La Belle Otéro

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Caroline Otéro (1868–1965) photographed by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger (1863–1937)

La Belle Otéro , Spanish Carolina "La Bella" Otero , French also called Caroline Otéro , actually Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias (born November 4, 1868   in Valga , Province of Pontevedra , Galicia ; † April 10, 1965 in Nice ) a Spanish dancer, singer and courtesan of several crowned heads, wealthy tycoons and famous artists. She is considered the "icon of the European Belle Époque " (Encarna Otero).

Life

The first years of employment

Otero made her debut at the Teatro Avenida in Barcelona in 1887 with a dance and singing performance in the operetta La Fran Via . After joining Florio's company, she performed Spanish songs in Porto . There she is said to have married an impoverished Spanish count. Her appearance in the Crystal Palace in Marseille caused a scandal. Appearances in Paris followed . In 1890 she appeared in New York with her dance partner Evariste . Her guest performance was so successful that it was extended until 1891. After returning to Europe, she gambled away all of her earnings in the casino in Monte Carlo . This was followed by appearances in the Berlin Wintergarten , in Vienna , Budapest , Moscow and Saint Petersburg .

Portrait of Marius Antoine Barret: La belle Otéro as "Carmen", 1898

In 1894 she made her debut in the Folies Bergère . Due to her success, she was offered ten seasons by the director Edouard Marchand. Guest tours led her u. a. to Munich and Berlin . The German Emperor Wilhelm II . designed the pantomime Das Modell for her , which she performed with Paul Franck . In October 1900 she played the role of Mercédès in Une fête à Seville , a pantomime by René Bréviaire in Paris . Successful appearances in variety shows and revues followed until 1905.

In December 1906 she married the English industrialist René Wep in Paris. In 1908 she appeared in the Folies-Bergère and in September 1909 in the pantomime La Belle Mexicaine . In 1912/13 she withdrew from the stage and began to gamble away her fortune at the gaming tables of the casinos until they paid her money so that she would no longer appear. Some murals in salons of the casinos of Nice , Cannes and Monte Carlo 's La belle Otéro perpetuated to this day. Otero died in Nice in 1965 at the age of almost 97. A commemorative plaque was placed on the house where she lived until recently in modest circumstances (26 rue d'Angleterre, Nice).

Icon of the Belle Époque

In the years 1892 to 1910 she got to know numerous crowned heads, members of the nobility and the society of that time, including Prince Albert I of Monaco , King Leopold II of Belgium , Tsar Nicholas II , Grand Prince Nikolai , Kaiser Wilhelm II , King Alfonso XIII of Spain , King Edward VII , King Peter I of Serbia , Abbas II , the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio and the Shah of Persia , with whom she had a long-term relationship.

The press said she had private relationships or love affairs with many of the prominent men. She received valuable gifts, jewels and apartments from her admirers and lovers and also benefited from these acquaintances in other ways. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Otéro was one of the richest women of her time, her jewelery possession is considered legendary. In 1905, the French daily Le Figaro listed some of the Otéro's jewels ; These included such exquisite pieces as a necklace that allegedly belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette (in reality a replica), diamonds from the French Empress Josephine , a pearl necklace owned by Empress Eugénie , a necklace belonging to the courtesan Léonide Leblanc and a special one Diamond bolero made for Otero by Louis-François Cartier .

Film actress

In August 1898, Caroline Otéro shot a minute-long film Valse Brillante in Saint Petersburg with Félix Mesguich , an employee of the French film company Lumière . The film caused a scandal as an officer was seen in a frivolous scene.

Picture gallery

  • La belle Otéro, 1905

  • Portrait of Jules Ernest Renoux (1863–1932): La belle Otéro, around 1906

  • Variety poster, 1898

  • Portrait of Leonetto Cappiello (1875–1942): La belle Otéro, Paris 1898

  • Leo Rauth (1884–1913): La belle Otéro, 1910

Works

  • The memories of the beautiful Otero. Autobiography , Enoch, Hamburg, 1927

literature

  • Marie-Hélène Carbonel: La veritable biography de la belle Otéro et de la Belle Epoque , Fayard, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-213-61555-1
  • Carlos Díaz Martinez (Ed.): La belle Otéro , Edicion Xerais de Galicia, Vigo 2001, ISBN 84-8302-699-6
  • Brygida M. Ochaim Claudia Balk: Variety dancers around 1900. From sensual intoxication to modern dance, exhibition of the Deutsches Theatermuseum Munich 23.10.1998 - 17.1.1999 , Stroemfeld, Frankfurt / M. 1998, ISBN 3-87877-745-0
  • Carmen Posadas: La belle Otéro. The great seductress of the Belle Epoque; a life like a novel , Europa-Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-203-81250-9
  • Bernd Ruland: Witch of Love: The Fascinating Story of the Most Expensive Woman in the World , Swiss publishing house, 1966

Movie

  • Richard Pottier (director): La belle Otéro (German affair of a prima donna), Les Filmes modern, France 1954 (92 min.)

Web links

Commons : La Belle Otero  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Date of birth according to own information, according to the baptismal register she was baptized on December 20, 1868; see Encarna Otero Cepeda: La Bella Otero. Unha icona da Belle Époque europea. Online publication on culturagalega.gal (2007), accessed on July 2, 2018 (Galician).
personal data
SURNAME La Belle Otéro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otero Iglesias, Agustina del Carmen (real name); Otero, Carolina "La Bella" (stage name); La Bella Otero (stage name); La belle Otéro (stage name); Otéro, Caroline (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish dancer and mistress
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Ponte Valga , Galicia , Spain
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1965
Place of death Nice , France