The daughter of a provincial theatre manager, she entered the Comédie-Française at fifteen, in 1802 — the year her liaison with Napoleon began, which lasted until 1808. A rival of Mademoiselle Mars, she ended her career at the Porte-Saint-Martin. Her stone carves the stage name before the civil one.
The story
In 1802 Marguerite Joséphine Weimer entered the Comédie-Française as a pensionnaire, under the name Mademoiselle George. She was fifteen, and it was in that same year that her affair with Napoleon began — it would last until 1808.
Born at Bayeux on 23 February 1787, the daughter of a provincial theatre manager, she had made her debut as a child on the stage at Amiens. A great tragedienne, she became the rival of Mademoiselle Mars: the two women divided the Paris theatre of the Empire between them, and their rivalry was a subject of conversation.
Driven out of the Comédie-Française after 1815, she played in the provinces, at the Odéon, then at the Porte-Saint-Martin, where she became the great figure of romantic drama. She retired in 1852 and died in 1867 in near destitution.
On the stone in Division 9 the order is reversed: the stage name comes before the civil one. “GEORGE, 1787-1867, Marguerite Joséphine WEIMER.” It was under the first that Paris knew her for sixty years. Mademoiselle Mars lies two divisions away, under an inscription just as brief.
The grave
An inscription that reverses the usual order: the stage name comes before the civil one. “GEORGE, 1787-1867, Marguerite Joséphine WEIMER.” It was under the first that Paris knew her for sixty years, and the stone takes account of it. Nothing of the Comédie-Française, nothing of Napoleon, nothing of the rivalry with Mademoiselle Mars — who rests two Divisions away, under an inscription just as brief.
On site, do not miss
The inscription puts the stage name before the civil one: “GEORGE” at the head, then “Marguerite Joséphine WEIMER” — the reverse of the usual order.
Visitors' questions
Where is Mademoiselle George's grave?
In Division 9, chemin du Père-Éternel, second row. The stage name is cut first, the legal one after it: “GEORGE, 1787-1867, Marguerite Joséphine WEIMER”. She died in 1867, at seventy-nine.
Mademoiselle MarsWas she Napoleon's mistress?
She was, from 1802 to 1808 — fifteen years old when it began, the very year she joined the Comédie-Française. Six years, under the Consulate and then the Empire. She was the youngest member of the company at the time.
Mademoiselle RaucourtWho was her rival?
Mademoiselle Mars, the other great actress of the Empire: between them the two women held the Paris stage, and their rivalry was a subject of conversation. They now lie in neighbouring Divisions.
TalmaWhere did she end her career?
At the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, a long way from the Comédie-Française where she started. The daughter of a provincial theatre manager, she had begun as a child on the stage at Amiens.
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