Marie Tussaud

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Marie Tussaud (December 1, 1761 - April 16, 1850) is known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds, the wax museum she set up in London. She was born Marie Grosholtz (sometimes spelled Grossholtz or Grossholz) in Strasbourg. Her father, a soldier named Joseph Grosholtz, was killed in the Seven Years' War just two months before Marie was born. Her mother, Anne Made, took her to Berne where she moved to work as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius (1741-1794). There she took the Swiss nationality.

Curtius was a physician, and was skilled in wax modelling, which he used to illustrate anatomy. Later, he started to do portraits. Tussaud called him uncle.

Curtius moved to Paris in 1765, starting work to set up a wax figure cabinet. In that year he made a waxwork of Marie Jean du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. In 1767, Tussaud and her mother joined Curtius and also moved to Paris. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a lot of people. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the Caverne des Grands Voleurs, a precursor to the later chamber of horrors.

Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. She started to work for him and showed a lot of talent. She created her first wax figure, of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in 1778. Other famous persons she modelled at that time include Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin.

In Paris, Tussaud became involved in the French Revolution. She met many of its important figures, including Napoleon and Robespierre. On the other hand, she was also on very good terms with the royalty. In particular, from 1780 up to the revolution in 1789, she taught art to the sister of Louis XVI. In fact, they were so pleased with her that, on their invitation, she lived at Versailles.

On July 12, 1789, wax heads of Jacques Necker and the duc d'Orléans made by Curtius were carried in a protest march two days before the revolution.

However, Tussaud was arrested by the revolution on suspicion of royalist sympathies. In prison, she awaited execution by guillotine together with Joséphine de Beauharnais. Even though Tussaud's head was already shaven for her execution, she was saved for her talent in wax work and employed to make death masks of the victims of the guillotine, some of whom had been her friends. Among others, she made death masks of Marie Antoinette, Marat, and Robespierre.

When Curtius died in 1794, he left his collection of waxworks to Marie. In 1795, she married François Tussaud. They had two children, Joseph and François.

In 1802 Marie Tussaud went to London together with Joseph, then 4 years old, her other son staying behind. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, she was unable to return to France, so she traveled with her collection throughout Great Britain and Ireland. In 1821 or 1822, her other son joined her. She established her first permanent exhibition in Baker Street in 1835 (on the "Baker Street Bazaar"). In 1838, she wrote her memoirs. In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum. Some of the sculptures done by Tussaud herself still exist.

She died in her sleep aged 88 in London on April 15th 1850. There is a memorial tablet to Madame Marie Tussaud on the right side of the nave of St.Mary's, Cadogan Street, London.

Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become one of the major tourist attraction in London, and has expanded with branches in Amsterdam, Hong Kong (Victoria Peak), Las Vegas, Copenhagen and New York City. The current management is The Tussauds Group.

[edit] External links

• Profile page for Marie Gresholtz Tussaud on the Find A Grave web site, including pictures of her Memorial Tablet.

[edit] References

• Madame Tussaud's memoirs and reminiscences of France, by Marie Tussaud, ed. by F. Hervé, London 1838.