Courtesan, countess, bestselling author - the tempestuous true story of
a woman far ahead of her time ...
Born in the gutters of Paris in 1824, Céleste made her name as a dancer
in the Parisian dance halls, where it is said she invented the can-can.
Then, as an equestrienne at the Paris hippodrome, her daring feats on
horseback thrilled the crowds. However, it was as the city's most
celebrated courtesan that the young Parisian found genuine fame and
fortune. Strikingly beautiful and charismatic, her lovers included
famous novelists, artists and composers, not least Georges Bizet, whom,
many believe, based his free and fearless Carmen on Céleste. But when
Céleste married the Count de Chabrillan, a prominent member of the
French aristocracy, Parisian society was scandalised. And when the pair
turned up in far off Australia, where the count served as the first
French consul, Melbourne society was scandalised in turn. Later a
bestselling memoirist, novelist, playwright and librettist, the
remarkable Countess Céleste de Chabrillan was, indeed, a woman far ahead
of her time.
