Charlotte Vanhove

Charlotte Vanhove (known as Caroline) is a French Actrice born with $the Hague the November 10th 1771.

Biography

Girl of the actors Charles-Joseph Vanhove and Andrée Coche, it intends herself very early for the Théâtre and begins with the Comédie-Française, where its qualities of actress enable him to enter at 14 years, by holding the role from Iphigénie in the part from Racine. This young woman, whom one describes like beautiful and fair, wife then a violonist whom it will leave quickly.

The Révolution arrives; she is imprisoned with many actors with the prison of Madelonnettes, in September 1793. She will be released 5 months later and takes again the comedy.

She becomes acquainted then with Talma, one of the most famous actors of her time and which is then the husband of the Danseuse Julie Carreau. It carries out large train with the incomes of his wife who assumes her sumptuous expenditure. The two actors like and begin quickly a common life. Julie, wearies, humiliated and with half ruined, the divorce accepts.

They marry then. In 1798, Caroline Vanhove and her father buy with Brunoy a pretty property, Malgouverne. Then they buy Gouvernerie and its park, which on sale the owner Ribbing Frédérickson put. Talma carries out very expensive transformations and covers the couple of debt to it, before multiplying the public escapades. It also installs in its residence a mistress, who will have three children before dying. Very quickly, a new mistress appears, the debts do not cease accumulating, in spite of financial aids of a friend of Talma, some Napoleon…

Caroline takes again the reins of the management of the household and tries to divorce. But the machism of the emperor passed by there, the women are less free and the difficulties are numerous.

From this moment, Caroline places itself in margin of the tumultuous life of artists. She thus leaves the theater, recovers part of the sums which she advanced in Talma and spares a calm life in a small surrounded hotel by gardens, accompanied by his/her friends. She devotes herself to painting, with the drawing, but especially she writes for youth or on the theater. She writes in particular Edmont and Juliette or the Lovers sleepwalkers (1820), the Castle of Valmire or Pauline and Theodore (1821), Réginalde or Venetian the (1822), Élinor or the guilty Wife (1824), and still Études on the theatrical art (1835).

During all these years, it is it which will deal with the three children that Talma had with its mistress and who will pay the load of the pension of Fontenay-sous-Bois where they were sent.

With died of Talma (1826), it is found delivered and married the count de Chalot, a rider, old friend, with whom it liked to discuss while walking. But he dies quickly. The Vanhove countess occupies her days while descending the Fields-Élysées in her barouche, and often leaves to the theater.

She peacefully finishes her life the April 11th 1860, at the 90 years age, in her Parisian hotel of 13, rue de Bagneux with Saint-Germain-of-Meadows.

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