosted the cellist Pablo Casals, the dancer Josephine Baker, Samson François, Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric, André Masson, Paul Valéry, Lanza del Vasto, André Roussin, Victor Brauner, Luc Dietrich, Marcel Brion, Gérard Bauër, Raoul Dufy, etc.

[2][3] The directors were Jean Walls and Boris Kochno, the costume designer was Christian Bérard, the composer was Jacques Ibert and the conductor was Manuel Rosenthal.

[2][3] She also hired the pianists Clara Haskil and Jean Doyen, the soprano Maria Stader, and the Quartetto Italiano.