On stage at five as a dancer, she performed for nearly seventy years and made breeches roles her speciality. In 1859, she bought the theatre on the boulevard du Temple that bears her name to this day. A carved wooden owl watches over her grave, a material unique at Père-Lachaise.
The story
Virginie Déjazet was born in Paris on 30 August 1798, the thirteenth and last child of poor artisans. She went on stage at five as a dancer: her career began before she could read.
The Théâtre des Jeunes Artistes in 1806, the Vaudeville in 1807, the Gymnase from 1820 to 1828, the Variétés: she moved from house to house and became the specialist of breeches roles, playing young men well into old age.
In 1859 she bought the theatre on the boulevard du Temple that took her name: the Théâtre Déjazet is still there, one of the few houses of the boulevard du Crime — the Paris of melodrama — to have survived Haussmann's demolitions.
She played to the end, across a career of nearly seventy years — a span the nineteenth-century theatre knew only with her and with Mademoiselle Mars.
She died at Belleville on 1 December 1875. On her grave in Division 81 there is an epitaph in verse and a carved wooden owl. Her son Eugène, a composer, joined her there in 1880.
The grave
The grave stands out for its materials: a carved wooden owl, seen nowhere else at Père-Lachaise, where wood does not last; and ceramics — a wreath of forget-me-nots and pansies, a bouquet of roses. The epitaph is in verse: “To Déjazet: your wit, your talent equalled your kindness, O heart so many times blessed by suffering, your name will always be sweet and dear to France.” Her son Eugène Déjazet, a composer who died in 1880 at sixty-one, and her daughter Pauline rest with her.
On site, do not miss
The carved wooden owl — a material unique in the cemetery — and the floral ceramics at its feet.
Visitors' questions
Where is Virginie Déjazet's grave?
In Division 81, Avenue Transversale No. 2, first row, in the upper part of the cemetery. A carved wooden owl marks it, along with ceramic flowers: a wreath of forget-me-nots and pansies, and a bouquet of roses.
Mademoiselle MarsIs the Théâtre Déjazet named after her?
It is: in 1859 she bought this theatre on the boulevard du Temple, which took her name and still stands — one of the few theatres of the “boulevard du Crime” to survive Haussmann's demolitions.
Georges Rodenbach, Division 15How old was she when she started?
Five, as a dancer: her career began before she could read, and she went on performing for nearly seventy years. She was the thirteenth and last child of humble Parisian artisans.
RachelWhat is carved on her grave?
An epitaph in verse: “ton esprit, ton talent égalaient ta bonté, ô cœur autant de fois béni par la souffrance, ton nom sera toujours doux et cher à la France” — your wit and your talent were the equal of your kindness, o heart so often blessed by suffering, your name will always be sweet and dear to France. Her son Eugène, a composer, rests with her.
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