Juliette Drouet
1806-1883

Juliette Drouet was orphaned as a young girl, losing both her parents by the age of two. She was raised for a brief time by an uncle, but he sent her off to a convent school where she essentially grew up. She was a young woman longing for freedom by the time she convinced everyone that she would not make a good nun.

She headed directly for the stage. She wanted to act because the laws protected women who acted. They could own property. They had more rights than married women. Considered a beauty, she was sought after by men and used the fact to her advantage as much as possible. By the time she met Victor Hugo at age 33, she had both considerable reputation and considerable debt.

She wrote to Hugo daily, usually three and four times a day. He kept most of her letters, and some two thousand have survived. She was witty, emotional, smart, blunt and sometimes sassy. She kept Hugo's brilliant mind engaged for fifty years, though she wasn't much of an actress.

She raised a daughter named Claire who was born in 1826, the same year as Victorine Farrenc.