Repertory of the Comedie Humaine/S
S
SABATIER, police-agent; Corentin regretted not having had his assistance in the search with Peyrade, at Gondreville, in 1803. (The Gondreville Mystery)
SABATIER (Madame), born in 1809. She formerly sold slippers in the trade gallery of the Palais de Justice, in Paris; widow of a man who killed himself by excessive drinking, became a trained nurse, and married a man whom she had nursed and had cured of an affection of the urinary ducts ("lurinary," according to Madame Cibot), and by whom she had a fine child. She lived in rue Barre-du-Bec. Madame Bordevin, a relative, wife of a butcher of the rue Charlot, was god-mother of the child. (Cousin Pons)
SAGREDO, a very wealthy Venetian senator, born in 1730, husband of Bianca Vendramini; was strangled, in 1760, by Facino Cane, whom he had found with Bianca, conversing on the subject of love, but in an entirely innocent way. (Facino Cane)
SAGREDA (Bianca), wife of the preceding, born Vendramini, about 1742; in 1760, she undeservingly incurred the suspicion, in the eyes of her husband, of criminal relations with Facino Cane, and was unwilling to follow her platonic friend away from Venice after the murder of Sagredo. (Facino Cane)
SAILLARD, a clerk of mediocre talent in the Department of Finance, during the reigns of Louis XVIII. and of Charles X.; formerly book-keeper at the Treasury, where he is believed to have succeeded the elder Poiret;[1] he was afterwards appointed chief cashier, and held that position a long while. Saillard married Mademoiselle Bidault, a daughter of a furniture merchant, whose establishment was under the pillars of the Paris market, and a niece of the bill-discounter on rue Greneta; he had by her a daughter, Elisabeth, who became by marriage Madame Isidore Baudoyer; owned an old mansion on Place Royale, where he lived together with the family of Isidore Baudoyer; he became mayor of his ward during the monarchy of July, and renewed then his acquaintance with his old comrades of the department, the Minards and the Thuilliers. (The Government Clerks, The Middle Classes)
SAILLARD (Madame), wife of the preceding, born Bidault, in 1767; niece of the bill-discounter called Gigonnet; was the leading spirit of the household on Place Royale, and, above all, the counselor of her husband; she reared her daughter Elisabeth, who became Madame Baudoyer, very strictly. (Cesar Birotteau, The Government Clerks)
SAIN, shared with Augustin the sceptre of miniature painting under the Empire. In 1809, before the Wagram campaign, he painted a miniature of Montcornet, then young and handsome; this painting passed from the hands of Madame Fortin, mistress of the future marshal, to the hands of their daughter, Madame Valerie Crevel (formerly Marneffe). (Cousin Betty)
SAINT-DENIS (De), assumed name of the police-agent, Corentin.
SAINTE-BEAUVE (Charles-Augustin), born at Boulogne-surMer in 1805; died in Paris in 1869; an academician and senator under the Second Empire. An illustrious Frenchman of letters whom Raoul Nathan imitated poorly enough before Beatrix de Rochefide in his account of the adventures of Charles-Edouard Rusticoli de la Palferine. (A Prince of Bohemia)
SAINTE-SEVERE (Madame de), cousin to Gaston de Nueil, lived in Bayeux, where she received, in 1822, her young kinsman, just convalescing from some inflammatory disorder caused by excess in study or in pleasure. (The Deserted Woman)
SAINT-ESTEVE (De), name of Jacques Collin as chief of the secret police.
SAINT-ESTEVE (Madame de), an assumed name, shared by Madame Jacqueline Collin and Madame Nourrisson.
SAINT-FOUDRILLE (De), a "brilliant scholar," lived in Paris, and most likely in the Saint-Jacques district, at least about 1840, the time when Thuillier wished to know him. (The Middle Classes)
SAINT-FOUDRILLE (Madame de), wife of the preceding, received, about 1840, a very attentive visit from the Thuillier family. (The Middle Classes)
SAINT-GEORGES (Chevalier de), 1745-1801, a mulatto, of superb figure and features, son of a former general; captain of the guards of the Duc d'Orleans; served with distinction under Dumouriez; arrested in 1794 on suspicion, and released after the 9th Thermidor; he became distinguished in the pleasing art of music, and especially in the art of fencing. The Chevalier de Saint-Georges traded at the Cat and Racket on the rue Saint-Denis, but did not pay his debts. Monsieur Guillaume had obtained a judgment of the consular government against him. (At the Sign of the Cat and Racket) Later he was made popular by a production of a comedie-vaudeville of Roger de Beauvoir, at the Varietees under Louis Philippe, with the comedian Lafont[2] as interpreter.
SA INT-GERMAIN (De), one of the assumed names of police-agent Peyrade.
SAINT-HEREEN (Comte de), husband of Moina d'Aiglemont, was heir of one of the most illustrious houses of France. He lived with his wife and mother-in-law in a house belonging to the former, on the rue Plumet (now rue Oudinot), adjoining the Boulevard des Invalides; about the middle of December, 1843, he left this house alone to go on a political mission; during this time his wife received too willingly the frequent and compromising visits of young Alfred de Vandenesse, and his mother-in-law died suddenly. (A Woman of Thirty)
SAINT-HEREEN (Countess Moina de), wife of the preceding; of five children she was the only one that survived Monsieur and Madame d'Aiglemont, in the second half of Louis Philippe's reign. Blindly spoiled by her mother, she repaid that almost exclusive affection by coldness only, or even disdain. By a cruel word Moina caused the death of her mother; she dared, indeed, to recall to her mother her former relations with Marquis Charles de Vandenesse, whose son Alfred she herself was receiving with too much pleasure in the absence of Monsieur de Saint-Hereen. (A Woman of Thirty) In a conversation concerning love with the Marquise de Vandenesse, Lady Dudley, Mademoiselle des Touches, the Marquise of Rochefide, and Madame d'Espard, Moina laughingly remarked: "A lover is forbidden fruit, a statement that sums up the whole case with me." (A Daughter of Eve) Madame Octave de Camps, referring to Nais de l'Estorade, then a girl, made the following cutting remark: "That little girl makes me anxious; she reminds me of Moina d'Aiglemont." (The Member for Arcis)
SAINT-MARTIN (Louis-Claude de), called the "Unknown Philosopher," was born on the 18th of January, 1743, at Amboise, and died October 13, 1803; he was very often received at Clochegourde by Madame de Verneuil, an aunt of Madame de Mortsauf, who knew him there. At Clochegourde, Saint-Martin superintended the publication of his last books, which were printed at Letourmy's in Tours. (The Lily of the Valley)
SAINT-VIER (Madame de). (See Gentillet.)
SAINTOT (Astolphe de), one of the frequenters of the Bargeton salon at Angouleme; president of the society of agriculture of his town; though "ignorant as a carp," he passed for a scholar of the first rank; and, though he did nothing, he let it be believed that he had been occupied for several years with writing a treatise on modern methods of cultivation. His success in the world was due, for the most part, to quotations from Cicero, learned by heart in the morning and recited in the evening. Though a tall, stout, red-faced man, Saintot seemed to be ruled by his wife. (Lost Illusions)
SAINTOT (Madame de), wife of the preceding. Her Christian name was Elisa, and she was usually called Lili, a childish designaton that was in strong contrast with the character of this lady, who was dry and solemn, extremely pious, and a cross and quarrelsome card-player. (Lost Illusions)
SALLENAUVE (Francois-Henri-Pantaleon-Dumirail, Marquis de), a noble of Champagne, lost and ruined by cards, in his old age was reduced to the degree of a street-sweep, under the service of Jacques Bricheteau. (The Member for Arcis)
SALLENAUVE (Comte de), legal son of the preceding, was born in 1809 of the relations of Catherine-Antoinette Goussard and Jacques Collin; grandson of Danton through his mother; school-mate of Marie Gaston, whose friend he continued to be, and for whom he fought a duel. For a long time he knew nothing of his family, but lived almost to the age of thirty under the name of Charles Dorlange. (The Member for Arcis)
SALLENAUVE (Comtesse de), wife of the preceding, born Jeanne-Athenais de l'Estorade (Nais, by familiar abbreviation) in February, 1827; the precocious and rather spoilt child of the Comte and Comtesse Louis de l'Estorade. (Letters of Two Brides, The Member for Arcis)
SALMON, formerly expert in the museum at Paris. In 1826, while on a visit at Tours, whither he had gone to see his mother-in-law, he was engaged to assess a "Virgin" by Valentin and a "Christ" by Lebrun, paintings which Abbe Francois Birotteau had inherited from Abbe Chapeloud, having left them in an apartment recently occupied by himself at Mademoiselle Sophie Gamard's. (The Vicar of Tours)
SALOMON (Joseph), of Tours, or near Tours, uncle and guardian to Pauline Salomon de Villenoix, a very rich Jewess. He was deeply attached to his niece and wished a brilliant match for her. Louis Lambert, who was engaged to Pauline, said: "This terrible Salomon freezes me; this man is not of our heaven." (Louis Lambert)
SAMANON, a squint-eyed speculator, followed the various professions of a money-handler during the reigns of Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe. In 1821, Lucien de Rubempre, still a novice, visited Samanon's establishment in the Faubourg Poissonniere, where he was then engaged in the numerous trades of dealing in old books and old clothes, of brokerage, and of discount. There he found a certain great man of unknown identity, a Bohemian and cynic, who had come to borrow his own clothes that he had left in pawn. (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris) Nearly three years later, Samanon was the man of straw of the Gobseck-Bidault (Gigonnet) combination, who were persecuting Chardin des Lupeaulx for the payment of debts due them. (The Government Clerks) After 1830, the usurer joined with the Cerizets and the Claparons when they tried to circumvent Maxime de Trailles. (A Man of Business) The same Samanon, about 1844, had bills to the value of ten thousand francs against Baron Hulot d'Ervy, who was seeking refuge under the name of Father Vyder. (Cousin Betty)
SAN-ESTEBAN (Marquise de), a foreign and aristocratic sounding assumed name, under which Jacqueline Collin disguised herself when she visited the Conciergerie, in May, 1830, to see Jacques Collin, himself under the incognito of Carlos Herrera. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SAN-REAL (Don Hijos, Marquis de), born about 1735, a powerful nobleman; he enjoyed the friendship of Ferdinand VII., King of Spain, and married a natural daughter of Lord Dudley, Margarita-Euphemia Porraberil (born of a Spanish mother), with whom he lived in Paris, in 1815, in a mansion on the rue Saint-Lazare, near Nucingen. (The Thirteen)
SAN REAL (Marquise de), wife of the preceding, born Margarita-Euphemia Porraberil, natural daughter of Lord Dudley and a Spanish woman, and sister of Henri de Marsay; had the restless energy of her brother, whom she resembled also in appearance. Brought up at Havana, she was then taken back to Madrid, accompanied by a creole girl of the Antilles, Paquita Valdes, with whom she maintained passionate unnatural relations, that marriage did not interrupt and which were being continued in Paris in 1815, when the marquise, meeting a rival in her brother, Henri de Marsay, killed Paquita. After this murder, Madame de San Real retired to Spain to the convent of Los Dolores. (The Thirteen)
SANSON (Charles-Henri), public executioner in the period of the Revolution, and beheader of Louis XVI.; he attended two masses commemorating the death of the King, celebrated in 1793 and 1794, by the Abbe de Marolles, to whom his identity was afterwards disclosed by Ragon. (An Episode under the Terror)
SANSON, son of the preceding, born about 1770, descended, as was his father, from headsmen of Rouen. After having been captain of cavalry he assisted his father in the execution of Louis XVI.; was his agent when scaffolds were operated at the same time in the Place Louis XV. and the Place du Trone, and eventually succeeded him. Sanson was prepared to "accommodate" Theodore Calvi in May, 1830; he awaited the condemning order, which was not issued. He had the appearance of a rather distinguished Englishman. At least Sanson gave Jacques Collin that impression, when he met the ex-convict, then confined at the Conciergerie. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life) Sanson lived in the rue des Marais (the district of the Faubourg Saint-Martin), which is a much shorter street now than formerly.
SARCUS was justice of the peace, in the reign of Louis XVIII., at Soulanges (Bourgogne), where he lived on his fifteen hundred francs, together with the rent of a house in which he lived, and three hundred francs from the public funds. Sarcus married the elder sister of Vermut, the druggist of Soulanges, by whom he had a daughter, Adeline, afterwards Madame Adolphe Sibilet. This functionary of inferior order, a handsome little old man with iron-gray hair, was none the less the politician of the first order in the society of Soulanges, which was completely under Madame Soudry's sway, and which counted almost all Montcornet's enemies. (The Peasantry)
SARCUS, cousin in the third degree of the preceding; called Sarcus the Rich; in 1817 a counselor at the prefecture of the department of Bourgogne, which Monsieur de la Roche-Hugon and Monsieur de Casteran governed successively under the Restoration, and which included as dependencies Ville-aux-Fayes, Soulanges, Blangy, and Aigues. He recommended Sibilet as steward for Aigues, which was Montcornet's estate. Sarcus the Rich was a member of the Chamber of Deputies; he was also said to be right-hand man to the prefect. (The Peasantry)
SARCUS (Madame), wife of the preceding; born Vallat, in 1778, of a family connected with the Gaubertins, was supposed in her youth to have favored Monsieur Lupin, who, in 1823, was still paying devoted attentions to this woman of forty-five, the mother of an engineer. (The Peasantry)
SARCUS, son of the preceding couple, became, in 1823, general engineer of bridges and causeways of Ville-aux-Fayes, thus completing the group of powerful native families hostile to the Montcornets. (The Peasantry)
SARCUS-TAUPIN, a miller at Soulanges, who enjoyed an income of fifty thousand francs; the Nucingen of his town; was father of a daughter whose hand was sought by Lupin, the notary, and by President Gendrin for their respective sons. (The Peasantry)
SARRASINE (Matthieu or Mathieu), a laborer in the neighborhood of Saint-Die, father of a rich lawyer of Franche-Comte, and grandfather of the sculptor, Ernest-Jean Sarrasine. (Sarrasine)
SARRASINE, a rich lawyer of Franche-Comte in the eighteenth century, father of the sculptor, Ernest-Jean Sarrasine. (Sarrasine)
SARRASINE (Ernest-Jean), a famous French sculptor, son of the preceding and grandson of Matthieu Sarrasine. When quite young he showed a calling for art strong enough to combat the will of his father, who wished him to adopt the legal profession; he went to Paris, entered Bouchardon's studio, found a friend and protector in this master; became acquainted with Madame Geoffrin, Sophie Arnould, the Baron d'Holbach, and J.-J. Rousseau. Having become the lover of Clotilde, the famous singer at the Opera, Sarrasine won the sculptor's prize founded by Marigny, a brother of La Pompadour, and received praise from Diderot. He then went to Rome to live (1758); became intimate with Vien, Louthrebourg,[3] Allegrain, Vitagliani, Cicognara, and Chigi. He then fell madly in love with the eunuch Zambinella, uncle of the Lanty-Duvignons; believing him to be a woman, he made a magnificent bust of the singular singer, who was kept by Cicognara, and, having carried him off, was murdered at the instigation of his rival in the same year, 1758. The story of Sarrasine's life was related, during the Restoration, to Beatrix de Rochefide. (Sarrasine, The Member for Arcis)
SAUTELOUP, familiarly called "Father Sauteloup," had the task, in May, 1830, of reading to Theodore Calvi, who was condemned to death and a prisoner in the Conciegerie, the denial of his petition for appeal. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SAUVAGE (Madame), a person of repulsive appearance, and of doubtful morality, the servant-mistress of Maitre Fraisier; on the death of Pons, kept house for Schmucke, who inherited from Pons to the prejudice of the Camusot de Marvilles. (Cousin Pons)
SAUVAGE, first deputy of the king's attorney at Alencon; a young magistrate, married, harsh, stiff, ambitious, and selfish; took sides against Victurnien d'Esgrignon in the notorious affair known as the D'Esgrignon-Du-Bousquier case; after the famous lawsuit he was sent to Corsica. (Jealousies of a Country Town)
SAUVAGNEST, successor of the attorney Bordin, and predecessor of Maitre Desroches; was an attorney in Paris. (A Start in Life)
SAUVAIGNOU (of Marseilles), a head carpenter, had a hand in the sale of the house on the Place de la Madeleine which was bought in 1840, by the Thuilliers at the urgent instance of Cerizet, Claparon, Dutocq, and especially Theodose de la Peyrade. (The Middle Classes)
SAUVIAT (Jerome-Baptiste), born in Auvergne, about 1747; a traveling tradesman from 1792 to 1796; of commercial tastes, rough, energetic, and avaricious; of a profoundly religious nature; was imprisoned during the Terror; barely escaped being beheaded for abetting the escape of a bishop; married Mademoiselle Champagnac at Limoges in 1797; had by her a daughter, Veronique (Madame Pierre Graslin); after the death of his father-in-law, he bought, in the same town, the house which he was occupying as tenant and where he sold old iron; he continued his business there; retired from business in wealth, but still, at a later period, went as superintendent into a porcelain factory with J.-F. Tascheron; gave his attention to that work for at least three years, and died then through an accident in 1827. (The Country Parson)
SAUVIAT (Madame), wife of the preceding; born Champagnac, about 1767; daughter of a coppersmith of Limoges, who became a widower in 1797, and from whom she afterwards inherited. Madame Sauviat lived, in turn, near the rue de la Vieille-Poste, a suburb of Limoges, and at Montegnac. Like Sauviat, she was industrious, rough, grasping, economical, and hard, but pious withal; and like him, too, she adored Veronique, whose terrible secret she knew,—a sort of Marcellange affair.[4] (The Country Parson)
SAVARON DE SAVARUS, a noble and wealthy family, whose various members known in the eighteenth century were as follows: Savaron de Savarus (of Tournai), a Fleming, true to Flemish traditions, with whom the Claes and the Pierquins seem to have had transactions. (The Quest of the Absolute) Mademoiselle Savarus, a native of Brabant, a wealthy unmarried heiress; Savarus (Albert), a French attorney, descended, but not lineally, from the Comte de Savarus. (Albert Savarus)
SAVARUS (Albert Savaron de), of the family of the preceding list, but natural son of the Comte de Savarus, was born about 1798; was secretary to a minister of Charles X., and was also Master of Requests. The Revolution of 1830 fatally interrupted a very promising career; a deep love, which was reciprocated, for the Duchesse d'Argaiolo (afterwards Madame Alphonse de Rhetore), restored to Savarus his energetic and enterprising spirit; he succeeded in being admitted to the bar of Besancon, built up a good practice, succeeded brilliantly, founded the "Revue de l'Est," in which he published an autobiographic novel, "L'Ambitieux par Amour," and met with warm support in his candidacy for the Chamber of Deputies (1834). Albert Savarus, with his mask of a deep thinker, might have seen all his dreams realized, but for the romantic and jealous fancies of Rosalie de Watteville, who discovered and undid the advocate's plans, by bringing about the second marriage of Madame d'Argaiolo. His hopes thus baffled, Albert Savarus became a friar of the parent institution of the Carthusians, which was situated near Grenoble, and was known as Brother Albert. (The Quest of the Absolute, Albert Savarus)
SCHERBELLOFF, Scherbelloff, or Sherbelloff (Princesse), maternal grandmother of Madame de Montcornet. (The Peasantry, Jealousies of a Country Town)
SCHILTZ married a Barnheim (of Baden), and had by her a daughter, Josephine, afterwards Madame Fabien du Ronceret; was an "intrepid officer, a chief among those bold Alsatian partisans who almost saved the Emperor in the campaign of France." He died at Metz, despoiled and ruined. (Beatrix)
SCHILTZ (Josephine), otherwise known as Madame Schontz. (See Ronceret, Madame Fabien du.)
SCHINNER (Mademoiselle), mother of Hippolyte Schinner, the painter, and daughter of an Alsatian farmer; being seduced by a coarse but wealthy man, she refused the money offered as compensation for refusing to legitimize their liaison, and consoled herself in the joys of maternity, the duties whereof she fulfilled with the most perfect devotion. At the time of her son's marriage she was living in Paris, and shared with him an apartment situated near the artist's studio, and not far from the Madeleine, on the rue des Champs-Elysees. (The Purse)
SCHINNER (Hippolyte), a painter, natural son of the preceding; of Alsatian origin, and recognized by his mother only; a pupil of Gros, in whose studio he formed a close intimacy with Joseph Bridau. (A Bachelor's Establishment) He was married during the reign of Louis XVIII.; he was at that time a knight of the Legion of Honor, and was already a celebrated character. While working in Paris, near the Madeleine, in a house belonging to Molineux, he met the other occupants, Madame and Mademoiselle Leseigneur de Rouville, and seems to have imitated with respect to them the delicate conduct of their benefactor and friend, Kergarouet; was touched by the cordiality extended to him by the baroness in spite of his poverty; he loved Adelaide de Rouville, and the passion being reciprocated, he married her. (The Purse) Being associated with Pierre Grassou, he gave him excellent advice, which this indifferent artist was scarceley able to profit by. (Pierre Grassou) In 1822, the Comte de Serizy employed Schinner to decorate the chateau of Presles; Joseph Bridau, who was trying his hand, completed the master's work, and even, in a passing fit of levity, appropriated his name. (A Start in Life) Schinner was mentioned in the autobiographical novel of Albert Savarus, "L'Ambitieux par Amour." (Albert Savarus) He was the friend of Xavier Rabourdin. (The Government Clerks) He drew vignettes for the works of Canalis. (Modeste Mignon) To him we owe the remarkable ceilings of Adam Laginski's house situated on the rue de la Pepiniere. (The Imaginary Mistress) About 1845, Hippolyte Schinner lived not far from the rue de Berlin, near Leon de Lora, to whom he had been first instructor. (The Unconscious Humorists)
SCHINNER (Madame), wife of Hippolyte Schinner, born Adelaide Leseigneur de Rouville, daughter of the Baron and Baronne de Rouville, her father being a naval officer; lived during the Restoration in Paris with her mother, boarding at a house situated on the rue de Surene and belonging to Molineux. Bereft of her father, the future Madame Schinner would then have found it difficult to await the slow adjustment of her father's pension, had not their old friend, Admiral de Kergarouet, come in his unobtrusive way to the assistance of herself and her mother. About the same time she nursed their neighbor, Hippolyte Schinner, who was suffering from the effects of a fall, and conceived for him a love that was returned; the gift of a little embroidered purse on the part of the young woman brought about the marriage. (The Purse)
SCHMUCKE (Wilhelm), a German Catholic, and a man of great musical talent; open-hearted, absent-minded, kind, sincere, of simple manners, of gentle and upright bearing. Originally he was precentor to the Margrave of Anspach; he had known Hoffman, the eccentric writer of Berlin, in whose memory he afterwards had a cat named Murr. Schmucke then went to Paris; in 1835-36, he lived there in a small apartment on the Quai Conti, at the corner of the rue de Nevers.[5] Previous to this, in the Quartier du Marais, he gave lessons in harmony, that were much appreciated, to the daughters of the Granvilles, afterwards Mesdames de Vandenesse and du Tillet; at a later period the former lady asked him to endorse some notes of hand for Raoul Nathan's benefit. (A Daughter of Eve) Schmucke was also instructor of Lydie Peyrade before her marriage with Theodose de la Peyrade. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life); but those whom he regarded as his favorite pupils were Mesdames de Vandenesse and du Tillet, and the future Vicomtesse de Portenduere, Mademoiselle Mirouet of Nemours, the three "Saint-Cecilias" who combined to pay him an annuity. (Ursule Mirouet) The former precentor, now of ugly and aged appearance, readily obtained a welcome with the principals of boarding-schools for young ladies. At a distribution of prizes he was brought in contact with Sylvain Pons for whom he immediately felt an affection that proved to be mutual (1834). Their intimacy brought them under the same roof, rue de Normandie, as tenants of C.-J. Pillerault (1836). Schmucke lived for nine years in perfect happiness. Gaudissart, having become manager of a theatre, employed him in his orchestra, entrusted him with the work of making copies of the music, and employed him to play the piano and various instruments that were not used in the boulevard theatres: the viol d'amore, English horn, violoncello, harp, castanets, bells, saxhorns, etc. Pons made him his residuary legatee (April, 1845); but the innocent German was not strong enough to contend with Maitre Fraisier, agent of the Camusot de Marvilles, who were ignored in this will. In spite of Topinard, to whom, in despair at the death of his friend, he went to demand hospitality, in the Bordin district, Schmucke allowed himself to be swindled, and was soon carried off by apoplexy. (Cousin Pons)
SCHONTZ (Madame), name borne by Mademoiselle Schiltz, afterwards Madame Fabien du Ronceret. (See this last name.)
SCHWAB (Wilhelm), born at Strasbourg in the early part of the nineteenth century, of the German family of Kehl, had Frederic (Fritz) Brunner as his friend, whose follies he shared, whose poverty he relieved, and with whom he went to Paris; there they went to the Hotel du Rhin, rue du Mail, kept by Johann Graff, father of Emilie, and brother of the famous tailor, Wolfgang Graff. Schwab kept books for this rival of Humann and Staub. Several years later he played the flute at the theatre at which Sylvain Pons directed the orchestra. During an intermission at the first brilliant performance of "La Fiancee du Diable," presented in the fall of 1844, Schwab invited Pons through Schmucke to his approaching wedding; he married Mademoiselle Emilie Graff—a love-match—and joined in business with Frederic Brunner, who was a banker and enriched by the inheritance of his father's property. (Cousin Pons)
SCHWAB (Madame Wilhelm), wife of the preceding; born Mademoiselle Emilie Graff; an accomplished beauty, niece of Wolfgang Graff, the wealthy tailor, who provided her with dowry. (Cousin Pons)
SCIO (Madame), a prominent singer of the Theatre Feydeau in 1798, was very beautiful in "Les Peruviens," a comic opera by Mongenod, produced with very indifferent success. (The Seamy Side of History)
SCOEVOLA (Mucius). Under this assumed name was concealed, during the Terror, a man who had been huntsman to the Prince de Conti, to whom he owed his fortune. A plasterer, and proprietor of a small house in Paris, on about the highest point of the Faubourg Saint-Martin,[6] near the rue d'Allemagne, he affected an exaggerated civism, which masked an unfailing fidelity to the Bourbons, and he in some mysterious way afforded protection to Sisters Marthe and Agathe (Mesdemoiselles de Beauseant and de Langeais), nuns who had escaped from the Abbey of Chelles, and were, with Abbe de Marolles, taking refuge under his roof. (An Episode under the Terror)
SECHARD (Jerome-Nicolas), born in 1743. After having been a workman in a printer's shop of Angouleme situated on the Place du Murier, though very illiterate, he became its owner at the beginning of the Revolution; was acquainted at that time with the Marquis de Maucombe, married a woman that was provided with a certain competency, but soon lost her, after having by her a son, David. In the reign of Louis XVIII., fearing the competition of Cointet, J.-N. Sechard retired from active life, selling his business to his son, whom he intentionally deceived in the trade, and moved to Marsac, near Angouleme, where he raised grapes, and drank to excess. During all the latter part of his life, Sechard mercilessly aggravated the commercial difficulties which his son David was struggling against. The old miser died about 1829, leaving property of some value. (Lost Illusions)
SECHARD (David), only son of the preceding, school-mate and friend of Lucien de Rubempre, learned the art of printing from the Didots of Paris. On one occasion, upon his return to his native soil, he gave many evidences of his kindness and delicacy; having purchased his father's printing shop, he allowed himself to be deliberately cheated and duped by him; employed as proof-reader Lucien de Rubempre, whose sister, Eve Chardon, he adored with a passion that was fully reciprocated; he married her in spite of the poverty of both parties, for his business was on the decline. The expense involved, the competition of the Cointets, and especially his experiments as inventor in the hope of finding the secret of a particular way of making paper, reduced him to very straitened circumstances. Indeed, everything combined to destroy Sechard; the cunning and power of the Cointet house, the spying of the ungrateful Cerizet, formerly his apprentice, the disorderly life of Lucien de Rubempre, and the jealous greed of his father. A victim of the wiles of Cointet, Sechard abandoned his discovery, resigned himself to his fate, inherited from his father, and cheered by the devotion of the Kolbs, dwelt in Marsac, where Derville, led by Corentin, hunted him out with a view to gaining information as to the origin of Lucien de Rubempre's million. (Lost Illusions, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SECHARD (Madame David), wife of the preceding, born Eve Chardon in 1804, daughter of a druggist of L'Houmeau (a suburb of Angouleme), and a member of the house of Rubempre; worked first at the house of Madame Prieur, a laundress, for the consideration of fifteen sous a day; manifested great devotion to her brother Lucien, and on marrying David Sechard, in 1821, transferred her devotion to him; having undertaken to manage the printing shop, she competed with Cerizet, Cointet, and Petit-Claud, and almost succeeded in softening Jerome-Nicolas Sechard. Madame Sechard shared with her husband the inheritance of old J.-N. Sechard, and was then the modest chatelaine of La Verberie, at Marsac. By her husband she had at least one child, named Lucien. Madame Sechard was tall and of dark complexion, with blue eyes. (Lost Illusions, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SECHARD (Lucien), son of the preceding couple. (Lost Illusions)
SEGAUD, solicitor at Angouleme, was successor to Petit-Claud, a magistrate about 1824. (Lost Illusions)
SELERIER, called the Auvergnat, Pere Ralleau, Le Rouleur, and especially Fil-de Soie, belonged to the aristocracy of the galleys, and was a member of the group of "Ten Thousand," whose chief was Jacques Collin; the latter, however, suspected him of having sold him to the police, about 1819, when Bibi-Lupin arrested him at the Vauquer boarding-house. (Father Goriot) In his business Selerier always avoided bloodshed. He was of philosophical turn, very selfish, incapable of love, and ignorant of the meaning of friendship. In May, 1830, when being a prisoner at the Conciergerie, and about to be condemned to fifteen years of forced labor, he saw and recognized Jacques Collin, the pseudo-Carlos Herrera, himself incriminated. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SENONCHES (Jacques de), a noble of Angouleme, a great huntsman, stiff and haughty, a sort of wild boar; lived on very good terms with his wife's lover, Francois du Hautoy, and attended Madame de Bargeton's receptions. (Lost Illusions)
SENONCHES (Madame Jacques de), wife of the preceding, bore the given name of Zephirine, which was abbreviated to Zizine. By Francois du Hautoy, her adored lover, she had a daughter, Francoise de la Haye, who was presented as her ward, and who became Madame Petit-Claud. (Lost Illusions)
SEPHERD (Carl), name assumed by Charles Grandet in the Indies, the United States, Africa, etc., while he was in the slave-trading business. (Eugenie Grandet)
SERIZY, or Serisy (Comte Hugret de), born in 1765, descended in direct line from the famous President Hugret, ennobled under Francois I. The motto of this family was "I, semper melius eris," so that the final s of melius, the word eris, and the I of the beginning, represented the name (Serizy) of the estate that had been made a county. A son of a first president of Parliament (who died in 1794), Serizy was himself, as early as 1787, a member of the Grand Council; he did not emigrate during the Revolution, but remained in his estate of Serizy, near Arpajon; became a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and afterwards of the Council of State. The Empire made him a count and a senator. Hugret de Serizy was married, in 1806, to Leontine de Ronquerolles, the widow of General Gaubert. This union made him the brother-in-law of the Marquis de Ronquerolles, and the Marquis du Rouvre. Every honor was alloted to him in course; chamberlain under the Empire, he afterwards became vicepresident of the Council of State, peer of France, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, and member of the Privy Council. The glorious career of Serizy, who was an unusually industrious person, did not offer compensation for his domestic misfortunes. Hard work and protracted vigils soon aged the high functionary, who was ever unable to win his wife's heart; but he loved her and sheltered her none the less constantly. It was chiefly to avenge her for the indiscretion of the volatile young Oscar Husson, Moreau's godson, that he discharged the not overhonest steward of Presles. (A Start in Life) The system of government that succeeded the Empire increased Serizy's influence and renown; he was an intimate friend of the Bauvans and the Grandvilles. (A Bachelor's Establishment, Honorine, Modeste Mignon) His weakness in matters concerning his wife was such that he assisted her in person, when, in May, 1830, she hastened to the Conciergerie in the hope of saving her lover, Lucien de Rubempre, and entered the cell where the young man had just committed suicide. Serizy even consented to be executor of the poet's will. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SERIZY (Comtesse de), wife of the preceding, born Leontine de Ronquerolles about 1784, sister of the Marquis du Ronquerolles; married, as her first husband, General Gaubert, one of the most illustrious soldiers of the Republic; married a second time, when quite young, but could never entertain any feeling stronger than respect for M. de Serizy, her second husband, by whom, however, she had a son, an officer, who was killed during the reign of Louis Philippe. (A Start in Life) Worldly and brilliant, and a worthy rival of Mesdames de Beauseant, de Langeais, de Maufrigneuse, de Carigliano, and d'Espard, Leontine de Serizy had several lovers, among them being Auguste de Maulincour, Victor d'Aiglemont and Lucien de Rubempre. (The Thirteen, Ursule Mirouet, A Woman of Thirty) This last liaison was a very stormy one. Lucien acquired considerable influence over Madame de Serizy, and made use of it to reach the Marquise d'Espard, by effecting an annulment of the decree which she had obtained against her husband, the Marquis d'Espard, placing him under guardianship. And so it was that, during Rubempre's imprisonment and after his suicide, she suffered the bitterest anguish. Leontine de Serizy almost broke the bars of the Conciergerie, insulted Camusot, the examining magistrate, and seemed to be beside herself. The intervention of Jacques Collin saved her and cured her, when three famous physicians, Messieurs Bianchon, Desplein, and Sinard declared themselves powerless to relieve her. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life) During the winter the Comtesse de Serizy lived on the Chaussee-d'Antin; during the summer at Serizy, her favorite residence, or still more at Presles, and sometimes near Nemours in Le Rouvre, the seat of the family of that name. Being a neighbor, in Paris, of Felicite des Touches, she was a frequent visitor of that emulator of George Sand, and was at her house when Marsay related the story of his first love-affair, taking part herself in the conversation. (Another Study of Woman) Being a maternal aunt of Clementine du Rouvre, Madame de Serizy gave her a handsome dowry when she married Laginski; with her brother Ronquerolles, at his home on the rue de la Pepiniere, she met Thaddee Paz, the Pole's comrade. (The Imaginary Mistress)
SERIZY (Vicomte de), only son of the preceding couple, graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1825, and entered the cavalry regiment of the Garde Royale, by favor, as sub-lieutenant, under command of the Duc de Maufrigneuse; at this time Oscar Husson, nephew of Cardot, entered the same regiment as a private. (A Start in Life) In October, 1829, Serizy, being an officer in the company of the guards stationed at Havre, was instructed to inform M. de Verneuil, proprietor of some well-stocked Norman "preserves," that Madame could not participate in the chase that he had organized. Having become enamored of Diane de Maufrigneuse, the viscount found her at Verneuil's house; she received his attentions, as a means of avenging herself on Leontine de Serizy, then mistress of Lucien de Rubempre. (Modeste Mignon) Being advanced to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of a cavalry regiment, he was severely wounded at the disastrous battle of Macta, in Africa (June 26, 1835), and died at Toulon as a result of his wounds. (The Imaginary Mistress, A Start in Life)
SERVAIS, the only good gilder in Paris, according to Elie Magus, whose advice he heeded; he had the good sense to use English gold, which is far better than the French. Like the book-binder, Thouvenin, he was in love with his own work. (Cousin Pons)
SERVIEN (Prudence), born, in 1806, at Valenciennes, daughter of very poor weavers, was employed, from the age of seven years, in a spinning-mill; corrupted early by her life in the work-room, she was a mother at the age of thirteen; having had to testify in the Court of Assizes against Jean-Francois Durut, she made of him a formidable enemy, and fell into the power of Jacques Collin, who promised to shelter her from the resentment of the convict. She was at one time a ballet-girl, and afterwards served as Esther van Gobseck's chamber-maid, under the names of Eugenie and Europe; was the mistress of Paccard, whom she very probably married afterwards; aided Vautrin in fooling Nucingen and getting money from him. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SERVIN, born about 1775, a distinguished painter, made a love-match with the daughter of a penniless general; in 1815 was manager of a studio in Paris, which was frequented by Mademoiselle Laure, and Mesdemoiselles Mathilde-Melanie Roguin, Amelie Thirion and Ginevra di Piombo, the last three of whom were afterwards, respectively, Mesdames Tiphaine, Camusot de Marville, and Porta. Servin at that time was concealing an exile who was sought by the police, namely Luigi Porta, who married the master's favorite pupil, Mademoiselle Ginevra di Piombo. (The Vendetta)
SERVIN (Madame), wife of the preceding, remembering that the romance of Porta and Ginevra's love had been the cause of all his pupils' leaving her husband's studio, refused to shelter Mademoiselle de Piombo when driven from her father's home. (The Vendetta)
SEVERAC (De), born in 1764, a country gentleman, mayor of a village in the canton of Angouleme, and the author of an article on silkworms, was received at Madame de Bargeton's in 1821. A widower, without children, and doubtless very rich, but not knowing the ways of the world, one evening on the rue du Minage, he found as ready listeners only the poor but aristocratic Madame du Brossard and her daughter Camille, a young woman of twenty-seven years. (Lost Illusions)
SIBILET, clerk of the court at Ville-aux-Fayes (Bourgogne), distant cousin of Francois Gaubertin, married a Mademoiselle Gaubertin-Vallat, and had by that marriage six children. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET (Adolphe), eldest of the six children of the preceding, born about 1793; was, at first, clerk to a notary, then an unimportant employe in the land-registry office; and then, in the latter part of the year 1817, succeeded his cousin, Francois Gaubertin, in the administration of Aigues, General de Montcornet's estate, in Bourgogne. Sibilet had married Mademoiselle Adeline Sarcus (of the poor branch), who bore him two children in three years; his selfish interest and his personal obligations led him to gratify the ill-feeling of his predecessor, by being disloyal to Montcornet. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET (Madame Adolphe), wife of the preceding, born Adeline Sarcus, only daughter of a justice of the peace, rich with beauty as her sole fortune, she was reared by her mother, in the little village of Soulanges (Bourgogne), with all possible care. Not having been able to marry Amaury Lupin (son of Lupin the notary), with whom she was in love, in despair she allowed herself, three years after her mother's death, to be married, by her father, to the disagreeable and repulsive Adolphe Sibilet. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET, son of the court clerk, and police commissioner at Ville-aux Fayes. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET (Mademoiselle), daughter of the court clerk, afterwards Madame Herve. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET, son of the court clerk, first clerk of Maitre Corbinet, notary at Ville-aux-Fayes, to whom he was the appointed successor. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET, son of the court clerk, and clerk in the Department of Public Lands, presumptive successor of the registrar of documents at Ville-aux-Fayes. (The Peasantry)
SIBILET (Mademoiselle), daughter of the court clerk, born about 1807, postmistress at Ville-aux Fayes; betrothed to Captain Corbinet, brother of the notary. (The Peasantry)
SIBUELLE, a wealthy contractor of somewhat tarnished reputation during the Directory and the Consulate, gave his daughter in marriage to Malin de Gondreville, and through the credit of his son-in-law became, with Marion, co-receiver-general of the department of Aube. (The Gondreville Mystery)
SIBUELLE (Mademoiselle), only daughter of the preceding, became Madame Malin de Gondreville. (The Gondreville Mystery)
SEYES (Emmanuel-Joseph), born in 1748 at Frejus, died in Paris in 1836, was successively vicar-general of Chartres, deputy to the States-General and the Convention, member of the Committee of Public Safety, member of the Five Hundred, member of the Directory, consul, and senator; famous also as a publicist. In June, 1800, he might have been found in the Office of Foreign Relations, in the rue du Bac, where he took part with Talleyrand and Fouche, in a secret council, in which the subject of overthrowing Bonaparte, then First Consul, was discussed. (The Gondreville Mystery)
SIGNOL (Henriette), a beautiful girl; of a good family of farmers, in the employ of Basine Clerget, a laundress at Angouleme; was the mistress of Cerizet, whom she loved and trusted; served as a tool against David Sechard, the printer. (Lost Illusions)
SIMEUSE (Admiral de), father of Jean de Simeuse, was one of the most eminent French seamen of the eighteenth century. ([[ Beatrix]], The Gondreville Mystery, Jealousies of a Country Town)
SIMEUSE (Marquis Jean de), whose name, "Cy meurs" or "Si meurs," was the motto of the family crest, was descended from a noble family of Bourgogne, who were formerly owners of a Lorrain fief called Ximeuse, corrupted to Simeuse. M. de Simeuse counted a number of illustrious men among his ancestors; he married Berthe de Cinq-Cygne; he was father of twins, Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul. He was guillotined at Troyes during the Terror; Michu's father-in-law presided over the Revolutionary tribunal that passed the death-sentence. (The Gondreville Mystery)
SIMEUSE (Marquise de), wife of the preceding, born Berthe de Cinq-Cygne, was executed at Troyes at the same time with her husband. (The Gondreville Mystery)
SIMEUSE (Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul), twin sons of the preceding couple, born in 1773; grandsons on the father's side of the admiral who was as famous for his dissipation as for his valor; descended from the original owners of the famous Gondreville estate in Aube, and belonged to the noble Champagne family of the Chargeboeufs, the younger branch of which was represented by their mother, Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul were among the emigrants; they returned to France about 1803. Both being in love with their cousin, Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, an ardent Royalist, they cast lots to decide which should be her husband; fate favored Marie-Paul, the younger, but circumstances prevented the consummation of the marriage. The twins differed only in disposition, and there in only one point: Paul-Marie was melancholy, while Marie-Paul was of a bright disposition. Despite the advice of their elderly relative, M. de Chargeboeuf, Messieurs de Simeuse compromised themselves with the Hauteserres; being watched by Fouche, who sent Peyrade and Corentin to keep an eye on them, they were accused of the abduction of Malin, of which they were not guilty, and sentenced to twenty-four years of penal servitude; were pardoned by Napoleon, entered as sub-lieutenants the same cavalry regiment, and were killed together in the battle of Sommo-Sierra (near Madrid, November 30, 1808). (The Gondreville Mystery)
SIMONIN let carriages on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, Cour des Coches, Paris; about 1840, he let a berlin to Madame de Godollo, who, in accordance with the instructions of Corentin, the police-agent, was pretending to be taking a journey, but went no further than the Bois de Boulogne. (The Middle Classes)
SIMONNIN, in the reign of Louis XVIII., was "errand-boy" to Maitre Derville on the rue Vivienne, Paris, when that advocate received Hyacinthe Chabert. (Colonel Chabert)
SINARD, a Paris physician, was called, in May, 1830, together with Messieurs Desplein and Bianchon, to the bedside of Leontine de Serizy, who had lost her reason after the tragic end of her lover, Lucien de Rubempre. (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
SINET (Seraphine), a celebrated lorette, born in 1820, known by the sobriquet of Carabine, was present at Josepha Mirah's house-warming on the rue de la Ville-l'Eveque, in 1838. Five years later, being then mistress of the wealthy F. du Tillet, Mademoiselle Sinet supplanted the vivacious Marguerite Turquet as queen of the lorettes. (Cousin Betty) A woman of splendid appearance, Seraphine was one of the marching chorus at the Opera, and occupied the fine apartment on the rue Saint-Georges, where before her Suzanne du Val-Noble, Esther van Gobseck, Florine, and Madame Schontz had reigned. Of ready wit, dashing manners, and impish brazenness, Carabine held many successful receptions. Every day her table was set in magnificent style for ten guests. Artists, men of letters, and society favorites were among her frequent visitors. S.-P. Gazonal was taken to see her, in 1845, by Leon de Lora and Bixiou, together with Jenny Cadine of the Theatre du Gymnase; and there he met Massol, Claude Vignon, Maxime de Trailles, Nucingen, F. du Bruel, Malaga, Monsieur and Madame Gaillard, and Vauvinet, with a multitude of others, to say nothing of F. du Tillet. (The Unconscious Humorists)
SINOT, attorney at Arcis-sur-Aube, commanded the patronage of the "Henriquinquistes" (partisans of Henri V.) in 1839, when the district had to elect a deputy to replace M. Francois Keller. (The Member for Arcis)
SOCQUARD, during the Empire and the Restoration, kept the Cafe de la Paix at Soulanges (Bourgogne). The Milo of Crotona of the Avonne Valley, a stout little man, of placid countenance, and a high, clear voice. He was manager of the Tivoli, a dancing-hall adjoining the cafe. Monsieur Vermichel, violin, and Monsieur Fourchon, clarinet, constituted the orchestra. Plissoud, Bonnebault, Viallet, and Amaury Lupin were steady patrons of his establishment, which was long famous for its billiards, its punch, and its mulled wine. In 1823, Socquard lost his wife. (The Peasantry)
SOCQUARD (Madame Junie), wife of the preceding, had many thrilling love-affairs during the Empire. She was very beautiful, and her luxurious mode of living, to which the leading men of Soulanges contributed, was notorious in the Avonne valley. Lupin, the notary, had been guilty of great weakness in her direction, and Gaubertin, who took her away from him, unquestionably had by her a natural son, little Bournier. Junie was the secret of the prosperity of the Socquard house. She brought her husband a vineyard, the house he lived in, and the Tivoli. She died in the reign of Louis XVIII. (The Peasantry)
SOCQUARD (Aglae), daughter of the preceding couple, born in 1801, inherited her father's ridiculous obesity. Being sought in marriage by Bonnebault, whom her father esteemed highly as a customer, but little as a son-in-law, she excited the jealousy of Marie Tonsard, and was always at daggers drawn with her. (The Peasantry)
SODERINI (Prince), father of Madame d'Argaiolo, who was afterwards the Duchesse Alphonse de Rhetore; at Besancon, in 1834, he demanded of Albert Savarus his daughter's letters and portrait. His sudden arrival caused a hasty departure on the part of Savarus, then a candidate for election to the Chamber of Deputies, and ignorant of Madame d'Argaiolo's approaching second marriage. (Albert Savarus)
SOLIS (Abbe de), born about 1733, a Dominican, grand penitentiary of Toledo, vicar-general of the Archbishopric of Malines; a venerable priest, unassuming, kindly and large of person. He adopted Emmanuel de Solis, his brother's son, and, retiring to Douai, under the acceptable protection of the Casa-Reals, was confessor and adviser of their last descendant, Madame Balthazar Claes. The Abbe de Solis died in December, 1818. (The Quest of the Absolute)
SOLIS (Emmanuel), nephew and adopted son of the preceding. Poor, and of a family originally from Granada, he responded well to the excellent education that he received, followed the teacher's calling, taught the humanities at the lyceum at Douai, of which he was afterwards principal, and gave lessons to the brothers of Marguerite Claes, whom he loved, the feeling being reciprocated. He married her in 1825; the more fully to enjoy his good fortune, he resigned the position as inspector of the University, which he then held. Shortly afterwards he inherited the title of Comte de Nourho, through the house of Solis. (The Quest of the Absolute)
SOLIS (Madame Emmanuel de), wife of the preceding, born Marguerite Claes, in 1796, elder sister of Madame Felicie Pierquin, whose husband had first sought her hand, received from her dying mother the injunction to contend respectfully, but firmly, against her father's foolish efforts as inventor; and, in compliance with her mother's injunctions, by dint of great perseverance, succeeded in restoring the family fortunes that had been more than endangered. Madame de Solis gave birth to a child, in the course of a trip to Spain, where she was visiting Casa-Real, the cradle of her mother's family. (The Quest of the Absolute)
SOLONET, born in 1795, obtained the decoration of the Legion of Honor for having made very active contribution to the second return of the Bourbons; was the youthful and worldly notary of Bordeaux; in the drawing up of the marriage contract between Natalie Evangelista and Paul de Manerville, he triumphed over the objections raised by his colleague, Mathias, who was defender of the Manerville interests. Solonet paid the most devoted attentions of a lover to Madame Evangelista, but his love was not returned, and he sought her hand in vain. (A Marriage Settlement)
SOLVET, a handsome youth, but addicted to gaming and other vices, loved by Caroline Crochard de Bellefeuille and preferred by her to Monsieur de Granville, her generous protector. Solvet made Mademoiselle Crochard very unhappy, ruined her, but was none the less adored by her. These facts were known to Bianchon, and related by him to the Comte de Granville, whom he met, one evening, in the reign of Louis Philippe, near rue Gaillon. (A Second Home)
SOMMERVIEUX (Theodore de), a painter, winner of the prix de Rome, knight of the Legion of Honor, was particularly successful in interiors; and excelled in chiaro-oscuro effects, in imitation of the Dutch. He made an excellent reproduction of the interior of the Cat and Racket, on the rue Saint-Denis, which he exhibited at the Salon at the same time with a fascinating portrait of his future wife, Mademoiselle Guillaume, with whom he fell madly in love, and whom he married in 1808, almost in spite of her parents, and thanks to the kind offices of Madame Roguin, whom he knew in his society life. The marriage was not a happy one; the daughter of the Guillaumes adored Sommervieux without understanding him. The painter often neglected his rooms on the rue des Trois-Freres (now a part of the rue Taitbout) and transferred his homage to the Marechale de Carigliano. He had an income of twelve thousand francs; before the Revolution his father was called the Chevalier de Sommervieux. (At the Sign of the Cat and Racket) Theodore de Sommervieux designed a monstrance for Gohier, the king's goldsmith; this monstrance was bought by Madame Baudoyer and given to the church of Saint-Paul, at the time of the death of F. de la Billardiere, head clerk of the administration, whose position she desired for her husband. (The Government Clerks) Sommervieux also drew vignettes for the works of Canalis. (Modeste Mignon)
SOMMERVIEUX (Madame Theodore de), wife of the preceding, born Augustine Guillaume, about 1792, second daughter of the Guillaumes of the Cat and Racket (a drapery establishment on the rue Saint-Denis, Paris), had a sad life that was soon wrecked; for, with the exception of Madame Roguin, her family never understood her aspirations to a higher ideal, or the feeling that prompted her to choose Theodore de Sommervieux. Mademoiselle Guillaume was married about the middle of the Empire, at her parish church, Saint-Leu, on the same day that her sister was married to Lebas, the clerk, and immediately after the ceremony referred to. A little less coarse in her feelings than her parents and their associates, but insignificant enough at best, without being aware of it she displeased the painter, and chilled the enthusiasm of her husband's studio friends, Schinner, Bridau, Bixiou, and Lora. Grassou, who was very much of a countryman, was the only one that refrained from laughing at her. Worn out at last, she tried to win back the heart that had become the possession of Madame de Carigliano; she even went to consult her rival, but could not use the weapons supplied her by the coquettish wife of the marshal, and died of a broken heart shortly after the famous ball given by Cesar Birotteau, to which she was invited. She was buried in Montmartre cemetery. (At the Sign of the Cat and Racket, Cesar Birotteau)
SONET, marble-worker and contractor for tombstones, at Paris, during the Restoraton and Louis Philippe's reign. When Pons died, the marble-worker sent his agent to Schmucke to solicit an order for statues of Art and Friendship grouped together. Sonet had the draughtsman Vitelot as partner. The firm name was Sonet & Co. (Cousin Pons)
SONET (Madame), wife of the preceding, knew how to lavish attentions no less zealous than selfish on W. Schmucke, when he returned, broken-hearted, from Pere-Lachaise, in April, 1845, and suggested to him, with some modifications however, to take certain allegorical monuments which the families of Marsay and Keller had formerly refused, preferring to apply to a genuine artist, the sculptor Stidmann. (Cousin Pons)
SOPHIE, rival, namesake and contemporary of the famous Sophie, Doctor Veron's "blue ribbon," about 1844, was cook to the Comte Popinot on the rue Basse-du-Rempart, Paris. She must have been a remarkable culinary artist, for Sylvain Pons, reduced, in consequence of breaking with the Camusots, to dining at home, on the rue de Normandie, every day, often exclaimed in fits of melancholy, "O Sophie!" (Cousin Pons)
SORBIER, a Parisian notary, to whom Chesnel (Choisnel) wrote, in 1822, from Normandie, to commend to his care the rattle-brained Victurnien d'Esgrignon. Unfortunately Sorbier was dead, and the letter was sent to his widow. (Jealousies of a Country Town)
SORBIER (Madame), wife of the preceding, mentioned in Chesnel's (or Choisnel's) letter of 1822, concerning Victurnien d'Esgrignon. She scarcely read the note, and simply sent it to her deceased husband's successor, Maitre Cardot. Thus the widow unwittingly served M. du Bousquier (du Croisier), the enemy of the D'Esgrignons. (Jealousies of a Country Town)
SORIA (Don Ferdinand, Duc de), younger brother of Don Felipe de Macumer, overwhelmed with kindness by his elder brother, owing him the duchy of Soria as well as the hand of Marie Heredia, both being voluntarily renounced by the elder brother. Soria was not ungrateful; he hastened to his dying brother's bedside in 1829. The latter's death made Don Ferdinand Baron de Macumer. (Letters of Two Brides)
SORIA (Duchesse de), wife of the preceding, born Marie Heredia, daughter of the wealthy Comte Heredia, was loved by two brothers, Don Ferdinand, Duc de Soria, and Don Felipe de Macumer. Though betrothed to the latter, she married the former, in accordance with her wishes, the Baron de Macumer having generously renounced her hand in favor of Don Ferdinand. The duchess retained a feeling of deep gratitude to him for his unselfishness, and at a later time bestowed every care on him in his last illness (1829). (Letters of Two Brides)
SORMANO, the "shy" servant of the Argaiolos, at the time of their exile in Switzerland, figures, as a woman, under the name of Gina, in the autobiographical novel of Albert Savarus, entitled "L'Ambitieux par l'Amour." (Albert Savarus)
SOUCHET, a broker at Paris, whose failure ruined Guillaume Grandet, brother of the well-known cooper of Saumur. (Eugenie Grandet)
SOUCHET (Francois), winner of the prix de Rome for his sculpture, about the beginning of Louis XVIII.'s reign; an intimate friend of Hippolyte Schinner, who confided to him his love for Adelaide Leseigneur de Rouville, and was rallied on it by him. (The Purse) About 1835, with Steinbock's assistance, Souchet carved the panels over the doors and mantels of Laginski's magnificent house on the rue de la Pepiniere, Paris. (The Imaginary Mistress) He had given to Florine (afterwards Madame Raoul Nathan) a plaster cast of a group representing an angel holding an aspersorium, which adorned the actress's sumptuous apartments in 1834. (A Daughter of Eve)
SOUDRY, born in 1773, a quartermaster, secured a valuable friend in M. de Soulanges, then adjutant-general, by saving him at the peril of his own life. Having become brigadier of gendarmes at Soulanges (Bourgogne), Soudry, in 1815, married Mademoiselle Cochet, Sophie Laguerre's former lady's-maid. Six years later, he was put on the retired list, at the request of Montcornet, and replaced in his brigade by Viallet; but, supported by the influence of Francois Gaubertin, he was elected mayor of Soulanges, and became the formidable enemy of the Montcornets. Like Gregoire Rigou, his son's father-in-law, the old gendarme kept as his mistress, under the same roof with his wife, his servant Jeannette, who was younger than Madame Soudry. (The Peasantry)
SOUDRY (Madame), wife of the preceding, born Cochet in 1763. Lady's-maid to Sophie Laguerre, Montcornet's predecessor at Aigues, she had an understanding with Francois Gaubertin, the steward of the estate, to make a victim of the former opera singer. Twenty days after the burial of her mistress, La Cochet married the brigadier, Soudry, a superb specimen of manhood, though pitted with small-pox. During the reign of Louis XVIII., Madame Soudry, who tried awkwardly enough to imitate her late mistress, Sophie Laguerre, reigned supreme in the society of Soulanges, in her parlor which was the meeting ground of Montcornet's enemies. (The Peasantry)
SOUDRY, natural son of Soudry, the brigadier of gendarmes; legitimized at the time of his father's marriage to Mademoiselle Cochet, in 1815. On the day on which Soudry became legally possessed of a mother, he had just finished his course at Paris. There he knew Gaubertin's son, during a stay which he had at first intended to make long enough to entitle him to be registered as an advocate, and eventually to enter the legal profession; but he returned to Bourgogne to take charge of an attorney's practice for which his father paid thirty thousand francs. However, abandoning pettifoggery, Soudry soon found himself deputy king's attorney in a department of Bourgogne, and, in 1817, king's attorney under Attorney-General Bourlac, whom he replaced in 1821, thanks to the influence of Francois Gaubertin. He then married Mademoiselle Rigou. (The Peasantry)
SOUDRY (Madame), wife of the preceding, born Arsene Rigou, the only daughter of wealthy parents, Gregoire Rigou and Arsene Pichard; resembled her father in cunningness of character, and her mother in beauty. (The Peasantry)
SOULANGES (Comte Leon de), born in 1777, was colonel of the artillery guard in 1809. In the month of November of that year, he found himself the guest of the Malin de Gondrevilles, in their mansion in Paris, on the evening of a great party; he met there Montcornet, a friend of his in the regiment; Madame de Vaudremont, who had once been his mistress, accompanied by the Martial de la Roche-Hugon, her new lover; and finally his deserted wife, Madame de Soulanges, who had abandoned society, but who had come to the senator's house at the instigation of Madame de Lansac, with a view to a reconciliation, which was successfully carried out. (Domestic Peace) Leon de Soulanges had several children as a result of his marriage; a son and some daughters; having refused one of his daughters in marriage to Montcornet, on the ground that she was too young, he made an enemy of that general. The count, remaining faithful to the Bourbons during the Hundred Days, was made a peer of France and a general in the artillery corps. Enjoying the favor of the Duc d'Angouleme, he was allowed a command during the Spanish war (1823), gained prominence at the seige of Cadiz and attained the highest degrees in the military hierarchy. Monsieur de Soulanges, who was very rich, owned, in the territory of the commune of Blangy (Bourgogne), a forest and a chateau adjoining the Aigues estate, which had itself once belonged to the house of Soulanges. At the time of the Crusades, an ancestor of the count had created this domain. Soulanges's motto was: "Je soule agir." Like M. de Ronquerolles he got on badly enough with his neighbor Montcornet and seemed to favor Francois Gaubertin, Gregoire Rigou and Soudry, in their opposition to the future marshal. (The Peasantry)
SOULANGES (Comtesse Hortense de), wife of the preceding, and niece of the Duchesses de Lansac and de Marigny. In November, 1809, at a ball given by Malin de Gondreville, acting on the advice of Madame de Lansac, the countess, then on bad terms with her husband, conquered her proud timidity, and demanded of Martial de la Roche-Hugon a ring that she had received originally from her husband; M. de Soulanges had afterwards passed it on to his mistress, Madame de Vaudremont, who had given it to her lover, M. de la Roche-Hugon; this restitution effected the reconciliation of the couple. (Domestic Peace) Hortense de Soulanges inherited from Madame de Marigny (who died about 1820) the Guebriant estate, with its encumbrance of an annuity. (The Thirteen) Madame de Soulanges followed her husband to Spain at the time of the war of 1823. (The Peasantry)
SOULANGES (Amelie de), youngest daughter of the preceding couple, would have married the Comte Philippe de Brambourg, in 1828, but for the condemning revelations made by Bixiou concerning Joseph Bridau's brother. (A Bachelor's Establishment)
SOULANGES (Vicomte de), probably a brother of the preceding, was, in 1836, commander of a squad of hussars at Fountainebleau; then, in company with Maxime de Trailles, he was going to be second to Savinien de Portenduere in a duel with Desire Minoret, but the duel was prevented by the unforeseen death of the latter; the underlying cause was the disgraceful conduct of the Minoret-Levraults towards Ursule Mirouet, future Vicomtesse de Portenduere. (Ursule Mirouet)
SOULAS (Amedee-Sylvain-Jacques de), born in 1809, a gentleman of Besancon, of Spanish origin (the name was written Souleyas, when Franche-Comte belonged to Spain), succeeded in shining brightly in the capital of Doubs on an income of four thousand francs, which allowed him to employ the services of "Babylas, the tiger." Such discrepancy between his means and his manner of living may well convey an idea of this fellow's character, seeing that he sought in vain the hand of Rosalie de Watteville, but married, in the month of August, 1837, Madame de Watteville, her widowed mother. (Albert Savarus)
SOULAS (Madame Amedee de), born Clotilde-Louise de Rupt in 1798, stern in features and in character, a blonde of the extreme type, was married, in 1815, to the Baron de Watteville, whom she managed with little difficulty. She did not find it so easy, however, to govern her daughter, Rosalie, whom she vainly tried to force to marry M. de Soulas. The pressure, at Besancon, of Albert Savarus, who was secretly loved by Mademoiselle de Watteville, gave a political significance to the salon of Rosalie's parents during the reign of Louis Philippe. Tired of her daughter's obstinacy, Madame de Watteville, now a widow, herself married M. de Soulas; she lived in Paris, in the winter at least, and knew how to be mistress of her house there, as she always had been elsewhere. (Albert Savarus)
SPARCHMANN, hospital surgeon at Heilsberg, attended Colonel Chabert after the battle of Eylau. (Colonel Chabert)
SPENCER (Lord), about 1830, at Balthazar Claes's sale, bought some magnificent wainscoting that had been carved by Van Huysum, as well as the portrait of President Van Claes, a Fleming of the sixteenth century,—family treasures which the father of Mesdames de Solis and Pierquin was obliged to give up. (The Quest of the Absolute)
SPIEGHALTER, a German mechanician, who lived in Paris on the rue de la Sante, in the early part of Louis Philippe's reign, made unsuccessful efforts, with the aid of pressure, hammering and rolling, to stretch the anomalous piece of shagreen submitted to him by Raphael de Valentin, at the suggestion of Planchette, professor of mechanics. (The Magic Skin)
SPONDE (Abbe de), born about 1746, was grand vicar of the bishopric of Seez. Maternal uncle, guardian, guest, and boarder of Madame du Bousquier—nee Cormon—of Alencon; he died in 1819, almost blind, and strangely depressed by his niece's recent marriage. Entirely removed from worldly interests, he led an ascetic life, and an uneventful one, entirely consumed in thoughts of salvation, mortifications of the flesh, and secret works of charity. (Jealousies of a Country Town)
STAEL-HOLSTEIN (Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker, Baronne de), daughter of the famous Necker of Geneva, born in Paris in 1766; became the wife of the Swiss minister to France; author of "l'Allemagne," of "Corinne," and of "Delphine"; noted for her struggle against Napoleon Bonaparte; mother-in-law of the Duc Victor de Broglie and grandmother of the generation of the Broglies of the present day; died in the year 1817. At various times she lived in the Vendomois in temporary exile. During one of her first stays in the Loire, she was greeted with the singular formula of admiration, "Fameuse garce!" (The Chouans) At a later period, Madame de Stael came upon Louis Lambert, then a ragged urchin, absorbed in reading a translation of Swedenborg's "Heaven and Hell." She was struck with him, and had him educated at the college of Vendome, where he had the future minister, Jules Dufaure, as his boon companion; but she forgot her protege, who was ruined rather than benefited by this passing interest. (Louis Lambert) About 1823 Louise de Chaulieu (Madame Marie Gaston) believed that Madame de Stael was still alive, though she died in 1817. (Letters of Two Brides)
STANHOPE (Lady Esther), niece of Pitt, met Lamartine in Syria, who described her in his "Voyage en Orient"; had sent Lady Dudley an Arabian horse, that the latter gave to Felix de Vandenesse in exchange for a Rembrandt. (The Lily of the Valley) Madame de Bargeton, growing weary of Angouleme in the first years of the Restoration, was envious of this "blue-stocking of the desert." Lady Esther's father, Earl Charles Stanhope, Viscount Mahon, a peer of England, and a distinguished scholar, invented a printing press, known to fame as the Stanhope press, of which the miserly and mechanical Jerome-Nicholas Sechard expressed a contemptuous opinion to his son. (Lost Illusions)
STAUB, a German, and a Parisian tailor of reputation; in 1821, made for Lucien de Rubempre, presumably on credit, some garments that he went in person to try on the poet at the Hotel du Gaillard-Bois, on the rue de l'Echelle. Shortly afterwards, he again favored Lucien, who was brought to his establishment by Coralie. (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
STEIBELT, a famous musician, during the Empire was the instructor of Felicite des Touches at Nantes. (Beatrix)
STEINBOCK (Count Wenceslas), born at Prelie (Livonia) in 1809; great-nephew of one of Charles XII.'s generals. An exile from his youth, he went to Paris to live, and, from inclination as much as on account of his poverty, he became a carver and sculptor. As assistant to Francois Souchet, a fellow-countryman of Laginski's, Wenceslas Steinbock worked on the decorations of the Pole's mansion, on the rue de la Pepiniere. (The Imaginary Mistress) Living amid squalor on the rue du Doyenne, he was saved from suicide by his spinster neighbor, Lisbeth Fischer, who restored his courage and determination, and aided him with her resources. Wenceslas Steinbock then worked and succeeded. A chance that brought one of his works to the notice of the Hulot d'Ervys brought him into connection with these people; he fell in love with their daughter, and, the love being returned, he married her. Orders then came in quick succession to Wenceslas, living, as he did, on the rue Saint-Dominique-Saint-Germain, near the Esplanade des Invalides, not far from the marble stores, where the government had allowed him a studio. His services were secured for the work of a monument to be erected to the Marechal de Montcornet. But Lisbeth Fischer's vindictive hatred, as well as his own weakness of character, caused him to fall beneath the fatal dominion of Valerie Marneffe, whose lover he became; with Stidmann, Vignon, and Massol, he witnessed that woman's second marriage. Steinbock returned to the conjugal domicile on the rue Louis-le-Grand, towards the latter part of Louis Philippe's reign. An exhausted artist, he confined himself to the barren role of critic; idle reverie replaced power of conception. (Cousin Betty)
STEINBOCK (Countess Wenceslas), wife of the preceding; born Hortense Hulot d'Ervy in 1817; daughter of Hector Hulot d'Ervy and Adeline Fischer; younger sister of Victorin Hulot. Beautiful, and occupying a brilliant position in society through her parents, but lacking dowry, she made choice of husband for herself. Endowed with enduring pride of spirit, Madame Steinbock could with difficulty excuse Wenceslas for being unfaithful, and pardoned his disloyalty only after a long while. Her trials ended with the last years of Louis Philippe's reign. The wisdom and foresight of her brother Victorin, coupled with the results of the wills of the Marechal Hulot, Lisbeth Fischer, and Valerie Crevel, at last brought wealth to the countess's household, who lived successively on the rue Saint-Dominique-Saint-Germain, the rue Plumet, and the rue Louis-le-Grand. (Cousin Betty)
STEINBOCK (Wenceslas), only son of the preceding couple, born when his parents were living together, stayed with his mother after their separation. (Cousin Betty)
STEINGEL, an Alsatian, natural son of General Steingel, who fell at the beginning of the Italian campaigns during the Republic; was, in Bourgogne, about 1823, under head-keeper Michaud, one of the three keepers of Montcornet's estates. (The Gondreville Mystery, The Peasantry)
STEVENS (Miss Dinah), born in 1791, daughter of an English brewer, ugly enough, saving, and puritanical, had an income of two hundred and forty thousand francs and expectations of as much more at her father's death; the Marquise de Vordac, who met her at some watering-place in 1827, spoke of her to her son Marsay, as a very fine match, and Marsay pretended that he was to marry the heiress; which he probably did, for he left a widow that erected to him, at Pere-Lachaise, a superb monument, the work of Stidmann. (A Marriage Settlement, Cousin Pons)
STIDMANN, a celebrated carver and sculptor of Paris at the times of the Restoration and Louis Philippe; Wenceslas Steinbock's teacher; he carved, for the consideration of seven thousand francs, a representation of a fox-chase on the ruby-set gold handle of a riding whip that Ernest de la Briere gave to Modeste Mignon. (Modeste Mignon) At the request of Fabien de Ronceret, Stidmann undertook to decorate an apartment for him on the rue Blanche (Beatrix), he made the originals of a chimney-piece for the Hulot d'Ervys; was among the guests invited by Mademoiselle Brisetout at her little house-warming on the rue Chauchat (1838); the same year he was present at the celebration of Wenceslas Steinbock's marriage with Hortense Hulot; knew Dorlange-Sallenauve; with Vignon, Steinbock and Massol, he was a witness of Valerie Marneffe's second marriage to Celestin Crevel; entertained a secret love for Madame Steinbock when she was neglected by her husband (The Member for Arcis, Cousin Betty); executed the work of Charles Keller's and Marsay's monuments. (Cousin Pons) In 1845 Stidmann entered the Institute. (The Unconscious Humorists)
STOPFER (Monsieur and Madame), formerly coopers at Neuchatel, in 1823; were proprietors of an inn at Gersau (canton of Lucerne), near the lake, to which Rodolphe came. The same village sheltered the Gandolphinis, disguised under the name of Lovelace. (Albert Savarus)
SUCY (General Baron Philippe de), born in 1789, served under the Empire; on one occasion, at the crossing of the Beresina, he tried to assure the safety of his mistress, Stephanie de Vandieres, a general's wife, of whom he afterwards lost all trace. Seven years later, however, being a colonel and an officer in the Legion of Honor, while hunting with his friend, the Marquis d'Albon, near the Isle-Adam, Sucy found Madame de Vandieres insane, under the charge of the alienist Fanjat, and he undertook to restore her reason. With this end in view, he arranged an exact reproduction of the parting scenes of 1812, on an estate of his at Saint-Germain. The mad-woman recognized him indeed, but she died immediately. Having gained the promotion of general, Sucy committed suicide, the prey of incurable despair. (Farewell)
SUZANNE, real given name of Madame Theodore Gaillard.
SUZANNET was, with the Abbe Vernal, the Comte de Fontaine, and M. de Chatillon, one of the four Vendean chiefs at the time of the uprising in the West in 1799. (The Chouans)
SUZETTE, during the first years of Louis XVIII.'s reign, was lady's-maid to Antoinette de Langeais, in Paris, about the time that the duchess was receiving attentions from Montriveau. (The Thirteen)
SUZON was for a long time valet de chambre for Maxime de Trailles. (A Man of Business, The Member for Arcis)
SYLVIE, cook for Madame Vauquer, the widow, on the rue Neuve-Saint-Genevieve, during the years 1819 and 1820, at the time when Jean-Joachim Goriot, Eugene de Rastignac, Jacques Collin, Horace Bianchon, the Poirets, Madame Couture, and Victorine Taillefer boarded there. (Father Goriot)
- ↑ The Compilers subsequently dispute this.
- ↑ Complimented in 1836, at the chateau of Madame de la Baudraye, by Etienne Lousteau and Horace Bianchon.
- ↑ Or Louthrebourg, and also Lauterbourg, intentionally left out in the Repertory because of the various ways of spelling the name.
- ↑ A famous criminal case of the time.
- ↑ Perhaps the former lodging place of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- ↑ His parish was the Saint-Laurent church, which for a while during the Revolution had the name of Temple of Fidelity.