Coccinelle (entertainer)

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Coccinelle (French: " Ladybird "; born August 23, 1931 in Paris as Jacques-Charles Dufresnoy ; later name changed to Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy ; † October 9, 2006 in Marseille , Bouches-du-Rhône) was a transsexual pioneer, entertainer and singer , the "most famous transsexual" in France. Her sex reassignment , carried out in 1958 by Georges Burou in Casablanca , was the first known and completely successful case of such an operation in Europe.

life and career

Coccinelle was born as Jacques Charles Dufresnoy on 66 rue Notre Dame de Nazareth in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. She was drawn to men from a young age as a girl and from puberty onwards. Her conspicuously feminine behavior aroused incomprehension and hatred in her environment, until she decided to only wear women's clothes and live as a woman, although this was officially prohibited by law. From then on, in spite of all external resistance, she went her way with a seldom and never before seen steadfastness.

In 1950, during a visit to the travesty bar Chez Madame Arthur , she wore a red dress with black polka dots, and when someone exclaimed: "Oh, the pretty little ladybug, what's your name?" She replied: "Coccinelle" ("Ladybird") ). She kept this name as a stage name and a successful career began in the world of travesty shows (which, however, sometimes caused misunderstandings).

However, Coccinelle suffered greatly from her physically masculine characteristics that she sought help from doctors, but there were no gender reassignment surgeries in France at the time , any doctor would have been liable to prosecution for such an attempt. However, she managed to get hormones ( estrogens ) and, over time, also had some cosmetic surgery ( rhinoplasty ) performed. Since she had very favorable physical conditions and was relatively small and petite, she quickly developed into a very feminine beauty; she also dyed her naturally dark hair blonde , and soon resembled Hollywood's " sex bombs " at the time .

“... Et elle (Coccinelle) arrive, moulée dans une robe paillettée, enroulée dans des boas ... […] Plus féminine qu'elle, c'était pas possible. Je vous assure que Danielle Darrieux et moi, qui sommes amies par toujours et ne sont pas particulièrement virile, hein ..., on ne peut pas dire ..., on se sentait à coté d'elle, ... on se sentait ... of the grenadier. Tellement elle était féminine, elle était comme ça. Danielle était médusée. "

"... And she (Coccinelle) comes, dressed in a sequin dress , wrapped in boas ... [...] More feminine than her, that was not possible. I assure you that Danielle Darrieux and I, who have always been friends and are not particularly virile, ... aren't we? You can't say that (laughter) ... we felt like grenadiers next to her . She was so feminine, she was like that. Danielle was speechless. "

- Paulette Coquatrix : (wife of Bruno Coquatrix ) in an interview in the documentary "Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, première femme transgenre française"

She later performed in the famous Le Carrousel nightclub . Since, in addition to her radiant femininity and a certain exhibitionism, she had real show talent and a typical Parisian humor , she rose to star there. Her role model soon attracted other young transsexuals who also wanted to work in the Carrousel and were looking for physical feminization through hormones - such as B. Bambi , who was friends with Coccinelle and was allowed to live with her for free from 1954 to 1955, and later Capucine, April Ashley and others

In 1958, while on tour , she learned about the possibility of sex reassignment operations from another person affected, which had only recently been carried out by Dr. Georges Burou in Casablanca . Without hesitation, she made up her mind and drove to Casablanca. She later said, "Dr. Burou corrected the mistake nature made and I became a real woman, inside and out. After the operation, the doctor just said 'Bonjour, Mademoiselle' and I knew it would be a success was. "

After her operation, she was officially granted a name change by the French state , taking the name Jacqueline Charlotte; she also got an entry “née femme” (born female).

The news of her "sex reassignment" hit the international press like wildfire. Her unmistakable femininity and beauty were a sensation , and for some a terrible scandal, and soon made her a celebrity. In 1959 the Italian director Alessandro Blasetti had her appear in his film Europa di notte and in the same year the Italian singer Ghigo Agosti dedicated his song Coccinella to her, thus provoking even more consternation and controversy . For new headlines she made when she in a blaze of 1960 Glamor French journalist married Francis Bonnet. After a renewed baptism of her female first name by the Catholic Church, the wedding ceremony took place in the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral . Coccinelle's wedding dress was a "dream in white" by Dior . She was the first transsexual to successfully take such a step. However, the marriage ended in divorce in 1962.

In the same year she appeared in the Italian comedy film I don giovanni della costa azzurra ( Beach Casanova ) by Vittorio Sala , and in Los Viciosos , an Argentine film by Enrique Carreras. She sang the title song to Premier rendez-vous by Henri Decoin , later followed by the films Interpole attaque , and 1968 Días de viejo color .

Her revue Cherchez la femme (1963/1964) was a great success and ran for seven months at the Paris Olympia ; she was the first former transsexual woman who was allowed to perform in this famous establishment and whose name was announced in large letters by Bruno Coquatrix . She also made some recordings of songs she sang in her revues (see discography).

A first biography appeared in 1963 under the title Coccinelle est lui , written by Mario A. Costa, a dancer from Paraguay who became her second husband in 1966. This marriage lasted until his death in 1977.

Coccinelle was the celebrated star of many tours and had particular success in Canada and South America , where she spent many years in total. She also appeared before the Shah of Persia . From 1978 to 1987 she lived in Berlin , where she appeared in the travesty cabaret “Chez Nous” and in Romy Haag's night theater and club .

In 1987 she published her autobiography under the title: Coccinelle par Coccinelle (with Daniel Filipacchi).

After her return to France, Coccinelle became a transgender activist , she helped set up a center for help, research and information on transsexuality and gender identity , and in 1994 she founded the Association Devenir Femme (" Becoming Woman ") together with transgender activist Thierry Wilson , with the aim of spiritual and practical support for people who strive for gender reassignment measures. Thierry Wilson became her third husband in 1996.

In Marseille , where she had lived since 1992, she ran a cabaret from 2002 to 2005 .

After a stroke , Coccinelle was hospitalized in July 2006 and placed in an artificial coma from which she only awoke shortly before she died. She died on October 6th in the Hôpital de la Timone in Marseille. During the funeral service at the Saint-Roch Church in Paris, Father Philippe Desgens said: “All the children of God have a place in the Church,” pointing out that Coccinelle had shown her faith all her life.

At her last will, her body was cremated and the remains scattered in a secret location.

Posthumous honor

In the memory of and in honor of Coccinelle, the City of Paris opened the Coccinelle promenade in the Pigalle district on May 18, 2017 , located between No. 2 and No. 16 of the Boulevard de Clichy ( 18th arrondissement ). Opening speeches were given and a. by Thierry Wilson, Coccinelle's last husband, and by her former friend and colleague Bambi (Marie Pierre Pruvot). It is the first time in a European capital that a street has been named after a former transsexual woman (previously only in San Francisco ).

Curiosa

In Hebrew , the word coccinelle (קוקסינל [koksiˈnel]) is used as a synonym for transsexual, often with a derogatory undertone.

Discography

  • Coccinelle No 1 (President Records No 38. "cda 1052): 1. Tu t'fous de moi (You don't care about me), 2. L'Amour a fleur de coeur (love like a flower in the heart), 3. Prends -moi ou laisse-moi (take me or leave me), 4. Do it là (you are there)
  • Coccinelle No 2 (President Records No 12 "cda 1052): 1. Je cherche un millionnaire (I'm looking for a millionaire), 2. Avec mon petit faux-cul (With my little false bottom)
  • Coccinelle - 4 chansons de la Revue de l'Olympia "Chercher la femme" (RCA VICTOR 86.012M - 1963): 1. Cherchez la femme (Find the woman), 2. On fait tout à la main (Everything handmade), 3. C'est sûrement vous (You sure are), 4. Depuis toujours (Ever since)
  • Star du Carrousel de Paris , CD (Marianne Melodie 041625), compilation of 20 tracks.

Filmography

literature

  • Coccinelle par Coccinelle (autobiography, French). Editions Filipacchi, Paris, 1987. ISBN 978-2-85018-586-1
  • Mario A. Costa. Coccinelle est lui . (First biography, French) Collection Pocket-Mail, 126 pages + 40 photos, 1963. (English translation by Jules J. Block: Reverse Sex. The Life of Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy . London: Challenge Publications 1961.)
  • Maxime Foerster: Histoire des transsexuels en France , H&O, 2006. (French)
  • Anita Magin: Coccinelle . Article and collection of pictures and newspaper articles. Published by the Transidentas Association, Frankfurt, 1990 (German)
  • Joanne Meyerowitz: How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States . Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00925-7
  • Joanne Meyerowitz: Sexual Revolutions . Harvard University Press / Google Books. Retrieved April 1, 2004 on April 28, 2010.
  • Marie Pierre Pruvot: Marie parce que c'est jolie , Editions Bonobo, 2007 (Bambi's autobiography, with a lot of information about Coccinelle, French)
  • Carlson Wade: She-male: the amazing true-life story of Coccinelle . New York: Epic, 1963. (biography, English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Coccinelle, singer & pioneer for trans * rights in France Description on freie-radios.net from May 21, 2013. Accessed on January 29, 2018.
  2. ^ Coccinelle obituary by Pierre Perrone, October 15, 2006 for The Independent. Accessed January 29, 2018. (English)
  3. ↑ "Dufresnoy already felt uncomfortable" ... as a boy aged four. I knew I was different. I was a girl, really, but nobody could see it. "" Pierre Perrone's obituary after Coccinelle's death in the "Independent", 15 October 2006 , (accessed January 2018)
  4. ↑ Bambi (Marie Pierre Pruvot) about Coccinelle in her opening speech at the “Promenade Coccinelle” in Paris (as seen in January 2018). See also: Marine Le Breton: Coccinelle, vedette de cabaret trans des années 50 et 60, a droit à une promenade à son nom à Paris , in: HuffPost, May 18, 2017. On the Internet: Article about Coccinelle and the new “Promenade Coccinelle ”in Paris (French) (as of January 2018).
  5. ↑ "... Ah, la jolie petite coccinelle, comment tu t'appelle?" Et elle repond: "Coccinelle." Bambi in her opening speech of the "Promenade Coccinelle" (seen January 2018). See also (in abridged version!): Marine Le Breton: Coccinelle, vedette de cabaret trans des années 50 et 60, a droit à une promenade à son nom à Paris , in: HuffPost, May 18, 2017. On the Internet: Article about Coccinelle and the new “Promenade Coccinelle” in Paris (French) (as seen in January 2018).
  6. ↑ Long after her operation, some people referred to her as a “ transvestite ”. Biography of Coccinelle (Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy) on the website “A gender variance Who's who” (seen January 2018).
  7. ↑ “Still, Dufresnoy remained unhappy: 'I felt like I was not so much a transsexual as a person in transit between the sexes.'” Obituary by Pierre Perrone after Coccinelle's death in the “Independent”, October 15, 2006, 11 p.m. Clock , (as of January 2018)
  8. ↑ Marie Pierre Pruvot: Marie parce que c'est jolie, Editions Bonobo, 2007, pp. 151–152.
  9. ↑ Hundreds of photos and film excerpts testify to this, see e.g. B. Anita Magin: Coccinelle. Article and collection of pictures and newspaper articles. Published by the Transidentas Association, Frankfurt, 1990 (German).
  10. ↑ Youtube video "Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, première femme transgenre française 1" (from 6.40 min to 7.19 min) , viewed in January 2018
  11. ↑ Bambi in her opening speech of the “Promenade Coccinelle” (as seen in January 2018).
  12. ↑ a b Obituary by Pierre Perrone after Coccinelle's death in the "Independent", October 15, 2006 , (as of January 2018)
  13. ^ "Dr Burou rectified the mistake nature had made and I became a real woman, on the inside as well as the outside. After the operation, the doctor just said," Bonjour, Mademoiselle ", and I knew it had been a success. " Obituary by Pierre Perrone in the "Independent", October 15, 2006 , (as of January 2018)
  14. ↑ a b c Obituary in "The Telegraph" for Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy on October 28, 2006 (English) , (as of January 2018)
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g Biography of Coccinelle (Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy) on the website "A gender variance Who's who" (English) (as of January 2018).
  16. ↑ Pictures from it on: Hommage à Coccinelle on the official website of Bambi (French) , (viewed January 2018)
  17. ↑ Hommage à Coccinelle on the official Bambi website (French) , in the subsection “Un amour de stars ...” (viewed January 2018)
  18. ↑ "From 1978 to 1987 she lived in West Germany performing cabaret including at Romy Haag's club in Berlin." Biography of Coccinelle (Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy) on the website "A gender variance Who's who" (seen January 2018)
  19. ↑ Hommage à Coccinelle on the official Bambi website (French) , (as of January 2018)
  20. ↑ "All the children of God have a place in the Church ...", and noted that "by her marriage in church after her operation, and during her whole life, Coccinelle showed her faith." Obituary in "The Telegraph" for Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy on October 28, 2006 (English) , (as of January 2018)
  21. ↑ Marine Le Breton: Coccinelle, vedette de cabaret trans des années 50 et 60, a droit à une promenade à son nom à Paris , in: HuffPost, May 18, 2017. On the Internet: Article about Coccinelle and the new "Promenade Coccinelle" in Paris (French) (as of January 2018). See also: Information and pictures for the opening of the Coccinelle promenade in the Pigalle district (18th arrondissement) in Paris on May 18, 2017, 5:30 pm (Métro Pigalle) , (as of January 2018)
  22. ^ "... dans le quartier de Pigalle à Paris, vous aurez plaisir à emprunter le terre-plein central, situé entre le numéro 2 et le 16 du boulevard de Clichy (9ème et 18ème arrondissements de Paris), rebaptisé" Promenade Coccinelle " . Décision prize par le Conseil de Paris et rendue publique le 14 décembre dernier, la ville lumière rend ainsi hommage à l'une de ses plus illustres étoiles. C'est avec une grande émotion que Bambi, Marie-Pierre Pruvot, accueille cette nouvelle. Par La promenade Coccinelle sera inaugurée le 18 may 2017 at 5:30 pm (Métro Pigalle). “ Opening of the promenade Coccinelle on Bambi's official website (as seen in January 2018). See also the YouTube video: Opening of the Coccinelle promenade in the Pigalle district (18th arrondissement) in Paris with Bambi on May 18, 2017, 5:30 pm (Métro Pigalle) , (seen January 2018)
personal data
SURNAME Coccinelle
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dufresnoy, Jacqueline Charlotte (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French trans pioneer and idol, entertainer, singer, actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris , France
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 2006
Place of death Marseille