Clémentine Jouassain
A white woman, wearing a high-collared bodice, a cameo broach at the throat, and a fur-trimmed cloak
Clémentine Jouassain as photographed by Félix Nadar in about 1873
Born
Catherine-Julie-Clémentine Jouassain

3 December 1829
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat
Died7 May 1902
Paris
OccupationActress

Catherine-Julie-Clémentine Jouassain, baronne de Tournière (3 December 1829 – 7 May 1902) was a French actress, a societaire of the Comédie-Française.

Early life

Joassain was born in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, near Limoges, the daughter of Léonard Jouassain and Marie Masrevery. Her father was a merchant.[1] She studied at the Conservatoire in Paris, a student of Joseph Isidore Samson.[2][3]

Career

Jouassain debuted with the Comédie-Française in 1851,[4] and became a societaire in 1863. She was called "reine des duègnes" (Queen of the Duennas), because she almost always played supporting characters; she was not considered to have the face or physique for leading roles.[5] She was cast in plays by Jean Racine, Molière and Victor Hugo,[6] and was credited as creating dozens of roles.[3] In 1870, Joussain and three other actresses of the Comédie-Française, Madeleine Brohan, Marie Favart and Edile Riquier, announced that they were closing the theatre to open its space as "an ambulance" for treating French casualties during the Siege of Paris.[7] "Excellent above all in Molière and Marivaux, and interesting in everything," commented a London newspaper in 1879, "she is one of the most original, most useful, and most laborious members of the company."[8] She retired from the Comédie with a pension in 1887.[2][3]

Jouassain donated art to the Musée d'Orsay.[9]

Personal life

In 1876, Joassain married a marine officer, Albert Edouard Olivier de Tournière, and became a baroness.[10] She was a widow when she died in Paris in 1902, aged 72 years,[5] after injuries sustained in a street accident with a bicycle.[2][10]

References

  1. ↑ "Untitled item". The Examiner. 1877-07-28. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-04-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Clémentine Jouassain". Comédie-Française. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Gazette anecdotique, littéraire, artistique et bibliographique (in French). 1887. pp. 131–133.
  4. ↑ Charavay, Étienne (1899). L'Amateur d'autographes (in French). E. Charavay. p. 123.
  5. 1 2 Duquesnel, Félix (June 1902). "La Quinzaine Théâtrale". Le Théâtre (in French): 4.
  6. ↑ "Répertoire des Rôles Interprétés par Clémentine Jouassain". La Comédie-Franc̦aise (in French). Plon-Nourrit. 1902. pp. 141–154.
  7. ↑ "Paris and the War". The Athenaeum. 2961: 369. September 17, 1870.
  8. ↑ "The Comédie-Française in London; II: The Actresses (continued)". The Pall Mall Gazette. 1879-05-24. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-04-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Paysage d'Ecosse avec des ruines : Loch Müke". Musée du Louvre. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  10. 1 2 "Nécrologie". L'Art: Revue mensuelle illustrée. 61: 260. 1902.
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